[SBeck]

No, it does not. Everyday, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines perform thousands of seemingly mundane tasks that only surface when the "Superstars" are in need of them. Let's salute all those who serve and remember that the tip of the sword always has a hilt behind it.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Thanks for the bump bro. The Army riggers' motto is "I will be sure -- always." I bet I am not the only guy to find that reassuring. They do indeed jump chutes selected at random, except in training, where they must pack and jump several all on their own (with progressively decreasing supervision). I guess this is intended to frontload any attrition in the parachute-rigger training cycle.

I have never lost a friend or teammate or even a guy I knew to nod to, from a technical malfunction of an american military parachute. We do lose guys to procedural problems or human error from time to time. the only human error I have seen in a US military chute was when a fellow left a packing weight (a shot bag) inside the chute.

In 10th Group in 1985 one of the riggers celebrated birth of his child in a really dumb manner -- with the cocaine that his neighbours convinced him was no big deal. He was caught by random urinalysis and thrown out of the Army. He lost his FAA rigger licence too (not that it is a great trade to make a living by, but it was the only one he had). And the rest of the riggers went through every one of our chutes (over a thousand) and every one that had last been signed off by Coke Boy was popped, inspected, and repacked by someone with more self control.

Military free fall parachutists pack their own mains and set their own safety devices. In some circumstances they pack their own reserves as well.

As far as the authenticity of this story is concerned, it happens that I have a friend who is friends with people who will surely know Capt. Plumb. I have asked him to investigate and if I hear from him (and remember -- there's the tough part) I will post it here.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F