Today was a good day.
The company woke up at an hour unknown by my civilian life. After practicing our landings and going though the mock-aircraft, we suited up in our harnesses. Hours went by on the floor waiting for the actual aircrafts to be ready for us.
Fighting sleep and dehydration, my squad was finally called up. We made haste to the air strip and got into the plane. There was no real thought process just going though the motions as we were trained. As we climbed in altitude, the back doors of the craft came open with the loud air sweeping by. A few worried looks were met with other looks of enthusiasm and smiles. I was somewhere in between but I was more just happy to get this over with. After being recycled to the next company and delayed 2 weeks, there was no way I wasn't jumping now.
Stand up - hook up-
More orders and movements drilled into us came into play without hesitation. This was it.
Stand by!....
GO!
I watched the first few people disappear from the rear of the craft. I said a quick prayer and by the time i hit "amen" I was jumping into the breeze. It was all rush and loud...then total calm as my canopy opened and softly carried me. I could hear my fellow jumpers say "hell yeah!" or "airborne!".
After pumping my legs like riding an invisible bicycle to get the tangle out of my risers, the rest was cake and actually very fun. I could see the ground below. It was a great view with a huge field below for my landing. The tree line came up quick and reminded me that I had an important job to do aside from blissfully gazing across the earth below...land.
Feet and knees together, look up to the horizon and... Bam. Ground
It was a hell of a ride. 2 - 3 more jumps and I'll have my wings.
With any luck from the weather and airforce, i should be home by saturday.
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