It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her.
— Ernest Hemingway
Out of 10,000 feet of fall, always remember that the last half inch hurts the most.
— Captain Charles W. Purcell, 1932
I went back to work last week to find that the schedule had huge holes in it, and not a lot of options for filling it.
As the Chief of Scheduling for my unit, I get to see all the missions and work with the various sections to fill the crews. I also happen to be the Navigator scheduler, so I work very closely
with the unit's Nav force which includes Technicians (like me), Traditional Reservists (Part-timers, with regular jobs), and Bums (guys who don't have regular civilian jobs, and like the vagabond Reserve life.. ready to take any mission that comes along).
The one hole I couldn't fill in the two days I had back was a Navigator on a crew flying out to Yuma to provide 7 days of airlift support for the Military Free Fall school, located at the Yuma Proving Grounds. I contacted all my Nav's, and found pretty much every one had either just come back from long missions, had work commitments, or were already scheduled for something. That left one last option: I looked in the mirror.
So, after a day of rest, I headed out again to
the desert sands. This time it was Yuma, Arizona, home of a major army test center, and the world's best military free-fall parachute school. Our job was to provide 7-12 lifts per day to roughly 30-75 students and instructors as they try to complete a very rigorous combat parachute training course. Each lift consists of taxiing over to the "school house;" loading up 30 or so students, instructors, jumpmasters, and video cameramen; taking off and climbing as fast as possible to 13,000 feet; navigating to the computed release point, letting the first 15 guys jump out; executing a quick 5-1/2 minute racetrack (unpressurized and on oxygen mask); dropping the remaining 15 or so guys, then diving back down to the airfield to upload the next group. Repeat over and over and over again.
The worst part of the job was the effect the climbs and dives in un-pressurized conditions had on our sinus' and ears. At some time during the week, it seemed nearly everyone on the crew had some kind of issue, either an ear block, sinus headache, or sinus cold. My effects were a lingering pressure on the ears long after the flights ended, most likely due to prolonged use of oxygen. I had to keep clearing my ears all afternoon and evening in order to prevent waking up in the middle of the night with a severe ear ache.
The students we supported are the best of the best: Rangers, Green Berets, Air Force PJs (Para rescue) and Navy Seals. They learn to jump from high altitude, performing High Altitude, Low Opening (HALO) or High Altitude, High Opening (HAHO) airdrops.
The drops were jumpmaster directed: both the Jumpmaster and the Nav individually determine a release point based on prevailing winds, compare notes and agree on a spot. The Navigator then directs the plane to that point, and the Jumpmaster, looking out the door, or off the ramp, gives final corrections to the pilot and decides when to let the jumpers depart the aircraft. My personal goal is to have as few Jumpmaster course-corrections as possible, and there were a couple days when we never heard a word...lift after lift, the jumpers left the airplane with out correcting our run-in once. THAT's when you know you're doing your job right.
All in all it was a heavy duty week. In five days, we made 43 lifts, conducted 75 airdrops, dropping 982 paratroopers. For currency requirements, I need one actual personnel airlift per year. I think I'm good for awhile!
All of our flying was conducted between 6 am and Noon, because the winds are calmer and the storms always seem to build with the heat of the day. Our afternoons were spent by the hotel pool, and in search of good food. We found a place called Logan's Roadhouse which was kind of like a Texas Steakhouse, or TGI Fridays: Good food and a nice selection of beer. Sushi was on the agenda a couple of nights. I'm a sushi rookie, so I only went one night, but I did enjoy it. A couple of the guys hit the sushi bar three times during the week; a bit much for me, I'm still acquiring the taste for raw fish.
One night we stopped by the local VFW. That was a lot of fun: the drinks were cheap, the locals incredibly friendly, and the food delicious. We tried for the 50-50 drawings to pay our bar tabs, but somehow were aced out in every drawing. Oh well, maybe next time.
On the last day we were invited to a graduation party for the group we had been dropping all week. I've been done this mission before, but had never heard of any of the aircrew being invited to the party, so we felt very honored. In fact, mid way through the evening, the Sargent Major stopped the evenings proceedings and presented the crew with certificates of thanks and school challenge coins. If you're in the military, getting "coined" is a high honor indeed, and all we felt extremely proud we had done such a good job providing the critical airlift support these warriors need for their combat training.
All in all, it was a truly great week.
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