As I mentioned a week ago, we went up with the dogs to see Wesley (one of Shelle's former foster children) make his first jump in front of family onto the famous ("infamous"???) Sicily Drop Zone (DZ) up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina last weekend.
Wesley planned to cell-phone us from the plane as to which flight, what chalk (group of jumpers) he would be in and what number in the chalk he would be, so we would know exactly which silhouette in the sky was him. This was the first time any family had ever seen him jump before and we (including Wes) were excited and nervous. Wes was a tad anxious as he had not jumped from a C-130 Hercules (a four-engined turbo prop military cargo/troop transport plane) nor had he jumped with the newer toggled chutes before.
We had all gotten up at 0230hrs (that's 2:30 AM for you Liberals and O-Dark Hundred for you Vets) to get Wes over to his unit and then followed them all out to the DZ so we'd have him there by 0400hrs. As with all things military it turned out to be a true "hurry up and wait" situation. The Air Force could only get one C-130 to fly with over a hundred men to drop that day. Wes had been told he would jump at around 0600hrs or so. Due to the number of jumpers and having only one plane he had to wait on the tarmac (runway staging area) and we at the DZ until almost 1100. It was very breezy (about 20-25 mph winds) and COLD!!! To make matters worse, Wes's wife (Carrie) was pregnant, Shelle had the sniffles and the heater wasn't working in the van...oh yeah...and no one had gotten more than 2 hours sleep as we didn't stop chatting until after midnight!
I already mentioned Wes was a bit nervous. He hadn't jumped in over three months due to a knee injury, he didn't have a lot of jumps under his belt yet, and he had family there to watch him. Add that to his bad knee, the new aircraft and parachute he was being introduced to, not to mention the wet cold and he had a lot on his mind. ...and then, of course, there was the long wait.
Wes called to tell us he was airborne and then he and most of the other 'troopers started throwing up because of the heavy turbulence. The aircraft was doing full 60 mile circles to approach the DZ and was then waved off (by radio and red smoke) twice. Once was for high wind gusts on the ground and the second was for an injury on the ground.
Since we knew exactly when, where and which jumper was Wesley we were more than ready to see and photograph him. It took the bird more than an hour to make it's appearance, drop the first chalk (group) and then circle back around for Wesley's chalk to exit over the DZ. After the wave-offs we all watched the approach with collective held breaths. I started tracking the bird with my camera at it fullest telephoto and started counting the jumpers.
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11. Eleven! That's HIM!!!
CLICK, Click, Click, Click and on and on, like any proud parent - even if only a surrogate, until after he'd landed then we waited to see if any ambulances were being called out. We watched the DZSO's Humvee (Drop Zone Safety Officer's field vehicle) drive along the line counting the jumpers and checking for "screamers" (guys hurt). No red smoke. Good!
The chalk had all landed just past far low ridge of DZ so we couldn't see them actually hit the ground from the stands we were in or watch them recover their chutes. But we did slowly start to pick out one and then two and then more human figures making their way back to the check-in and chute turn-in area in front of the stands. We could make out some walking back carrying their chute-bags (on their backs) and reserves chutes on their chest. Most of these seemed to be the older jumpers and were mostly wearing the new greyer combat uniforms. But quickly passing them by and leading the way in were some obviously younger paratroopers racing one another to be the first back..."just showing off". This is a tradition that is taught in Airborne School at Fort Benning. Only the older experienced 'troopers are not required to "hustle" back in under a mere training jump scenario. This was especially true for this jump. It was a "make-up" jump for most of the soldiers and didn't require any combat equipment. That's about 100 lbs less weight and is termed a "Hollywood" jump.
We had binos and Shelle was desperately trying to locate Wesley in the group making their way in. She didn't seem to be having much luck so I waddled my way out past the turn-in area next to the observing Jump Officers and just started taking pictures as they came in. Sure enough, Wes was the second one in the group jogging the 500 plus yards across the DZ. He seemed surprised to see me so close and gave a pretty big smile.
