Posted on 04/21/2021 1:19:12 AM PDT by nickcarraway
When I went to Airborne School the saying was, "During the first week, they separate the men from the boys. During the second week, they separate the idiots from the men, and during the third week, they give the idiots a parachute and let them jump out of an airplane." :-)
Lol. There are those that can and do, and then there’s everybody else. Paratroopers have a disdain for non-airborne soldiers, as US Army Airborne school, Ft. Benning, GA isn’t that difficult.
I prayed (not literally) to be deployed as part of airborne jump into Panama invasion, as combat jump wings are highly desired.
The story of the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), Vietnam, is the most amazing piece of non-fiction military history I’ve ever read, as their mission was bravado TO THE EXTREME. This unit’s existence was classified until the mid-to-late 80s (?), and their mission was mostly recon entirely behind the lines of North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, although they also used “dirty tricks” to disrupt the flow of enemy personnel/ammunition, such as booby trapping ammunition caches/supply lines, etc. Due to the sensitive nature of the missions, these men operated in small teams and were experts at infiltrating by land, sea or air. SOG pioneered the first combat military free fall operation (HALO), but their exfiltration stories are just as amazing, as team members were sometimes chased by hundreds if not thousands of enemy personnel, and couldn’t always get close air support, as the US wasn’t supposed to be in Cambodia, Laos.
Military free fall is inherently more dangerous than static line jumping as the jumper has the sole responsibility for maintaining a stable body position prior to pulling the ripcord, but static line jumping has other risks, like getting entangled with another paratrooper or getting shot by ground personnel.
See if you can find the SOG documentary on the internet, as it would be worth the money. I either recorded it from the history or military channel about 15 years ago.
I’ll bet you would have a hard time finding a pilot who wasn’t glad he had a parachute/ejection seat as backup.
Airborne leads the way.
It’s just supposition. She might have pulled the main while out of position and was wrapped up from the start.
Either way, the chutes are made to NOT fail, if you do your job.
One of my high school classmates died while skydiving. It may have been at this place—not sure. In his case I believe it was because he suffered a heart attack during the jump.
The Torpedo Burrito.
Not a good time to set your altimeter 100 feet from the ground. It is always smart to set it before making a controlled exit from an aircraft while in flight.
One time mistake.
They need to speak to Akmed, the chute folder!
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