Poll: Military Service

[Marc]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

And of course, when you're a paratrooper, you really want to know the weather, particularly what the wind will be like at the DZ."

I served as professional paratrooper in the BRIPAC ("Brigada Paracaista", the Spanish airborne brigade). And one of the most enervating things about one particular officer was the typical " Wind zero knots over the drop zone" prior to go on board the plane. More often It was not true. Probably he had a problem with the "knot" concept. These barbaric and non-metric measure units!!!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Marc

I served as professional paratrooper in the BRIPAC ("Brigada Paracaista", the Spanish airborne brigade). And one of the most enervating things about one particular officer was the typical " Wind zero knots over the drop zone" prior to go on board the plane. More often It was not true. Probably he had a problem with the "knot" concept. These barbaric and non-metric measure units!!!

I don't think I've ever jumped with zero wind!

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I don't think I've ever jumped with zero wind!

LOL... I remember the one jump we did into Honduras in 1989. There ground controllers from what I heard gave the wind at just under what we were allowed to jump. Of course, the wind was much faster.

I remember enough jumps that happen at back at Bragg where it seemed the days when their was no wind or lot of wind gust, no was jumping. Yet, others when there was slight breeze at the barrack outside and you would see C130s and C141s take off with troops all day to make various jumps around the base.

I probably should of been rejected due to having asthma that was never diagnosed. That with seasonal allergies. After broken ankle on another jump, where the wind was marginal at Camp Blanding and getting two bolts in my ankle and still less than year in. No way I would get any training out of 11B MOS as E-2, and I was discharged. Oh well. Took 18 years to get the paper work to get the 30% disability, but a lot of that was my fault. Just glad I hadn't gotten right away, though, or the divorce from the 1st wife would of been nightmare.

Abbott

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

I remember enough jumps that happen at back at Bragg where it seemed the days when their was no wind or lot of wind gust, no was jumping. Yet, others when there was slight breeze at the barrack outside and you would see C130s and C141s take off with troops all day to make various jumps around the base.

I've never jumped with no wind, but it must happen -- they gave us a quick blurb on what to do if there's no wind in Jump School. (Basically, Sergeant Airborne just said, "Pick a direction to roll.")

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I've never jumped with no wind, but it must happen -- they gave us a quick blurb on what to do if there's no wind in Jump School. (Basically, Sergeant Airborne just said, "Pick a direction to roll.")

Yeah but Paul remember Division Barracks were protected a bit compare to the actual wind/breeze may find on any of the drop zones...lol

There were times where you wouldn't thing there was any breeze while at Division area, main post, or at Pope but take a little flight and you jump with plenty of wind... Funny how a couple miles and various elevation changes the breeze.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

Yeah but Paul remember Division Barracks were protected a bit compare to the actual wind/breeze may find on any of the drop zones...lol

There were times where you wouldn't thing there was any breeze while at Division area, main post, or at Pope but take a little flight and you jump with plenty of wind... Funny how a couple miles and various elevation changes the breeze.

Like Sicily DZ -- always a lot of wind there.

In jump school, the zoomies screwed up, turned on the green light at the wrong time, and overrode the objections of the jumpmaster. A stick got dropped into the wood at the edge of the DZ. They looked like a drawer of knives fell on them. But they were all back the next day to jump.

I had a lot of fun during jump week. I had gotten hemorrhoids the weekend before, and they were with me all week. Every opening shock...OUCH!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I had a lot of fun during jump week. I had gotten hemorrhoids the weekend before, and they were with me all week. Every opening shock...OUCH!

The OTHER kind of "roid rage".

[HorseSoldier]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I don't think I've ever jumped with zero wind!

I've seen some wind meters held inside the back of a humvee ambulance to determine that winds were zero on the DZ. What the guys coming in on the jump actually experienced might have varied . . .

[Wereferret]

I'm the *other* Coastie on your boards here, still active duty but finishing up a two year graduate program at the University of Washington in Seattle in Marine Affairs, so essentially a little two year break from the uniform and general responsibility. I'm headed this summer to Charleston, S.C. to a Fisheries Enforcement Training Center that covers the mid-Atlantic region (and very happy, Charleston is a GREAT town). I'm at heart a marine biology/fisheries nerd, but it does occasionally pay off with cool adventures (tagging Salmon Sharks in Alaska and living on a pristine beach for two weeks in an Mexican reserve studying coral with 17 female co-ed grad students!)

Prior to that its been all ships, first a high-endurance cutter (similar to a frigate) out of Seattle doing alternating counter drug trips down near Columbia and Ecuador and fisheries patrols up in the Bering Sea. Then a patrol boat in Bahrain, doing critical infrastructure defense in Iraq and training IQ Navy/Marines, and counter piracy in Iraq and Horn of Africa. Then I was lucky enough to command a little patrol boat with a great crew in, of all places my hometown of Corpus Christi, TX.

I got into T2K recently and play with some of my fiancee's friends and a couple army buddies from high school. Enjoyed reading this thread and seeing the diversity of backgrounds. Thanks to everyone who served during our previous wars and highly uncertain times in our recent past.

- Brandon

[Rapparee]

Another FNG here lads! Couldn't resist making my first post here!

I'm a weekend warrior, student by day and in the Irish Reserve Defence Forces as part of the Medical Corp in the Southern Brigade. Pretty handy for me since my company's based in Limerick, around five miles from where I go to college, studying English and History after a tenure in Business and German. The way its going, I've the next four years in the Reserve to look forward to at least and its a fair bit of craic so I find! Thanks to the international recession, I've been capped as a 2star private, just waiting for the economy to pick up before we finally get our full qualifications!

Still its interesting. My unit seems comprised of either out-of shape wannabes or else obnoxious know-it-alls, but then again, this is the reserve. We generally get parcelled out to units on exercise according to our fitness so being scarcely two decades old and quite a spring chicken, I'm always with the infantry. I'm meant to be assigned to a section, but due to manpower constraints, usually find myself with an unexpected promotion to platoon medic which causes some friction with section commanders who find themselves equal to a jumped up private!

Only been in it a year, but since I've the basics out of the way, hope to get granted my Ambulance Skills and courses done over the next two summers (EFR to EMT standard). Until then, I'm relegated to carrying the basic medical kit and taking turns muling the GPMG around the place!

T2K and T2K13, I only discovered in the last year or two (product of the dying months of '89, my apolagies mo chairde!) and have been trying to hook my ad hoc group of gamers towards it. They're generally a D&D crowd(which I've grown out of!) and nWoD so I've started reeling them towards it with a game of CoC, then a Delta Green campaign set in Vietnam and then hopefully, onward to T2K! Wish me luck!

Fág an Beallach!

P.S. Its interesting to hear the experiences of the servicemen from different countries here. One of the guys I climb with just finished up 12 years in the Bundeswehr and is back to college, studying over here. While there might be differences, the bullshit seems to be the same everywhere!

[TiggerCCW UK]

Welcome to the forum! Nice to see another Irish man on here, even if you are at the opposite end of the country

[Targan]

Good to have you join us Rapparee. Welcome to the forum.

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

I've seen some wind meters held inside the back of a humvee ambulance to determine that winds were zero on the DZ. What the guys coming in on the jump actually experienced might have varied . . .

You mean that wasn't standard SOP for using the wind meter...lol

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

You mean that wasn't standard SOP for using the wind meter...lol

It's kind of like putting the wet-bulb hygrometer over the ice water bag...

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

It's kind of like putting the wet-bulb hygrometer over the ice water bag...

That was when they were still running two miles in NBC suits and protective masks...in the middle of a Fort Benning summer!