edjackson 0 #1 September 26, 2007 I was talking to a friend at the drop zone last weekend about his time as a Navy Seal. He sent me an article he wrote about the Leap Frogs that might interest a few skydiving historians. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAP 0 #2 September 27, 2007 My favorite historical recollection of the Leapfrogs and their counter team Chuting Stars involved when they periodically got together and did some unique records....namely a 16 way launched diamond out of a C-123 & a 32 way launched diamond out of a C-130 (which although successful "banged" a few of them up). Great pictures in Parachutist. LAP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #3 September 27, 2007 I've a friend who used to jump with the Leap Frogs when he in the Navy, at San Diego. He often jumped with Harry O'connor. Since he was a former world champion they wanted him on their team. The only catch was you had to be a seal, and he had a different MOS. So, he started that school. He did his best to make it through their brutal training. His aging body wasn't recovering from all the abuse you went through. He felt he was holding his team back, so he dropped out. I have a lot of respect for anyone who has been there and done that!.....Steve1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
labrys 0 #4 September 28, 2007 QuoteI've a friend who used to jump with the Leap Frogs when he in the Navy, at San Diego. He often jumped with Harry O'connor. Since he was a former world champion they wanted him on their team. The only catch was you had to be a seal, and he had a different MOS. I don't really get this post. The Navy doesn't have "MOS" and SEALS are selected for training from a variety of ratings.Owned by Remi #? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bozo 0 #5 September 28, 2007 QuoteQuoteI've a friend who used to jump with the Leap Frogs when he in the Navy, at San Diego. He often jumped with Harry O'connor. Since he was a former world champion they wanted him on their team. The only catch was you had to be a seal, and he had a different MOS. I don't really get this post. The Navy doesn't have "MOS" and SEALS are selected for training from a variety of ratings. I think all he is saying , Kelly , is that the guy had a different rate....not a SEAL...and signed up for BUDS so he could become one to join the team, which to my thinking would have been way down the road anyway as SEAL training isnt an overnite school. bozo Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #6 September 28, 2007 Quote[ I don't really get this post. The Navy doesn't have "MOS" and SEALS are selected for training from a variety of ratings. ................................................................ I guess I don't know much about the Navy since I was in the Army. MOS used to mean what you were trained in. Things have changed so much since I was in, maybe even the army got rid of that term.....Steve1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goldwing 0 #7 October 2, 2007 SEAL members came from just about any rate and I suspect the had their own NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification) code once they were qualified as SEALs. Most Navy rates didn't have an NEC unless you had a unique qualification. Some patches related to Leap Frogs and their predecessors.You haven't lived until you've almost died" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcandalysse 0 #8 October 7, 2007 QuoteThat 'friend' is Norm Olson. He's got a lot more articles where that came from. Truly inspiriing to be skydiving with guys like Norm. He returned to skydiving after 20+ years to do a tandem on a birthday in his seventies, got the bug again and he's a regular at Zhills and POPs events. A pleasure to know him! ***About the Author. Captain (SEAL) Norman H. Olson, USN (Retired) :As Director, Special Warfare and Combatant Craft in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, he was instrumental in shaping the development of SEAL Support and Weapons Systems, the Combatant Craft Program, and the implementation of the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Mission Support Package. During the Vietnam Conflict, he commanded Underwater Demolition Team ELEVEN, Naval Operations Support Group, Western Pacific, and the Maritime Component of the U.S. Military Assistance Command’s Special Operations Group (SOG). Additionally, he founded and led the United States Navy Parachute Team – Leap Frogs. Captain Olson was the first NSW officer to command a major Navy Shore Establishment, the Atlantic Fleet’s Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA. He then went on to serve as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, where he was responsible for the conduct of all NSW (SEAL) operations in the Atlantic, European, and Southern Theaters of Operation. He rounded out his 30-year Naval career as the first Chief of Staff of the Joint Special Operations Command. Marc "The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markmark 0 #9 November 13, 2007 Being Steve is from MT I think the jumper was Hod Sanders, he tried out for the seals but never made it through. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #10 November 19, 2007 Quote***That 'friend' is Norm Olson. He's got a lot more articles where that came from. Truly inspiriing to be skydiving with guys like Norm. He returned to skydiving after 20+ years to do a tandem on a birthday in his seventies, got the bug again and he's a regular at Zhills and POPs events. Yep. I knew that from the get-go. Norm is, well what can I say...one fantastic guy. I was honored to have met him, honored to get his signature in my logbook and still remain honored to have had the priveledge to jump with him and hear of his escapades, although sometimes it's hard to pry them out of him being the humble guy that he is. I was on his Hog Flop team in 2006 at Palatka and we took 2nd place...he at 75, I think. Everyone of us has a loooooong way to go to be as well-respected as Norm is.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SWATcop 0 #11 November 23, 2007 Here is a video I shot with Norm in action last weekend. He is the one in the light blue jumps suit with the yellow grips. I hope I can fly as well when I am in my 70's. He is definitely as tough as reinforced woodpecker lips, I have seen that guy pound in on no wind days dust himself off and stroll off to the packing area.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3056821782677401075&hl=en Kevin Muff Brother #4041 Team Dirty Sanchez #467 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WI-Fly 0 #12 November 25, 2007 they do not use the term MOS in the Navy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcandalysse 0 #13 November 28, 2007 those are fun videos...nice to see my muff bros doing the sacred chants! thanks for the link by the way, this thread was started by Ed....and he is in your video...in the protec helmet... marc "The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SWATcop 0 #14 November 28, 2007 Quote this thread was started by Ed....and he is in your video...in the protec helmet... Yeah. I already PMed him all the links and am buring him a DVD copyI will give him if I ever get back to the DZ, I am in school for two weeks.Kevin Muff Brother #4041 Team Dirty Sanchez #467 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jackylx21x 0 #15 September 7, 2011 QuoteBeing Steve is from MT I think the jumper was Hod Sanders, he tried out for the seals but never made it through. Think you are correct. I vaguely recall hearing that he quit BUD/S. I know he snuck on a few planes though since I jumped with him out at brown field in 86. He wasn't even in the Navy then though. He was a helicopter mechanic I think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #16 September 7, 2011 Hod is one of the toughest people I know. He does a huge number of tandems, on hot summer days, and packs all those rigs himself. He's close to sixty years old. I'd like to see a young whipper-snapper do that! Hod may not have made it through Seal training, but he's still one tough hombre. I know I can't keep up with him. He was too old for seal training, (when he started Buds). Very few twenty year olds get through that. I look up to anyone who tries.... I know another guy who just got out of the seals. They were going to give him close to a hundred grand just to reup, but he turned it down. He's around thirty now. He's had tours in Iraq and Afganistan. He said if he had to go through seal training, at his age, he probably couldn't do it. It's just too brutal... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeRipcord 0 #17 October 16, 2011 They may have changed the requirements sinve then, but in the mid 70s, not all Leap Frog members were SEAL qualified. Case in point, my old friend, Linda Stewart, who i believe was the first female on the team. If I recall correctly, at the time she had more jumps than any other menber (and more flying hours too.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
