Bad jumps (to the best of my recollection)

[1RiserSlip]

Originally Posted by 8654maine

Now I'm glad I was a leg in Ranger School.

You were what?

[Dangerous]

I just got to Group and almost everyone was in one of those regularly scheduled exercises (1983 Ocean Venture?). Anyway we fly down to Hunter in 5 C130s to pick everyone up and we were going to do a MA back into Bragg. It was a semi-rough flight down as there was a strong front hitting.

On the way back to Bragg things got real interesting. It was a terrain flight back. In strong winds. Gusting.

Everybody on my plane was puking. I don't know about the crew in the cabin but everyone in the rear was. The trash cans were overflowing with puke and puke bags. The floor was covered in puke and bags. We ran out of the bags and were just letting it flow on the floor. The loads opened the troop doors and were puking out of them trying to get some fresh air.

Everyone wanted out of that plane and right now.

Well we got to Bragg and the planes pop up to the jump altitude. The storm did not cooperate. The winds were so high that they stirred up the NC sand and dust so much we couldn't even see the tree tops.

We landed at Pope to discover all 5 of the C130s were full of puke, the same as ours. Boots, uniforms, and all the gear were covered in the puke.

[The Fat Guy]

Maybe this should go in the Really Bad Airplane Rides thread?

Seriously though, there is something about that first guy to puke that sets off the chain reaction. Like yawning, once someone does it, it's contagious.

[sinjefe]

Grenada 1983. I am a snot nosed PV2. We get told to de-rig after inflight rigging then, about 6 minutes out told to rig back up. I throw all my shit on in time to hook up with no JMPI. Exit the aircraft and realize how close the ground seems. I hit like a ton of bricks (really) dead center of the runway. Sharp pain up left leg. I thought I broke it. I'm stamping on it in the middle of the runway to see if it really was broken and everything seems allright. I link up with some other joe's and off we go. Fast forward. We return to HAAF. All is good. I wake up the first morning after return and my left foot is swollen all over. I get a friend to take me to the clinic. They xray it and, yep, the calcaneus (heel bone) is fractured. 8 weeks in a cast.

[1RiserSlip]

Originally Posted by The Fat Guy

Maybe this should go in the Really Bad Airplane Rides thread?

Seriously though, there is something about that first guy to puke that sets off the chain reaction. Like yawning, once someone does it, it's contagious.

Very much so. I was an RI in the Mtns in the early 90's. They were moving things around. We were the 2nd phase, then 3rd. Then back to 2nd when the God's chose to do away with the desert phase. We would fly or jump into Ft. Bliss, pickup the students and fly or jump again in Ft. Benning and bus them to the mtns. We lost a lot of a/c due to real world stuff going on in Bosnia.

One of those trips coming back to Ft. Benning we flew low level it seemed like over the entire state of Alabama. The students were rigged up. My Co. Cmdr. was a JM, but we all were skeptical because he became air sick very easily. I was a safety and was helping him rig up. The big dip of Copenhagen in my mouth was just enough to put him over the top. He was puking. Students were puking. To make it worse, as mentioned in an earlier post...some stud shit his pants. We had to totally switch things around at the last minute. I became JM. Had to find a new safety. The Co. Cmdr. Sat down & strapped in. He was useless. I'm glad I ended up jumping and not the ALS. The a/c was a fucking mess.

[Fu King Lawyer]

OJC, 20 Dec 89 at Rio Hato. I forget the Ranger's name - but remember this event. From Craig Keller's account:

One Ranger that did not get treated with dignity for his injury was a new squad
leader assigned to the platoon whose name I cannot remember or find, to save my life.
The poor guy was shot in the aircraft, and no one had realized that he had been shot.
He was new to the platoon; he had been assigned from an outside unit (a rare thing in
those days) and had just made the MOD 4 exercise. On the final approach to the jump,
a round came through the aircraft and into his leg and back. As he collapsed in the floor
of the aircraft, SGT Nedabomer and PFC Hayes were under the impression that he was a jump refusal. They kicked and cursed him as they executed the procedures for
moving around/over a wounded or dead jumper in the stick. We did not put the safety
wire through the snap hook for just this contingency. They unhooked, stepped over
him, and re-hooked to the anchor line cable and exited the aircraft. We didn't find out
until later that he had been shot. I had heard later that they pinned his wings on him at
the hospital for the combat jump, but then rescinded his wings for not getting out of the
aircraft.

