For the D.U. Airborne veterans community memories good memories.
Dyslexic bad punctuation ramble having coffee up since 03:30 my beautiful Duncan golden retriever boy and I cuddled hard from 23:00 to then. Old guy 58 years old bladder woke me up. Shit i probably have two million miles on it bouncing around as union driver all these years.
Went past Fort Irwin sign on 15 heading north making for 70 east bound run it all way to Pennsylvania turnpike to get home anyway Fort Irwin sign brought back memories.
Mass tactical drop were rigged to drop into Death Valley out of Bragg going N.T.C for op4 training then op4 was acting as soviets Warsaw pact.
The 82nd eighty deuce the All American and my favorite nickname for my first unit S.T.D.’s from the sky. The 325 P.I.R. great place to be for scrawny young trooper and I was never high speed as in elite yet i served with high speed warriors as in Ranger qualified S.F.qualified.
Then i suspect my first plt sgt was former C.A.G combat action group he never said I never asked or what you may think of in terms as Delta dude didn’t have high school diploma but he spoke fluent I think Farsi it’s been years and fine N.C.O.’s yet who else would teach young warriors how to pick locks or Hotwire vehicle or set up
Mechanical ambushes with claymore mines he taught us.
A example I sucked at land nav and I was told one morning after P.T.run by my first platoon sgt as he gathered us young airborne infantry cherries.
He informed us we will be going E.I.B. Experts infantry badge program and I wanted that award and he said I will have no ass and trash in my platoon you as warriors must challenge yourselves.
Win or lose you he told us and I listened to that fine N.C.O. Why his resume read two tours 101st one tour rifle platoon tour two a L.R.R.P. 101 st going up against the N.V.A not one scratch. No trying piss anyone off yet he would tell us i quote him you gotta out gook the gooks as in out think your enemy.
Then that fine E-7 was referencing if the shithouse rumors were true we may be going south to Central America thankfully it never happened. Stay focused cuz we don’t wanna see any of you getting planted in garden stone. And I don’t wanna have to be looking for pieces of you to stick in body bag men.
And my N.C.O.’s even came in on weekends stayed after last formation of day to help us young airborne cherries.
And those men were professionals they were example they worked with me on land nav especially night time.
And you have to know land nav you may find yourself pitch black night trying to navigate into ambush site to set up or to call for indirect arty alls you have is map compass protractor and a red lense flash light
No brag I’m not built that way as in arrogance yet I passed I received my E.I.B. 2 of us in my platoon out of maybe 8.
Yet you find your ass in belly of C-141 jet driven or C-130 prop driven four fans and trash can insulated to keep the noise in the C-130. Yet that time going to Irwin we’re in 141’s.
Now remember I’m green to airborne and I’m looking around and thinking these fuckers sleeping WTF I was pumped I learned later sleep when you can like those salts they knew they’ve done it for years.
Then jump master the master blaster you hear him hollering same commands since our grandfathers wrote the manual pioneered jumping Sicily D-day Market Garden.
It’s been almost forty years as I put these words down
Master blaster in hearing this
Get ready
Stand up standing up bouncing along holding static line near shoulder with your inboard paw 🐾
Hook up
Check static lines jumpers
Check your equipment jumpers
Sound off jumpers last man in stick you hear okay all the way from each man
And your adrenaline is pumping so much to me on empty stomach 1200 feet in air then you hear one minute.
Then stand in door or going out back of the bird ramp red light flips green and Go Go Go and you follow that fine warrior in front of you.
You were not forced to be here you volunteered and out into the night sky always at night we went to work only one Hollywood drop day jumped for dignitaries at Bragg.
Well before that all day except one night jump in school.
Falling to earth counting one one thousand to four one thousand noise of the birds engines going away and you feel the moment your static deploys your chute fucking A you think as you grab for your risers just like moms umbilical cord in that moment you exited into the world. You orient yourself D.Z.coming up fast P.L.F. Parachute land fall or as we said P.F.L. Perfect fucking landing after your dragged over on D.Z. Rattlesnake and rocks.
Tell you though on that one exercises Op4 they were good those troops operating as Warsaw pact stations at Irwin I respected them. Their commander split us in two our brigade. Me sitting on mountain side hearing their engine noises valley below.
I said to my friend sharing fighting hole we dug you hear that engine noise the fuckers ain’t supposed be there they’re splitting us.
They were some sharp well trained troopers who knew their business.
One sign reading Fort Irwin memories is all.
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