Unique Airborne Ops?

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

Finally got on a German jump off a CH-47 Chinnook and it was scratched today; rescheduled for next Tuesday.

I've never jumped off a damn helicopter. Was just wondering if anyone had any unique Airborne experiences they would like to share.

Ill be sure to post a pic on my pearly new German wings... Cross your fingers for decent weather.

-CV

[FILO]

Do the Germans have CH-47s in their inventory? It been a few years, but I recall they used 2 types of cargo/utility airframes: CH-53 & UH-1. Personally I never observed or ever heard of them using CH-47s. Certainly this may have changed or are you jumping German chutes and using German JM's out of US. aircraft?

Anyway, I always enjoyed rotary wing jumps, except combat equipment out of a UH-1-----that damm skid can sure hurt if you hit your backside on the exit.

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

USAF Commander in charge of the bird-side-of-things will not let us jump out of a foreign aircraft. I as of yet do not know why. So in the meantime we will be jumping out of the 47s.

[Airbornelawyer]

Jumping out of CH-47s is like taking a nice short walk, with that last step being a long one.

We had a jump on the Naval Academy Dairy Farm once where we jumped in 8-12 mph winds gusting to 20-30. I think our Group Commander was in a hurry to get to altitude to do his HALO jump, so as soon as the DZSO reported a break in the winds, we started jumping. People were dragged all over the DZ. This DZ was full of troublesome obstacles (a culvert full of concrete chunks, a power relay station at one end, a manure pond at the other end), but luckily no one was seriously injured that day. We did have a cherry jumper drown in the manure pond once though.

[Psywar1-0]

A DZ in Hondo that one of the things to avoid was was the mine field at the trail edge.

Another DZ in Hondo that you had to land between the rows of pineapples.

Jumping Static Line at Raeford out of Casas and not landing in the farmers field. He chased the 4th Psyop Group commander across the field with his shotgun!

Chasing a FARRP out of a MC130 Blind Drop that was on Fire (The airplane, not the FARRP). This was on Venado in Panama. FARRP didnt make the DZ, landed dam near on top of the FSG BBQ on the Beach.

[NousDefionsDoc]

Chasing a FARRP out of a MC130 Blind Drop that was on Fire (The airplane, not the FARRP). This was on Venado in Panama. FARRP didnt make the DZ, landed dam near on top of the FSG BBQ on the Beach.

I believe I was there that day, jumping HALO with some boys from Navy EOD and ST4.

Jumping Hondo with Hondo chutes out of Honduran aircraft (or any other country for that matter).

C5A

The pool at Davis (watch the light poles in front of the TMC).

Any demo jump (something always seems to go...)

[The Reaper]

Static Line on the Battlefield at Gettysburg, PA.

Jumping over Siena, Italy with the Italian Parachute Brigade CG.

Jumping Stroessner International Airport with Paraguayans who had been issued either steel helmets, or liners, but not both. They tied them on with 80lb. test they borrowed from our riggers. They were using paper clips or strands of stripped electrical wire as safety wire on the static line snap hooks. Most of them were under 100 lbs., we later found out that some of them were as young as 13 and had never actually jumped before.

HALO from the ramp of a C-141B over Grenada, postage stamp Drop Zone between the ocean and the mountains, with a parallel active highway and power lines for added excitement, 135 lb. ruck and a total of over 200 lbs. of gear strapped to each swinging Richard, finally break through the overcast to see the DZ at about 2,000 ft., yelling to the JM (the Team Sergeant), "screw it, lets go for it!" Discovering that Team Sergeants are pretty smart guys when he gives us the "No Jump" signal.

HALO train-up with the Golden Knights, where they ask us what kind of rigs we have (MC-3 with chest mounted reserve), and then telling us they saw one in a museum once. Also asking about us jumping rucks (what are those for?) and we had to explain why you would want to have a ruck upon arrival.

Any jump with Gary O. on board.

TR

[NousDefionsDoc]

Any jump with Gary O. on board.

Ain't that the truth. LOL

Gettysburg - very cool.

[Bill Harsey]

NDD, sorry to do this to the thread, sent you email. End.

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

Awesome experiences

[BMT (RIP)]

Nothing really unique about my story!! Anyone been 10th man out the door on a 6 second DZ?? Circa '65 the Branch Committe used a DZ at the North end of Lake James Pisgah NF. WX front moving in and they decdided to jump 10 each pass from a C-123.

I got a peek at the DZ . You have all seen pictures of a small country chruch with a graveyard. Opened over the trees and no way to run towards the DZ.

My choice was the chruch steeple, powerlines,gravel road or the graveyard. The graveyard looked most promising and that were I slipped to land. More family size headstones than I had ever see.

I landed between some of those giant size headstones and recovered.
Preacher cameout and said"son why didn't you land on the road?" I said because of the powerlines.Hesaid the power been off all afternoon,like I knew they were dead.

BMT

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

Made the jump off the UH-47 and got the German Wings, but this pails in comparison to all of your great experiences. I hope I can experience a few in my career.

-CV

[QRQ 30]

While in the 7th in 1974 we had winter training at Ft. Greely, Alaska. The final pjhase was to be a one week trek across the frozen tundra to "blow up" the Alyaska Pipeline.