[Floyd]

Originally Posted by Fu King Lawyer

OJC, 20 Dec 89 at Rio Hato. I forget the Ranger's name - but remember this event. From Craig Keller's account:

One Ranger that did not get treated with dignity for his injury was a new squad
leader assigned to the platoon whose name I cannot remember or find, to save my life.
The poor guy was shot in the aircraft, and no one had realized that he had been shot.
He was new to the platoon; he had been assigned from an outside unit (a rare thing in
those days) and had just made the MOD 4 exercise. On the final approach to the jump,
a round came through the aircraft and into his leg and back. As he collapsed in the floor
of the aircraft, SGT Nedabomer and PFC Hayes were under the impression that he was a jump refusal. They kicked and cursed him as they executed the procedures for
moving around/over a wounded or dead jumper in the stick. We did not put the safety
wire through the snap hook for just this contingency. They unhooked, stepped over
him, and re-hooked to the anchor line cable and exited the aircraft. We didn't find out
until later that he had been shot. I had heard later that they pinned his wings on him at
the hospital for the combat jump, but then rescinded his wings for not getting out of the
aircraft.

I was at rigger school with a guy who was on that bird, told me this story.

[Murph]

I didn't personally have any 'terrible' jumps. A few close calls, I guess. Missed the DZ in Puerto Rico and landed in a corral with a bull in it. Had a newbie LT land on my canopy in Panama as my feet hit the ground. Jumping into Wainwright with full arctic (training) combat load (RTO) we did so many racetracks I thought my spine was going to shoot out of my back.

I don't know why I didn't make the infamous high-wind night jump on Lewis where so many got hurt, including Birch breaking his back. That's a legendary jump.

Worst jump, and not mine, was in RIP. We were jumping Hueys. Back then they did what I recall was called 'chute orientation day.' 5 jumps, the first 5 after jump school, of course. I was in a short line getting ready to be JMPI'd. Hueys racetracking up. I finally get up to the JM (a newly- assigned-to-RIP VN combat SF medic, E7, I think.) I have my hands on my head and I'm being checked out, the JM's back is to the LZ, I'm watching the proceedings....

One guy slips across another's canopy, loses his air, falls and grabs the lower guy's chute. Now both are collapsed and they stream in from what I remember as 80 feet. I'm like, "Uh, Sergeant..." and pointing. I think he turned around in time to see the impact. I remember hearing it. He grabbed his aid bag and was out there. One of the guys was named Nugent, CRS the other. Both survived. Nugent was in Madigan for a long time.

Now, after 30-plus years, this is the part I find hard to believe--in my mind they cleared the DZ and the rest of us finished out our 5 jumps for the day. I don't remember any trepidation on the part of any of us to keep on keepin' on. Young, dumb and full of cum doesn't seem to sum it up....

[WGH0922]

Originally Posted by Fu King Lawyer

OJC, 20 Dec 89 at Rio Hato. I forget the Ranger's name - but remember this event. From Craig Keller's account:

FKL, I found this 24 page personal AAR written by Keller.

http://www.benning.army.mil/library/content/virtual/donovanpapers/other/STUP5/KellerCraig%201LT.pdf

Back to my lane.............

[Fu King Lawyer]

"but then rescinded his wings for not getting out of the
aircraft. "

The rest of the story;

I remember the WAD saying in Panama that OJC wasn't going to turn into another Grenada when it came to awards. After we got back, CSM LG and the Bn CSMs reviewed everything (including a couple of PHs that were awarded at BAMC to 3/75 lads who suffered non enemy fire gunshot wounds screwing around with an M=9) especially the awards that were given out at BAMC including the mustard stain on the above Ranger's jump wings. His award was in fact rescinded at Regiment. A day or so later CSA's (Vuono's) aid is on the phone to the RCO telling the RCO to hold After a couple minutes wait, Gen. Vuono comes on the line and says "what are you doing taking away the wings I awarded?". RCO said the wings were rescinded because he didn't jump. Vuono said he was hooked up when he got shot and that was good enough for the Army. Bottom line: He got the wings.

[1RiserSlip]

A Near Miss.

