Oh sweet irony!!

[GQ_jumper 4]

I walk into work the other day to meet the new guy on the team, cool guy, he's got a decent amount of experience in the Army including some combat experience. I also noticed the combat patch on his shoulder, it was from one of our airborne units in Italy. The same unit that happened to make a combat jump into an airfield in northern Iraq, an airfield which happened to have been secured by a Special Forces team and 1000 Kurdish fighters a week before said combat jump occured. I seem to remember one of my teammates talking quite a bit of trash after the invasion about how he was on the ground on a secured airfield telling the commander of a certain airborne unit from Italy via radio that the airfield was secured by Americans and Kurds and they were able to land the aircraft and not put themselves at risk by jumping in. The commander of the airborne unit opted for the jump anyways(can we say badge chaser), everyone in the unit ended up with a combat jump star(despite the airfield being previously secured). The best part of the entire jump was when all the troops hit the ground and got to the assembly point to find hot coffee and hot dogs being served by a certain SF team!

So I think everyone here can put 2 and 2 together and imagine the amount of trash talking that ensued when our new guy set foot in the team room. I of course made said trash talking worse by spending the entire day taking every opportunity to mention to my warrant officer(the one that was on the airfield during the jump) that we now have a member of the team with a combat jump and he is therefore the toughest bastard in the room because of this.

I do have to say though, the new guy had a good sense of humor about the whole thing, we know he had nothing to do with making the decision, he's one of the troops and does what the mission calls for. If he can take a day of trash talking from the guys I work with and come out with a smile on his face he'll do great on the team.

It was just so amusing to see someone walk in the room whose previous unit had been such a thorn in my warrant's side for the last few years. Seeing him suffer warms my heart I now have an easy way to push his buttons whenever I feel like, I LOVE IT!!

Anyways, have a nice night everyone

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[billvon 3,132]

>Seeing him suffer warms my heart

Years ago I was down at Brown, and I went over to the Argus to get lunch. Once there I overheard two Navy guys talking about their upcoming jumps.

"Yeah, it's great, man. Are you going static line? Static line SUCKS! It totally sucks the big one. You're never going to learn anything!" the big one said to the little one.

"Well, it's not _that_ bad, I mean . . . ." he looked lost for words.

"Static line has a few advantages," I said, butting in. "Better training for low exits, better spotting skills, and definitely more time under canopy. Given that canopy training is . . . ."

"Oh, you too?" he said. "I'm tellin ya, AFF is the way to go! You're never going to learn anything jumping out at, what, 3000 feet? You gotta see what it's like to freefall. Once you do, you'll never go back."

"OK." Didn't really want to argue with the guy, who was quite puffed up over his performance on his level I.

I got my food and walked back. The two guys were behind me. I passed Denny, who was just getting back with the last load.

"Hey Denny, how'd it go?"

"Fine, fine. He had no problems."

"Cool."

Big guy looked at me and at Denny. "Uh, do you know Master Chief Chalker?" he asked me quietly.

"Yeah," I said. He looked worried.

Well, as fate would have it, I had the big guy as a student on the next load. Denny was reserve side. The guy's eyes got big - he'd been bragging on his jump to me, and apparently I was in the legendary Denny Chalker's ranks!

"Hey, Bill, can I go main side on this one? I know this knucklehead," asked Denny.

"Uh, sure, but let Dave spot. Uppers are funky."

"OK!"

I'd never seen anyone actually turn green before, but this guy came close. Denny was asking my permission for something, and therefore I outranked him (in my reconstruction of how the guy saw it later.) And I didn't have to say a word about it.

[GQ_jumper 4]

That's just funny

I gotta hand it to the new guy though, he hasn't talked a word of trash since he's been on the team(more than I can say!). I've done all the trash talkin for him just to get our warrant fired up

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Gawain 0]

I had heard about this before. So, cool, they got their combat jump in. Shortly thereafter, I heard that same unit had to walk up a wet, muddy mountain (with a full kit) to capture one of Saddam's palaces...I don't suppose your team had to worry about that...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[GQ_jumper 4]

I had heard about this before. So, cool, they got their combat jump in. Shortly thereafter, I heard that same unit had to walk up a wet, muddy mountain (with a full kit) to capture one of Saddam's palaces...I don't suppose your team had to worry about that...

Quote

Different airfield bro, this one was way up north near the Kurdish areas, trust me, Saddam didn't have too many palaces up there.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Quote

[happythoughts 0]

My dad was at the dz once and jumpers were chatting with him.

"Are you gonna do a jump? You should try it."
"I've done one."
"Really? A tandem?"
"No, our bomber was going down over N Africa one night and we had to bail out."


A night jump under a round in mountainous terrain.
(The co-pilot broke his leg just after getting line stretch.)

I guess that qualifies.

[GQ_jumper 4]

One of my buddies I went through some training with a few years back jumped into Panama, of all the planes that flew that mission less than half of them flew again after making it home. He said when the green light came on one of the guys at the back of the stack hit the floor and screamed "I quit" so they went around him and kept on going, turns out he said "I'm hit", rounds coming through the floor of the plane caught him in the leg and the guy still drug himself out the door with a round in his thigh.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower