Never thought I'd be doing this...

[timwalsh 0]

Hi, my name is Tim and I'm 18 years old. I'm a student at Boston University and a US Army cadet. If you told me 3 months ago that I was going to jump out of an airplane, I would have laughed in your face, but now I'm addicted.

I got a call saying that I had an opportunity to go to Army Airborne school, and I was physically shaking as I accepted the slot. Right after that I made my first static-line jump at Central Maine Skydiving so that I would be able to sleep at night, and I couldn't wait to do it again. Down at Fort Benning I made 5 more static-line jumps from a C-130 aircraft along with up to 29 other jumpers carrying combat equipment to earn my silver wings on 15 July, 2005.

Now all I can think about is getting my A license and making a hobby out of this. I'm going to start the IAD course at Pepperell, MA, soon and I hope to be certified to start making free-fall dives on my own next season.

Thanks to everyone here for providing this great website and community.

Tim

[Gleb 0]

welcome man. i had my first jump this past weekend and i'm going to school right next to you. I'm going to mass college of pharamcy so n e time u wanna jump from pepperell or jumptown in orange, MA lemme know:)

[mailin 0]

Ya, like he said, come to Jumptown in Orange, its just a short ride up Rt. 2. We've got lots of instructors - you won't be waiting on account of that

If you do be sure to find me and say 'hi!'


Jen D.

Arianna Frances

[FlyBye 0]

Like Mailin said, Jumptown Rocks! Come on down.

[skymama 35]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[timwalsh 0]

Thanks for the support, guys.

Andrea: There are a lot of ways for a soldier to get to go to Airborne school. In my case as a cadet, West Point and ROTC battalions get a few slots to send people each summer. We don't really apply for it because they simply assume that everyone wants to go. A combination of my physical fitness test scores, GPA, motivation, and general military competency put me at the top of my class, so they just called me up one day and offered me a slot. But because I am only going to be a sophomore this upcoming year it was unexpected to say the least.

Tim

[popsjumper 2]

Welome to skydiving, Tim!

You are going to love sport parachuting.
Didn't they warn you that military jumping is dangerous stuff?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[robr 0]

Welcome to the sport!
There are a few of us students over at MIT who skydive too.

-Rob

[timwalsh 0]

Quote

Didn't they warn you that military jumping is dangerous stuff?

Gee, I never thought of it that way. I just figured jumping from 800 feet with all that gear and all those people in the air around me and then doing a PLF at the bottom was perfectly normal. I guess they do a pretty good job of brainwashing us.

But in all seriousness, I would say that of the 330 people that started jump week with me, about 2 dozen broke legs or ankles or had major concussions over the course of our 5 jumps. And I know a lot of people, myself included, that collided with other jumpers in the air, had equipment that didn't quite work, or even hit the side of the aircraft on exit but were lucky enough not to get hurt.

Tim

[mailin 0]

Quote

I would say that of the 330 people that started jump week with me, about 2 dozen broke legs or ankles or had major concussions over the course of our 5 jumps. And I know a lot of people, myself included, that collided with other jumpers in the air, had equipment that didn't quite work, or even hit the side of the aircraft on exit but were lucky enough not to get hurt.

Ya, I'll be sure to tell this to my dad (Army guy who tried out for airborne but changed his mind last minute) - maybe he thinks sport jumping is the same and thats he won't do a tandem


Jen

Arianna Frances