I took more pictures as he checked in and then turned in his chute and reserve. The chalk he was in then had a brief meeting and he came to give Carrie and Shelle a hug and shake my hand. It was then that I noticed the riser burns on this neck and check. Not too bad...I'd certainly seen and treated worse. But it was evident something a little wrong might have happened up there.
Besides the stiff cold winds aloft, jumping from a C-130 requires a really good "push off to get well out the door to both clear the side of the fuselage and to quickly get out of the turbulence of the wings and engines. Something went a little wrong as Wesley came out twisting. This caused his risers (the strings that connect the paratrooper to his chute) to roll up just above his head. In doing so they also snapped across his chest and head leaving the riser burns on his neck and cheek. Tangled or twisted risers are NOT a good thing as you have NO control of your parachute. That means the jumper is usually "running with the wind." That also means he's often moving faster both forward and down, instead of dropping into the wind for a gentler, controlled and slower descent to the ground. Military chutes are designed to get you to the ground as fast but as safe as possible in a combat situation in which floating around "sight-seeing" is not conducive to a long and active life. This is why paratroopers never land standing up. They'd break things...like bones and internal organs. So they train to always land using one of several forms of PLF (Parachute Landing Fall) to break the force of the ground's impact. If you're a big guy like I was, this usually was the same PLF every time called the SOS (Sack-O-$h*t). Mostly I just tried not to "bounce" when I hit.
In this first of a sequence of photos I took (sorry, small camera and only 4.0 mega-pixels taken from way down below) you will see Wesley exit the plane in Exit Jump. Remember, the wind is always blowing from left to right in these photos.
[attachment 19944 Wes01Exit.jpg]
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In this next photo you will see that, although Wesley is in a good jump position, his chute has twisted risers (far bottom left jumper - Twisted Risers). Other paratroopers above and below him can usually see a situation quicker than he would and now call out his problem to him and immediately yell to him to start "peddling." This is common practice by all paratroopers to yell out emergency procedures to each other in case the jumper in trouble panics and has a total brain cramp. Vigorous bicycle peddling of the legs causes the trooper's body to stabilize any spinning and "shake loose" the twisted risers. The trick is to do it quick enough to open the risers, get control of the chute and, hopefully, turn back into the wind for a "controlled" landing.
[attachment 19945 Wes02TwistedRisers.jpg]
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In the photo, Out of Control, you can see Wes starting to quickly drop away from the rest of the other jumpers as his chute is now just riding the wind. The jumper above is an NCO riding down with him into the wind to help out with advice if he can. You can also see how Wesley's feet and knees are no longer together (compare him to the paratrooper above him) as he is peddling and kicking like mad at this point, believe ME! Been there...did that...got the wings AND the T-Shirt!
[attachment 19946 Wes03OutofControl.jpg]
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Below you get to see that Wesley finally recovers, just like you would from a twisted swing at the park in photo Recovery. You can see how the sudden untwisting forces his legs wide apart. This would be a very dangerous body position to actually to be in when you impact the ground. Something is going to break!
[attachment 19947 Wes04Recovery.jpg]
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But in Good Form you can see he quickly gets back into a good PLF position with toes, heels and knees tight together and knees bent while he focuses on the horizon and brings the chute back into the wind (L to R) only 30-50 feet above the ground. Phewww!!!
[attachment 19948 Wes05GoodForm.jpg]
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In the last picture Happy Landing Wesley's chute is seen as it collapses, meaning his body is already on the ground behind that berm.
[attachment 19949 Wes06HappyLanding.jpg]
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The day ended with only one ankle injury and just two reserve chutes being deployed!
Right now, Wesley is out in the field for a month. In about six-eight weeks he heads for Fort Polk, LA for pre-Iraq training including dealing with Arabs and Muslims, City Fighting, Convoy Security Procedures and the like. He is scheduled to be Iraq for his first overseas and combat tour sometime in July. Carrie's baby is also due in July.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures and the story. I'll post others of him safely on the ground a bit later...without all the pre-amble!
HH - Art SC
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.
