Looking back at that day, it was surreal to say the least; let alone the series of events that would unfold shortly after. This was about three months before exiting the service and I was stressed out because the weather was not favorable for jumping. The sky was covered with rain clouds and the sun was nowhere in sight so it seemed as though our jump was getting canceled. Normally I’d be happy about something like this but there was a lot on the line this time.
For one, I hadn’t jumped in months so the army was going to take away the extra money they give us for being paratroopers. If that jump had gotten canceled, there weren't any others scheduled for weeks and by that time it would have been too late. Losing out on the money was my primary concern; the fact that I had a war fish in my pocket was secondary believe it or not.
I didn’t think that jumping with Willy was going to go viral over the internet. It was just another funny little act in which I figured I’d get a few likes on my Instagram and Facebook page then move on with life. In fact, I almost didn’t even post the pictures because I didn’t think they were all that impressive but my friends thought they looked awesome so I figured why not.
The task was handled much more seriously than you might think as the night before I had practiced going through the motions. By no means was this a rigorous train up, it was more so just about figuring out which pockets would be most convenient for both an Iphone 6+ (which was about the same size as a 40” Samsung LED TV by the way) and Willy of course. There’s only a small amount of time between jumping and landing so you have to be quick, plus I didn’t want to drop anything obviously.
Anyways, we typically jumped from around 1,200 feet (365 meters) but can go as low as about 800 feet (245 meters). Unlike typical skydiving, we do not pull our own parachutes because we only fall for about three to five seconds before the chute opens up. Instead, we’re attached to the airplane by something called a static line which pulls automatically upon exiting the aircraft. In theory, the object of airborne operations is to get troops from the plane onto the ground in just thirty seconds or less. Imagine the trial and error that goes into calculating such a thing; “How can we get as many troops from the plane, to the ground as fast as possible but with minimal injuries?” That’s probably still being debated to this day.
The good news about this particular jump was that it was a daytime Hollywood. Not only that, but it was also out of a C-17. This means that we didn’t have to bring any equipment such as our rucksacks (big backpacks) or rifles. Also, a C-17 is a type of airplane that we consider “The Cadillac of aircrafts” because it’s about as comfortable as any military vehicle can get. Keep in mind however that the military doesn’t factor in comfort with anything that we use so by no means is this something you’d want to fly in as a civilian. Unless it’s just for fun or the experience itself but that’s different.
For those that are unaware, the military functions based on a concept which can be summarized as “hurry up and wait” meaning that we rush to get to whatever the objective or location may be only to wait for whatever it is that we’re there for to actually begin. For example, if a “Mandatory Fun Day” starts at 3 pm, we might arrive at 3 am depending on the circumstances.
When I came in for the final manifest at seven or eight that morning, it sounded as though the jump was going to get canceled due to the weather. It was cold, cloudy and a bit misty outside so things weren't looking too promising. However, we weren’t scheduled to go until maybe two or three in the afternoon so there’s no telling what the weather might be like by then. Plus, this is the military; even if they knew for a fact that a tornado was set to touch down on the dropzone at 3 pm, they wouldn’t officially cancel the jump until about fifteen minutes before green light; We’d just sit there rigged up in our equipment, waiting.
After going through our pre jump procedures (this is where we practice going through the motions of jumping and landing) we got on buses and headed out to the final staging area at a place called Green Ramp. If I remember correctly, we would go through the pre jump procedures one more time before finally getting our chutes and rigging up.
Now, you might be thinking “Where was Willy during all this time?” Well for the most part, he was sitting right out in plain sight. I just pretended that it was an ordinary water bottle that would be recycled responsibly before getting on the airplane. Only a few people were aware of the fact that my war fish was in there and they obviously knew not to point it out to any of the jump masters. That’s called looking out for one another.
The weather was still not looking too promising at this point. You couldn’t see the sun and the clouds were a deep gray, as if it could start raining at any moment but we were continuing to go through the motions of gearing up and everything so there was still a little bit of hope left in me.
I was set to jump on the second pass, meaning that the plane would fly over the dropzone and let the first group go then loop around again for my group's turn.
Sure enough, we got on the plane and started making our way towards the dropzone; I’m still thinking they’re going to cancel but it’s only about fifteen to twenty minutes until green light so what are the odds? Besides, we were already on the plane so a cancellation would be incredibly rare. Boom. It gets scratched.
The plane turned around and landed back at Green Ramp. This would typically be a cause for celebration but I was furious so I sat there saying all sorts of bad words which I will not repeat. “Of course, out of all the times this could happen, now is it. This is just my luck.” Only things were a bit different this time; now we were being instructed to remain rigged up and wait there in our seats for “one more final call” as to whether or not we were actually going to jump.
This is one of the main reasons as to why that entire experience was so bazaar. Jumps had gotten canceled plenty of times in the past but normally, they only make one final call and then it’s a wrap. One more final call? That’s unheard of. I was very vocal with my frustration; it had been a long day and I was ready to cut my losses and just go home, maybe even Tweet about it. There was a Sergeant Major (a fairly high ranking officer) onboard who overheard what was being said and he told me that I needed Jesus. This was the second time throughout my time in service where a Sergeant Major had made that remark to me although we’ll save that story for another time.
After a good twenty minutes or so of waiting on the runway, the jump was called back on. I thought: “No “flippin’” way.” There aren’t any windows on a C-17 as there are on a commercial airliner so there was no telling what the sky was looking like but apparently it was good enough. The pilots took off and shortly after the first group of jumpers made their way out of the doors. Meanwhile I’m still thinking that they’re going to cancel as we loop around but no, it was finally time for me and Willy to go; so off we went…
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