SkymonkeyONE 3 #1 April 30, 2010 MAJ (ret) Roger Pickett, a long-time Raeford/Military jumper passed away last night of cancer. He had been fighting it for a long time. He was a 46th SF company (Thailand) guy at the end of Vietnam, a 5th group guy, the commander of the MFF school, a Delta Operator, and a test director at the Airborne and Special Operations Test Board. He was one of the first guys to ever jump a full-size IMAX camera in freefall (on his belly on a tandem-type rig). He epitomizes the term "been there and done that". A generation older than me, he will be sorely missed by so many people in our community. Chuck Blue Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncjumpjunkie 0 #2 April 30, 2010 Sorry to hear this,, I did a Tandem and He and 3 other members from the GB Club pinned it when I worked at Raeford. I didn't know he was sick,,, well just goes to show you how far out of the loop I am. SONIC BEEF #1 BASE 708, NC BASE 3 SLI,IADI,AFFI.TIE.FAA Rigger, Single & Multi Commercial Pilot,CFI, CFII, MEI Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katiebear21 0 #3 April 30, 2010 Wow. Thoughts and prayers with his family - real, military, and skydiving! Katie Get your PMS glass necklace here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slotperfect 7 #4 May 1, 2010 Roger was D7600 and MFFI-129. His bio from the US Army Operational Tester's Hall of Fame is below: http://www.otc.army.mil/Hall%20of%20Fame/pickett.htm To say that Roger was a "unique" individual is an incredible understatement, used intentionally in the hopes that those that did not know him might hear some stories from those that did. Roger had been battling throat cancer for several years. Not knowing what the future held for his jump career becaus of upcoming treatments, Roger consciously made his last jump at the SOG reunion at Raeford in 2004. He filmed the formation, and after opening, flew off by himself and cut his main canopy away. He landed his reserve in the pit, took off his gear, and gave it to Alan, the son of a longtime friend, on the spot. I am glad I was there to watch it all. BSBD Roger.Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #5 May 16, 2010 Hi Chuck, 'Just saw the name in the line up.......That "Star" up there just got one more great person. Blue Skyz Roger. 'Love the Geeter Mathews story at the bar of Roger landing his 182 in the driveway of his house out at rockfish!! Drive by and take a look!!!!! SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ActionAir 0 #6 May 20, 2010 I met Roger when he was commander of the Military Freefall School (HALO committee). I worked for Security Parachute Co. and was demoing our Ram Air System to him. He sneaked me on to the C-141 plane & let me jump with them. He said if he went through the proper channels, it would take weeks and the answer would be "No". So he made up fake papers, told me to keep my helmet on (to hide my long hair) and stay in the middle of the group. No S,T.I.W. Roger was a no BS straight up guy. One of the Best!AAP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