We inserted by parachute from a Chinook. It was -40 deg in the AO and we dressed accordingly, plus rucksacks, weapons and skis. When inserting troops the crew of the aircraft are to maintain a temperature below 32 deg. This crew didn't do so. I don't know what the temp was but the crew wasn't wearing much more than their flight suits.

Since it was to be the last "decent" meal for a week we chowed down copious amounts of SOS, and whatever else was available. We were on triple rations. I also had copious amounts of orange juice. When we boarded the shithook it was unbearably hot for us who were dressed for minus forty degrees. In addition my breakfast started reacting with the libations of the previous night. We asked the crew chief to turn down the heat and he just grinned. Well, finally, about ten minutes out from the DZ my stomach had had enough. I knew I was going to barf so instead of using a barf bag I saw and used the tray from the crew chief's tool box -- he, he, he.. I wasn't the only one and I hope the stench and mess got to the crew. My overwhites ended up over-oranges from the orange juice.

BTW: We jumped German Nord Atlases while in Germany. We also jumped Wellingtons while in Scotland with the SAS. You exit through a hatch in the floor.

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

hatch in the floor!? Damn, I want that jump...

[CommoGeek]

Originally posted by ChaoticVirtuoso
hatch in the floor!? Damn, I want that jump...

That's how many OSS agents were inserted during WWII. The hole was pretty tiny from the photos that I saw.

[Solid]

IIRC, the hatches would often fail to open because (I'm guessing) of the vacuum created on the outside of the hatch by the rushing air. I remember hearing of one poor man who fell out of the hatch when he managed to finally get it open. I think it was for Operation Pegasus, and he ended up in the sea.

The British also only jumped with one chute, no reserves.

Solid

[QRQ 30]

When I was there we used our reserves and their mains -- T-7s. We took some MC-1s with us for them to try.

[Robertson]

When I was in BCT my drill sergeant said he was a rough terrain jumper. He said he would put on a fully body suit of padding and a motocross helmet and jump into thick forest. He would jump with a small chain saw and an M4. He was a combat engineer and he said he did this to make DZ's. Anyone ever hear of this? He said there is only a handfull who do this.



-Robertson

[QRQ 30]

I taught rough terrain jumping in Panama. We wore the same padded suites that "Smoke Jumpers" used. These were basically as described.

The precess was quite simple and fun as long as you hung up in a big tree. The lowering process was to tie one end of a 120 ft rope through the risers. The other end was attached to the rucksack. The ruck sack was not lowered until you were ready to rapell down - it provided additional protection while crashing through the trees. The rucksack is released and hopefully it hits the ground. If it doesn't you can sit on it and take other measures such as using the reserve. A snap-link is attached to a D-ring on the harness and the rope inserted as for normal rapelling. You then release the capewells and rapell to the ground.

What the DI said about clearing an LZ with a chain caw is possible but I found that a "Daisy Cutter" was much quicker and easier.

[CommoGeek]

Originally posted by Robertson
When I was in BCT my drill sergeant said he was a rough terrain jumper. He said he would put on a fully body suit of padding and a motocross helmet and jump into thick forest. He would jump with a small chain saw and an M4. He was a combat engineer and he said he did this to make DZ's. Anyone ever hear of this? He said there is only a handfull who do this.



-Robertson

20th Engineers at Bragg do this. His story sounds about right from what little I've read on the subject.

[Robertson]

CommoGeek and QRQ 30,

He did mention using Daisy Cutters and also mentioned that he was stationed at Bragg during the time. He mentioned Daisy Cutters but then said that he used the Chainsaw. I remember when he was telling us what he did I said to myself : That's a bad ass job.

His duty was up last year and he was trying to get into the SOC at Bragg but due to the lack of DS's they extended him one more year and he became a SDS. He was looking forward to getting into the SOC at Bragg. Last I heard he had a child and is now spending time with him/her.


Thanks for the information,

-Robertson

[CommoGeek]

Google kicks ass:
http://www.army.mil/soldiers/mar1999/features/terrain2.html

http://www.bragg.army.mil/27eng/B%20Co/B_CO.htm

So, it is B Co., 27th Engineer BN, 20th Engineer BDE. that does it.

Pretty cool, actually. The first link has some hyperlinks on the left with more info.

[QRQ 30]

A similar system to ours but I think our system was simpler.

1. We tied the rope throught the risers. There was no need to modify the risers. Any parachute was used. The only hazard was if Gomer tied his rope around instead of through the risers.

2. There was no special harness or need to get out of the parachute harness. We wore enough already. If you have ever seen dogs trained to attack, the suites used by the "victims" are similar. Very bu;ky with all of the padding.. The parachute harness was perfectly safe for rapelling, r4emember you just rode it down from an aircraft.

3. Rather than get out of the parachute harness you merely release the canopy releas devices. One at a time to ensure that you properly tied your rope THRU the risers.

Other soldiers lift the trainees 20 to 30 feet in the air. The blindfolded trainees then take their letdown lines out of the pockets of their RT suits and tie the letdown lines to their modified parachute risers. Then they connect the lines to their built-in rappeling harnesses, lower the lines, use their "brake" hands to get locked in place, get out of their parachute harnesses and rappel to the ground..

[CommoGeek]

QRQ,

But you KNOW someone received an impact ARCOM for those changes, maybe even a bullet on his OER/ NCOER.....

[ChaoticVirtuoso]

Damn, those 20th Engineers keep taking my parking spot. I work right next them... Sounds like a fun job, I must admit.

-CV