Mountain RI near end of my tour. I volunteered for "wind dummy" often as I loved challenges. Most jumps at that time were from helos. Was jumping a brand new surveyed DZ which hardly met requirements. Very narrow, plenty of obstacles and down in a valley. I was on a UH-60. The Pathfinder on the ground was in my Plt. On the A/C was my 1SG and CSM who is now in the RHOF. Pathfinder Ops in the mountains was much different than school taught. A lot of guesstamation was involved. Standard procedure was for the PF to put up a piball then have the A/C JM put out a streamer on command. If it was anywhere close the PF would make adjustments and put out the wind dummy the next pass. Very chilly morning. I was sitting in the door, freezing, getting conflicting info from the JM. Next thing I knew was "go". So I exited the helo. Took a look around and thought there's no way I 'll make that DZ. The wind dummy is supposed to refrain from doing any manipulation of the canopy. This wasn't the case. I had to chose go for the DZ which was over the next ridge or slip against the wind and try landing in one of the friendly North Georgia natives yard. So, I held a 1 riser slip as long as I could. I could see a power line coming up and only hope coordination had been made to cut the power. I literally had to lift my legs as high as I could and missed the lines by just a few feet. I landed about 10m on the other side. I then realized I had no feeling in either hand despite wearing nomex aviator gloves. Good, soft landing followed by releasing both canopy releases. I immediately put both hands between my legs trying to warm them up. Several folks from the ground party were there thinking I would need to be recovered from the power lines. When my hands warmed up, I asked for a radio and began to tell the PF how fucked up he was.

Only 2 student jumps were made on that DZ. It was determined to challenging for inexperienced students. Gumby DZ. I'll never forget that one.

[B 2/75]

Originally Posted by Murph

... Snip...

One guy slips across another's canopy, loses his air, falls and grabs the lower guy's chute. Now both are collapsed and they stream in from what I remember as 80 feet. I'm like, "Uh, Sergeant..." and pointing. I think he turned around in time to see the impact. I remember hearing it. He grabbed his aid bag and was out there. One of the guys was named Nugent, CRS the other. Both survived. Nugent was in Madigan for a long time.

Not the the same incident, but close, and was in summer of 79, my Company, different platoon, possibly Bravo 3. Daytime C130 jump, typical Hooah shit with full ruck and gear onto Abrams and then a week in the field.

Two studs exit opposite doors at the same time, and one shoots through the risers of the other. Top Ranger (names long since gone to CRSville) feels nylon shooting past his face and grabbed it, winding up hanging on to the very apex of the bottom Ranger's canopy. Top Ranger's got a good -1B canopy, both hands full of another's canopy, and no way to either pull his reserve (which he had considered), or drop his ruck. Bottom Ranger was fully vocal during descent, with various entreaties ranging from "hang on tight" to "oh God please don't drop me."

The bottom Ranger never pulled his reserve, fearing it would steal the air from their one good canopy, but he did have the presence of mind to lower his ruck (mind you that he didn't jettison it, decreasing the amount of weight on the one good canopy, he just lowered it.)

Good PLFs and NO injuries, both spend a week in the woods, and on their return in a Company formation top Ranger gets an impact ARCOM. The photo someone on the ground took showing a good canopy and jumper holding on to the top of a fully extended canopy over another jumper we who had a lowered ruck remained on the Company bulletin board for a long time, too.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by B 2/75

Not the the same incident,

I've heard that story. It predates me as I got to RIP in March, 80. But, probably from you on Spidey's listserver. Damn, that was a fun board.

[1RiserSlip]

Funny story.....

Cadre jump at the Mtn Rgr Camp between cycles. Was jumping a (supposedly) cut cornfield. But there was still 6-8 inch corn stobs everywhere. On a C130, doors open a long time. Everyone standing, ready to go. The ONLY black guy in the entire unit was first in the door. Now Dawsonville, Ga was known for its KKK organizations. They marched openly & often. The city lights from Dawsonville was the 1 min time warning. The black guy asked the JM, what's those lights down there. JM replied, that's Dawsonville. As a matter of fact if you want to jump now...we'll credit you with a combat jump!

[Mingo Kane]

Originally Posted by 1RiserSlip

Funny story.....

