I saw this fiasco coming.

[Packo]

Won 2 tickets to the race at Rockingham this Sunday. Deb and I went up as guests of one of the sponsers. The winds were unbelievable being steady at 25 with gusts up to and over 50 knots. Sure enough before the race I saw a Blackhawk Chopper flying around the track. Soon the Army's announcer came on the PA system to announce a jump. (Skydive) My first thoughts, which any Paratrooper would have, were "What the f_ _ k? Who would jump in these winds." I leaned over to Deb and told her that we were not allowed to jump in winds over 14 mph, if I remember that correctly, and that this could be a fiasco. I also knew that this was no T-10 jump but figured that in these winds even a parawing would be hard to control. I was right, 3 of the 5 had to be helo'd out of the track to a local hospital where one remains today. Deb said, "why would they jump in winds like this?" My reply "Airborne! Honey."

Airborne!

Packo

PS All the jumpers were SF.

[PHO127]

For giving the go ahead for that jump. From one of my posts some time ago I said that I had more trouble with experienced personnel in this type of stuff than any other. Think they know it all. Now instead of a nice target landing with a step away we see SF guys plastered all over fences and track. To bad I am not your CO I would end your career with the parachute team (meaning whoever cleared the jump). You guys are supposed to be the elite of the military and capable of rational thought under severe stress. Now I predict the normal Army kneejerk reaction will be to stop parachute jumps at sporting events. Rules are made for a reason and rules are made to be broken, You are supposed to be smart enough to know the difference.

[Packo]

Deb's immediate thoughts also. She said to me, "Who ever approved that jump should be big trouble". I agree. Gutsy, yes, stupid, a bigger YES! I will never understand how and why they were green lighted. PHO, you were SF.......any other thoughts? I also very much agree with what you predict will be the Army's kneejerk reaction.


Packo

[PHO127]

The Jumpmaster of this jump got caught up in the show must go on syndrome rather than thinking about the mission. Although this may seem like a small deal I would remove him from SF for this. Most probably the team leader was also jumpmaster and had full go - no/go decision. He had to be in contact with the pilot of the chopper and the pilot had to advise him of wind. Thejumpmaster made the decision to go, as a result instead of a nice target landing with a step away the television audience nationwide sees 3 soldiers landing in chaos, great PR NOT. Thecommand process is the same for this as it would be for a real SF mission, If this were a mission you would now have a team on the ground with3 jump casualties not able to complete the missionand have to risk additional assets and personnel to rescue them. Being a SF soldier is like playing poker, You have to know when to hold em and know when to fold em. This soldier would make an excellent airborne troop, but SF are chosen because they are independent thinkers and are trained to make decisions under the most extreme stress. When you don't have a whole battalion to back you up a wrong decision is most probably Fatal and there are no second chances.As shown bad training decisions can be just as costly as bad combat decisions. COLMURPH your take?

[exlrrp]

Oh Lordy--when I was In panama, we had very small drop zones, cleared paddies, mostly surrounded by jungle.
Wind is a tricky thing to figure--sometimes it changes, sometimes youre jumping at night.
Our home DZ was right on the ocean but we could only get a 12 man stick out before it was, like: trees. Anybody froze in the door--it happens!!--and the last few guys go out over the trees. This would provide for some jolly times later back in the barracks, lemme tell you. This is where they REALLY "Push The Stick!!" or prepare to do some treehugging. We tailgeted a lot here so it was easy. Pretty near all of us had at least one tree landing, some of us had ocean landings too. We always had to wear water wings on jumps, we flew over water much of the time.
I almost drowned in about 2 feet of water jumping the MG in a PAE bag near Gatun Locks.(Iwas the asst MG) I lower this down on a line about 10 feet below me. The wind was like you describe--think thats going to stop Airborne??--and it acted like a dead anchor in a paddy and I was tangled up in my chute. I popped the water wings and the good news was it popped right open. The bad news was that it was caught in the webgear and knocked the wind out of me when I was already struggling for air.
What was further bad news is that this was the jump when the medic left his thumb in the static line (did I tell that one before??) and everybody was helping him. Fortunately someone spotted my flailing--it was DESPERATE!-- and helped me up before I succumbed--this was the most danger I was in in any jump

James