Wesley planned to cell-phone us from the plane as to which flight, what chalk (group of jumpers) he would be in and what number in the chalk he would be, so we would know exactly which silhouette in the sky was him. This was the first time any family had ever seen him jump before and we (including Wes) were excited and nervous. Wes was a tad anxious as he had not jumped from a C-130 Hercules (a four-engined turbo prop military cargo/troop transport plane) nor had he jumped with the newer toggled chutes before.
We had all gotten up at 0230hrs (that's 2:30 AM for you Liberals and O-Dark Hundred for you Vets) to get Wes over to his unit and then followed them all out to the DZ so we'd have him there by 0400hrs. As with all things military it turned out to be a true "hurry up and wait" situation. The Air Force could only get one C-130 to fly with over a hundred men to drop that day. Wes had been told he would jump at around 0600hrs or so. Due to the number of jumpers and having only one plane he had to wait on the tarmac (runway staging area) and we at the DZ until almost 1100. It was very breezy (about 20-25 mph winds) and COLD!!! To make matters worse, Wes's wife (Carrie) was pregnant, Shelle had the sniffles and the heater wasn't working in the van...oh yeah...and no one had gotten more than 2 hours sleep as we didn't stop chatting until after midnight!
I already mentioned Wes was a bit nervous. He hadn't jumped in over three months due to a knee injury, he didn't have a lot of jumps under his belt yet, and he had family there to watch him. Add that to his bad knee, the new aircraft and parachute he was being introduced to, not to mention the wet cold and he had a lot on his mind. ...and then, of course, there was the long wait.
Wes called to tell us he was airborne and then he and most of the other 'troopers started throwing up because of the heavy turbulence. The aircraft was doing full 60 mile circles to approach the DZ and was then waved off (by radio and red smoke) twice. Once was for high wind gusts on the ground and the second was for an injury on the ground.
Since we knew exactly when, where and which jumper was Wesley we were more than ready to see and photograph him. It took the bird more than an hour to make it's appearance, drop the first chalk (group) and then circle back around for Wesley's chalk to exit over the DZ. After the wave-offs we all watched the approach with collective held breaths. I started tracking the bird with my camera at it fullest telephoto and started counting the jumpers.
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11. Eleven! That's HIM!!!
CLICK, Click, Click, Click and on and on, like any proud parent - even if only a surrogate, until after he'd landed then we waited to see if any ambulances were being called out. We watched the DZSO's Humvee (Drop Zone Safety Officer's field vehicle) drive along the line counting the jumpers and checking for "screamers" (guys hurt). No red smoke. Good!
The chalk had all landed just past far low ridge of DZ so we couldn't see them actually hit the ground from the stands we were in or watch them recover their chutes. But we did slowly start to pick out one and then two and then more human figures making their way back to the check-in and chute turn-in area in front of the stands. We could make out some walking back carrying their chute-bags (on their backs) and reserves chutes on their chest. Most of these seemed to be the older jumpers and were mostly wearing the new greyer combat uniforms. But quickly passing them by and leading the way in were some obviously younger paratroopers racing one another to be the first back..."just showing off". This is a tradition that is taught in Airborne School at Fort Benning. Only the older experienced 'troopers are not required to "hustle" back in under a mere training jump scenario. This was especially true for this jump. It was a "make-up" jump for most of the soldiers and didn't require any combat equipment. That's about 100 lbs less weight and is termed a "Hollywood" jump.
We had binos and Shelle was desperately trying to locate Wesley in the group making their way in. She didn't seem to be having much luck so I waddled my way out past the turn-in area next to the observing Jump Officers and just started taking pictures as they came in. Sure enough, Wes was the second one in the group jogging the 500 plus yards across the DZ. He seemed surprised to see me so close and gave a pretty big smile.
I took more pictures as he checked in and then turned in his chute and reserve. The chalk he was in then had a brief meeting and he came to give Carrie and Shelle a hug and shake my hand. It was then that I noticed the riser burns on this neck and check. Not too bad...I'd certainly seen and treated worse. But it was evident something a little wrong might have happened up there.
