Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Military Night snow parachute drop

Very entertaining at 2AM with bundles of snow shoes and cross-country skiis...out of a 141 SL with spitting snow and 19 degrees F.
Adventure training-Special Forces style, as an alternative to returning combat veterans from Vietnam.

Cracked an M-16 on the only rock outcropping anywhere on the DZ. Realistic for Germany-Austria or the Russian border country.
Some of us spoke German and/or Russian. Very useful if your chute carried one too far... Rolex Submariner took it all in stride-visible to the left as an old avatar.

Winter jumps are interesting.

One time on DZ malamute on elmendorf we did a night jump. Cold as hell and luckily I was tasked to man the DZ

On the first stick, 2 Marines collided and released from their mains. 1 pulled his reserve, other just dropped. 2nd Marines reserve deployed just before he hit the ground. Doc and I got to him and he was unconscious. I waved off the rest of the sticks and closed the DZ.

Doc stabilized him loaded him up and started hauling ass to the hospital.

This was pre cell phone and radios sucked so range control was limited on info.

I had that HMMWV spooled up doing the 18 miles to the hospital. Actually had a couple cops chasing me when I hit the hard pack. I wasn't stopping.

At the ER, cops were gonna throw me down until we unloaded the Marine out of the back (on a stretcher, still unconscious) and they knew it was an emergency.

I was watching GI's drop out of C-130's at the Klaxon drop zone Ft. Richardson one day coming down from B Btry. At about 1000 ASL there is a pull off point that let's you look north and at the base of the mountain was Klaxon. These guys and their airplanes were pretty much right at my level so the view was good. Paratrooper #6 came out of the C-130 and his chute candle sticked. I watched him pass the other 5 lucky grunts with open chutes and after he passed the lowest one his chute popped open.

As I recall the hospital at the time was on Elmendorf. It would of been a long ride for him if that chute had not decided to open up. I'm guessing at around 900 feet above the ground, that gives a guy what, 15 seconds before impact ?? A lot of decisions would have to be made in real short order about that reserve chute.

kwg

The reserve chute may not always be an answer... we lost a good Captain at 10th Group, just back from a MACVSOG combat tour. The aircraft was a DeHavilland Beaver with cramped space for jumpers. In moving around, his reserve activated and being spring-loaded, it pulled him out. Unfortunately fuselage contact broke his neck and severed his carotid artery.
Left a wife and young daughter. The extra hazardous duty jump pay monthly is earned...

Like the M-26....when the pin is pulled, Mr. grenade is no longer your friend...

The Iowa National Guard flew Grasshoppers and Beavers up until about 1964 maybe 65. By then they had Hillers and Bells. The Hueys came in around 1968. The last thing I would want is to be stuffed into the back of a Beaver waiting to jump out of it. It's unfortunate the good Captain lost his life in such a way. No amount of jump pay would be worth it.

kwg

What more timeless fun could be had than loading up the FLA with a patient then rushing him on post with the radio antenna still fully upright? Often times we smashed the bottom of every traffic light to pieces. I got called into the garrison commanders office once at Ft. Campbell after a busy night of jump coverage. I transported a patient who had an open femur fracture with profuse bleeding and some of his blood was still on my uniform. I told the commander and his CSM that patients come first and securing the radio antenna was not my priority. They weren't happy getting that answer from a PFC but my 1SG got a kick out of it. I lost a few hours sleep but that was about all my punishment amounted to.