July-August - Air Defense Artillery

cd out the door, and maybe pull the
damn arm off. That's OK with me,
except I got to kick your arm outa the
way," this was illustrated graphically
with a violent kick. "before the next man
can "jump. \ "hile I kick your arm outa
the way, the rest of the stick is crowding
forward, so you risk the lives of good
soldiers because you can't do what you
are told."
The sergeant spat disgustedly out of
the door, gave another lusty kick at the
imaginary arm in the door and we continued
with our practice, each mentally
resolved not to ever get our hand the
wrong way around that static line. To
lose an arm would be bad, but to suffer
the sergeant's public scorn would be
worse.
THE nrst time we really sweated was
in the ~ lock Tower area.
\Vhile a i\lock Door is only two feet
above the ground, a Mock Tower practice
plane stands on top of tall 34 foot
telephone poles. That may not sound
high but, believe me, it is easy to confuse
a Mock Tower with the Empire
State Building, if you arc up there looking
down with the idea of jumping off.
There is a door so you can jump out,
and straps from a harness are attached
to you, in a way that allows you to fall
some ten feet toward the earth, and then
you arc brought up with a jerk, to dangle
in the air on a cable that delivers you to
a sawdust landing pile.
This is the place that the men arc
separated from the boys, the place where
you and everybody else nnds out if you
have the one ingredient without which
you can never be a paratrooper: The
nerve and will to jump.
As in the Mock Door, when you exit
from the tower you follow a definite
64
technique: Drop earthward feet first;
tuck your head forward; place both
hands over the resen-e 'chute on your
chest; count "one-thousand, two-thousand,
three-thousand."
~Iy nrst time out of the door is something
I don't remember very clearly, except
that I'm glad I'll ne\-er ha\'e to do
that for the nrst time again. It was not
until my third jump from the tower that
the sergeant said:
"That was satisfactory, Colone1."
In every practice jump, ~Iock Tower
or ~ lock Door, each man counts aloud
and loudly: "One-thousand, two-thousand,
three-thousand."
Why?
Because a parachute jump is normally
at a height of only 1,000 feet or lower.
Figure it .out yourself, after you have
fallen for three seconds, and your main
'chute has not opened, there isn't much
time left in which to pull your reserve.
The count is to measure the three seconds,
and your life may depend on doing
this.
Or to express it the way one of our
dear sergeants phrased it:
"So you don't like to be in no hurry
... well, you better like it. In this
business seconds mean life or deatheither
you pick up your 'chute and walk
away, or they pick you up in a shovel.
You guys better get that straight."
If the wind is blowing, your inHated
'chute will drag you over the countryside
unless you know how to collapse it. So
we learned how.
As usual, any new activity was opened
with one of our hot sergeants giving us
the hot oil about how to do it.
"This here is a parachute." one instructor
explained solemnly, holding up
the folds of the mottled greenish sky
umbrella.
"These 'chutes are made of nylon," he
..-. ~ ... --- ~"':""-6
Fairchild Aircraft Photo--bv Dan Frankfurt"
Airborne takeoff.
shook out the folds of the soft fabric in
front of us, "and nylon is smooth and
nice to touch, in case you didn't know."
He looked around at us, dead pan.
We all looked back at him, also dead
pan, because nobody wanted to be told,
'This ain't funny, all you men wearing
smiles, down on the ground and knock
out ten."
That knock Ollt ten was with us all
day, e\'ef)' day, everywhere we went. It
meant that the culprit who had in SOme
way incurred the sergeant's displeasure,
must execute ten push-ups. That is,
drop full length on the ground, supporting
his body on his toes and hands, and
chin himself on the ground ten times.
This is not punishment, according to
the Airborne School. It is a quickening
exercise that keeps you alert (to avoid
it), or (if you don't avoid it) the ten
push.ups develop the muscle that covers
your shoulder blade, which is one of the
"points of contact" when you make a
landing fall.
From the Mock Tower area we ad.
vanced to the High Tower area. Here
we were hauled up on a cable and
dropped from 250 foot high steel towers
in real 'chutes. And it was here we
learned about the only situation in which
a paratrooper is allowed to swear.
If one 'chute ever gets close to and directly
over another, the lower 'chute may
steal the air and the top 'chute collapse,
which may drop the upper man on top
of the lower 'chute, collapsing it also.
This is not nearly so dangerous as it may
sound if you know what to do.
It is because of this inherent danger
of a collapsed 'chute that a paratrooper
is authorized to swear when another
jumper lands on top of his 'chute. At
such times it is permissible for the lower
man to rear back, and shout to the man
above:
"Get the hell off my canopy!"
One day I stopped in at my training
company orderly room, and there had a
brief chat with an old-timer, the nrst
sergeant. There was a sign on his desk,
facing the door. It read:
"}'ollr story has touched my heart.
Never have I met an)'one with
A'fore trollbles than )'011 have.
Please accept my sincere sympathy."
"\Vell, Sergeant," I said, "I guess you
hear a good many reasons why they
haven't got what it takes."
The sergeant gave me a quick look
and said feelingly, "I sure do, Colonel.
ANTIAIRCRAFT JOURNAL