Besides the stiff cold winds aloft, jumping from a C-130 requires a really good "push off to get well out the door to both clear the side of the fuselage and to quickly get out of the turbulence of the wings and engines. Something went a little wrong as Wesley came out twisting. This caused his risers (the strings that connect the paratrooper to his chute) to roll up just above his head. In doing so they also snapped across his chest and head leaving the riser burns on his neck and cheek. Tangled or twisted risers are NOT a good thing as you have NO control of your parachute. That means the jumper is usually "running with the wind." That also means he's often moving faster both forward and down, instead of dropping into the wind for a gentler, controlled and slower descent to the ground. Military chutes are designed to get you to the ground as fast but as safe as possible in a combat situation in which floating around "sight-seeing" is not conducive to a long and active life. This is why paratroopers never land standing up. They'd break things...like bones and internal organs. So they train to always land using one of several forms of PLF (Parachute Landing Fall) to break the force of the ground's impact. If you're a big guy like I was, this usually was the same PLF every time called the SOS (Sack-O-$h*t). Mostly I just tried not to "bounce" when I hit.
In this first of a sequence of photos I took (sorry, small camera and only 4.0 mega-pixels taken from way down below) you will see Wesley exit the plane in Exit Jump. Remember, the wind is always blowing from left to right in these photos.
[attachment 19944 Wes01Exit.jpg]
.
In this next photo you will see that, although Wesley is in a good jump position, his chute has twisted risers (far bottom left jumper - Twisted Risers). Other paratroopers above and below him can usually see a situation quicker than he would and now call out his problem to him and immediately yell to him to start "peddling." This is common practice by all paratroopers to yell out emergency procedures to each other in case the jumper in trouble panics and has a total brain cramp. Vigorous bicycle peddling of the legs causes the trooper's body to stabilize any spinning and "shake loose" the twisted risers. The trick is to do it quick enough to open the risers, get control of the chute and, hopefully, turn back into the wind for a "controlled" landing.
[attachment 19945 Wes02TwistedRisers.jpg]
.
In the photo, Out of Control, you can see Wes starting to quickly drop away from the rest of the other jumpers as his chute is now just riding the wind. The jumper above is an NCO riding down with him into the wind to help out with advice if he can. You can also see how Wesley's feet and knees are no longer together (compare him to the paratrooper above him) as he is peddling and kicking like mad at this point, believe ME! Been there...did that...got the wings AND the T-Shirt!
[attachment 19946 Wes03OutofControl.jpg]
.
Below you get to see that Wesley finally recovers, just like you would from a twisted swing at the park in photo Recovery. You can see how the sudden untwisting forces his legs wide apart. This would be a very dangerous body position to actually to be in when you impact the ground. Something is going to break!
[attachment 19947 Wes04Recovery.jpg]
.
But in Good Form you can see he quickly gets back into a good PLF position with toes, heels and knees tight together and knees bent while he focuses on the horizon and brings the chute back into the wind (L to R) only 30-50 feet above the ground. Phewww!!!
[attachment 19948 Wes05GoodForm.jpg]
.
In the last picture Happy Landing Wesley's chute is seen as it collapses, meaning his body is already on the ground behind that berm.
[attachment 19949 Wes06HappyLanding.jpg]
.
The day ended with only one ankle injury and just two reserve chutes being deployed!
Right now, Wesley is out in the field for a month. In about six-eight weeks he heads for Fort Polk, LA for pre-Iraq training including dealing with Arabs and Muslims, City Fighting, Convoy Security Procedures and the like. He is scheduled to be Iraq for his first overseas and combat tour sometime in July. Carrie's baby is also due in July.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures and the story. I'll post others of him safely on the ground a bit later...without all the pre-amble!
HH - Art SC
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He was gonna go up again,but they suggested he try another hobby!! I give him credit though,for doing it. My oldest Brother,Joey,(a Sargent Major) was in the 101st Airborne,Made plenty of jumps.Was in Korean War,two tours of Nam,survived it all. Ended up dying a paripaligic from a car accident.. RJ