I never went Airborne, though I had many opportunities. I was actually supposed to go right after language school, but because my graduation was delayed – and due to the budget crisis of 1995 – I never made it in and never made a big deal out of it.
My first platoon sergeant was a career Airborne troop and spent most of his military life in the 82nd. He was broke! His legs were bad, he knees were shot, and he could barely walk. He was the crusty senior NCO most people think of when they of crusty NCOs. I’m sure he was the standard bearer. So, after serving under him, I decided maybe I don’t want Airborne so that I can walk when I’m older. Military chutes just fall too fast and I’m not a big fan of pain.
But, someone has to do it, as this photo by A1C George Goslin shows. To be fair, I’ve heard great things about the new MC-4 chutes. They couldn’t do much worse than the old T-10 that has been around since the 1950′s, which is what this photo is of. This chute has a drop rate of about 23 feet per second, while the MC-4 is about 16 feet per second.
I like this photo cause it almost looks like the plane is about to clip a very large paratrooper and then the one on top looks like he’s trying to land on the plane. A lot of visual distortions that just make it fun to stare at. And I’m glad they are up there and not me!
U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron’s airborne flight jump from a C-17 Globemaster III during a training exercise at Alamo, Nev., May 12, 2011. The jumps were part of the 414th Combat Search and Rescue Squadron’s training and certification of 3 RED HORSE Airmen as drop zone control officers, enabling the RED HORSE Airmen to perform jump missions and operate their own drop zones.
