Originally Posted by FirebaseD
There is nothing, and I mean nothing that can compare with a full gear combat night jump at 800 feet, or below, brother. Knees and feet together, that’s all you can say about it. You stand there in line, you can hear the roaring of the aircraft engines, you can smell the fear factor each and every man has that is standing there with you, each in his own mind preparing to exit the aircraft, your fate is in the hands of God, and your life is on the line, you check your equipment and ensure you are hooked up, all at once men begin to go mad, yelling out hooah, roaring like animals, out right going insane, you become as one as everyone goes insane at once so as to push away the fear of death that may await you, as you move to the door you start to feel the wind as it attempts to suck you out, then as you step up to the door you feel your body being lifted from the floor and you are pulled out into the night air by unseen forces, you have no other thoughts but to get yourself into a landing position, you check your over head canopy (anyway you hope it’s over head) and then you check your equipment again, you strain with your eyes to find the horizon as you fall toward the earth, you search for lights, clouds, any thing that will give you a sense of direction, off in the distance you can still hear the aircraft as they move away from you, there is no other sound other then the wind, and just like you exited the aircraft with the feeling of being lifted out the door, you crash into the earth with the feel of a sudden stop, trying to control the crash so that you can call it a landing, but there is no control. “What a freakin high!!”
And that is what it’s all about, no control, you place your fate into the hands of a higher being, you allow forces beyond your control to take control, but once you face fear and you stand your ground not backing down, once you flip the Grim Reaper off, all else is just life.
Hooah