Cadre jump at the Mtn Rgr Camp between cycles. Was jumping a (supposedly) cut cornfield. But there was still 6-8 inch corn stobs everywhere. On a C130, doors open a long time. Everyone standing, ready to go. The ONLY black guy in the entire unit was first in the door. Now Dawsonville, Ga was known for its KKK organizations. They marched openly & often. The city lights from Dawsonville was the 1 min time warning. The black guy asked the JM, what's those lights down there. JM replied, that's Dawsonville. As a matter of fact if you want to jump now...we'll credit you with a combat jump!

Hahahahahahahahaha....fucking awesome.

[Ranger7]

"There were two of us from Mortars on the bird, myself and the section leader, Mike Donatelli. We were the last two jumpers in the stick, so the first jumpers to load. We found a nice spot near the front and went to sleep for a few hours."

Donatelli, great leader. I wasn't on this jump for some reason, but had a few bad one's myself.

I recall someone getting skewered on Stewart, some 24th ID guys had 'occupied' the DZ and put engineer stakes out. I don't recall who it was.

I had a bad jump into Ft Gordon, when the pilot turned the C141 90 degrees as I was heading out the door. I was jumping the baseplate and hit the rear clamshell door. I did quite a bit of damage to the bird as the baseplate ripped into it. I shot like a sling-shot through my chute and got tangled. I received a dislocated shoulder as it was caught in the risers, and remember pulling my reserve, which was the only time I had to do that. I whacked my head pretty hard on the bird apparently as I remember thinking the reserve wasn't deploying and I needed to help it out...and didn't want to drop the rip-cord handle as I wanted it as a souvenir....anyhow I dropped it and fed the reserve out.

Next thing I remember was waking up with Doc Walker slapping me. Turns out I collided with the chute turn-in guy which was Roger Blanchette and we both went to the hospital as he got a cracked vertebra.

Roger said to me later that he was watching the first guys in the stick land and since I was the last he never expected me to plow into him and wasn't looking.

[Ranger7]

While on one of the jumps in England in '88 out of the British C130's I collided with Mallay and out plastic LBE clips locked together. I was slightly below him and me being a PFC and him a tabbed SGT, he kicked the snot out of me....as it was my fault being the lesser ranking knucklehead....and we were toward a huge boulder. About 50 feet or so before we nailed the rock we became unstuck as his LBE clip broke. I got smoked for breaking his LBE....good times!

[X-rgr]

Originally Posted by Ranger7

While on one of the jumps in England in '88 out of the British C130's I collided with Mallay and out plastic LBE clips locked together. I was slightly below him and me being a PFC and him a tabbed SGT, he kicked the snot out of me....as it was my fault being the lesser ranking knucklehead....and we were toward a huge boulder. About 50 feet or so before we nailed the rock we became unstuck as his LBE clip broke. I got smoked for breaking his LBE....good times!

That's funny... a similar thing happened to me, I had a mid-air as a E3 with an E5... AND the guy had the same last name as me. I still have the scar from the 550-burn on my wrist. He had me doing pushups while still tangled in each other's lines as soon as we landed... it never occurred to him that he was pulling on his rear-risers trying to have a soft landing, and was zooming backward into me. I was the cherry, so it was my fault. The part he thought was funniest was me yelling "RIGHT SIDE PLF" at him. Extra smoke for that one.

[hmarshall]

Originally Posted by B 2/75

Not the the same incident, but close, and was in summer of 79, my Company, different platoon, possibly Bravo 3. Daytime C130 jump, typical Hooah shit with full ruck and gear onto Abrams and then a week in the field...."

Was on a jump almost exactly like that. '79 coming back to Hunter from some deployment. Was on first pass, and on the ground gathering up when 141's came over. Looked up to see what appeared at first to be a bag of garbage tossed out. We'd had those box lunches, so first thought was AF is giving us our trash. Realized there was a jumper beneath the 'garbage'. He doesn't have shit for a main, goes screaming past another Ranger who snags him by the inversion netting, and fucking A, has him. Both hit the ground like rocks but are ok, guy on bottom has a couple bruised ribs. Gave new meaning to the phrase "when its your time.." Damn.. wish I could recall their names..

[1RiserSlip]

Several stories here of LBE straps getting hooked together while jumping. While I never saw this as a problem on fixed wing a/c, I JM a lot of helo jumps where jumpers were sitting 3 in a door. I can't recall how many times I unfucked jumpers gear that would have taken 2 out together gone unnoticed.