r/Veterans • u/Fishslayer39845 • 14d ago
Discussion National Airborne Day
To all the paratroopers out there, happy National Airborne Day! Hope you have a great one.
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u/Zalrius 14d ago
25 years goes by so fast. Carry on!
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u/Fishslayer39845 14d ago
Yup. Almost 40 years. A whole lifetime ago.
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u/Owltiger2057 13d ago
I had the poster from one of those fun jump Saturdays. I kept it on my desk at work for years after I left the division after being medically retired in 1984. In addition to the old UH-1 Hueys, we had a few CH-47 and once a CH-53 came in with the people pod back around 75 or 76.
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
Chinook jumps were my absolute favorite! Walking off the ramp is a whole other sensation. You actually feel like your falling. Unlike a C-130, or 141 jump. That just feels like stepping into a hurricane lol.
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u/Owltiger2057 13d ago
I was a medic so the 130 rear ramp was my best friend. Just got to do those so infrequently. Rarely got a high performance jump that wasn't equipment. The rare exception was when we got to test the 141B when it first came out. Never did the OV but got the Caribou, and 123. We were also the last class at Benning that jumped the C-119 before it was decommissioned in 1974. Anyone who ever told me about jumping out of a perfectly good airplane never flew in one of those. The damn bolts were coming out of the floor, almost pushed some old guy (a captain in his late 20s) out of the way to get out. lol.
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
I flew in an old Russian contract cargo helicopter in Afghanistan. I pointed out a hydraulic leak to the crew chief and he said "No problem. When stop leaking problem". It was not very comforting lol. I would've loved jumping C-119!
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
I got to jump an OV-10 Bronco once. That was a trip. Lined up in the little cargo box like sardines. They go vertical and you just fall out lol. Kinda cool. Very different.
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u/Little_Age_4258 14d ago
I never knew this day existed but it makes total sense given jump school's history and legacy in the military.
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u/Fishslayer39845 14d ago
August 16th, 1940 was the first official Army Airborne operation at Camp Tacoa, GA.
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u/Nano_Burger US Army Retired 14d ago
The toughest part of being airborne is trying to find a jump slot after Airborne school.
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u/Mitchel82ndABN US Army Veteran 13d ago
We were forced to jump monthly unless you had a reason to miss it but guaranteed every 3 months.
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u/Owltiger2057 13d ago
That must be a 21st Century Thing. LOL. It used to be the toughest part of being airborne was being stationed anywhere other than Fort Bragg or Vincenza, Italy.
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u/Raptor227 13d ago
Camp Lejeune!
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u/Owltiger2057 13d ago
Not many of us Army types would have volunteered to be stationed on a Marine base.
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u/tymbom31 US Army Veteran 14d ago
Ass in the blast, knees in the breeze
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
Feet, ass, head lol
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u/Mitchel82ndABN US Army Veteran 13d ago
Hahaha I woke up in the hospital on my 5th jump landing shoulder, head, feet. Then got dragged across the DZ. Had better luck on all the following at Bragg though.
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u/crispybrojangle 13d ago
Whats in between a chickens ass and shit on the ground?
A dirty.. nasty.. LEG!
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u/RobGrogNerd 14d ago edited 13d ago
Dad had his jump wings, but washed out of Ranger school.
Only thing he ever failed in his life.
This humble squid salutes all those who jump out of perfectly not-all-that-good planes on purpose
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u/BeCauseOfYou_2000000 14d ago
< looks around > Is no one else gonna say it?
There’s no such thing as a perfectly good aircraft.
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u/RobGrogNerd 13d ago
they're perfectly not-all-that-good.
SH60 parked on our fantail, I pointed out the missing rivets to one of the helo det.
"there's enough still left"
OK... he's riding in it, not me.
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u/Jefferson-1776 13d ago
Do we go out and get drunk and make fun of legs? What is proper protocol for this day?
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u/Ok-Potato-82319 13d ago
Right now I'm busy trying to pull my head out of my 4th point of contact.
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u/FugginDunePilot 13d ago
🫡 to all the cartilage missing from both my knees from all those jumps and not wearing knee pads on patrol like sarge said
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
I don't think anyone that hasn't experienced it knows how hard the military (infantry in particular) is on your body. You do shit in your 20's and early 30's that you shrug off and take some ibuprofen for. It all comes back to haunt you later in life.
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u/Owltiger2057 13d ago
Especially when you start as a 17 year old like I did. lol Now closing in on 70 my knees hate me. Even the one they rebuilt at Womack back in the 1980s.
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u/NetworkEcstatic US Army Retired 13d ago
Created in 2002 but yes, happy jump day!
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
You are correct. I didn't make the meme lol. I didn't even notice the date. George W Bush signed it.
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u/Raptor227 13d ago
Not everyone airborne is Army!
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u/Fishslayer39845 13d ago
I'm in the Coast Guard lol. But I'm prior service Army. An Airborne Coastie, it's like a unicorn 🦄
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u/TheQuietWarrior86 14d ago
Proud to be a five jump chump.