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Quote:

Originally Posted by RWebb (Post 6008103)

ok, I have a question related to "falling" out of airplanes:

which is crazier, a guy who jumps out of a perfectly good aircraft and into a raging forest fire?

or a guy who jumps out of a perfectly good aircraft and into a place where people are shooting at you?

My father fought fires in California and was later in the 101st and subsequently earned his Ranger tab.

The fire doesn't care, the people with guns do.

Neither, of course, is crazy,
both are courageous,
both save lives,
both are needed,
both I have deep respect for
and the courage of neither.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dondarnell (Post 6007083)

Yea, you don't know jack. The only jump school in the armed forces is the Army jump school at Fort Benning GA. All seals are trained there, by the the airborne.

This is false. There is the MFF/HALO/HAHO school at YPG (Yuma), and a large contingent at Ft. Bragg (HQ of the Golden Knights). You can do your initial MFF @ Bragg (including wind tunnel), then off to YPG. I know your TDY orders have to state: Bragg>YPG>Duty Station.

As far as the SEALs go, I think they do their MFF course (and SQT) all at NSW-San Diego now.

Also, I believe the USAF has an "official" Jump School in Colorado Springs. I think it's more of a "gentleman's" course, but still qualifies you to wear your jump wings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxpaws (Post 6003541)

I think you are quite correct - I lost my father recently - a veteran of Korea and Vietnam - we knew nothing about what he did during the wars - until he died. He would never, ever talk of it, even when asked directly. When we were getting ready to inter him in the local military cemetery - the military wanted to know if we wanted full honors, because my Dad had received the Air Force Cross. We kids didn't even know...

Your father no doubt is a special man, as are all the men who serve their country. We need to keep a special place for them in our prayers.

Sorry for your loss, your dad must have been quite a guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODDJOB UNO (Post 6002846)

HALO= lets jump out of a perfectly good aircraft at 30,000 feet on oxygen, into the middle of the damn ocean, with rebreathers, weapons(HK's) and then swim ashore undetected and kill/blow everything up and then swim off into the sunset!

Well, kinda. :p

First, there is no such thing as a "perfectly good aircraft" at any DZ. :D
Second, HALO = up to 30k ft (35k actually), but usually jumps top out at 20-25k. Also, the "LO" part (low opening) is sort of a misnomer. Most people envision a SEAL freefalling over open water,and pulling the ripcord at 500ft. In reality, most HALO canopy deployments are 2-3k ft. Any high-altitude jump with a canopy deployment under 6k ft. is technically considered HALO (deployment higher than 6k ft = HAHO). Plus, they have AAD's set to auto-deploy at mission-specific altitudes, so they don't have to pull their own ripcords (or launch pilot chutes). Oh, and HALO jumps don't have to be anywhere near the water. ;)

From personal experience, I can tell you that once you get below 2k, ground-rush becomes very evident. At 900 ft, it really gets your attention!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey (Post 6008222)

Only two ways to get wings. Five jumps at the US Army School at Benning, OR one jump into combat. That's it.

With you on mff etc. - even the Marines have their own mff school.

Documentary about to be released. "On Killing"

Quote:

Situations in which people are actually trying to kill you and where you are actually trying to kill other people are life altering. In war these situations occur as explosive events in longer, often tedious periods at the front. A normal person has a reserve of a maximum of about 60 days of front time, after which a mental holiday is paramount.

This documentary portrays the private lives of two US Special Forces operators in Afghanistan as well as in the privacy of their homes stateside.

Filmmaker Vik Franke experienced all of this, while making "09:11 Zulu", a documentary on the Dutch and US special Forces in Afghanistan. Riding with them in the desert for two months, hunting for the Taliban, he even had to pick up a gun himself in a huge ambush. The impact of the experience on his own life and having become of the 'Fraternity Born in the Smoke of Danger & Death' was enough to look up the only guys that he could talk to about it.

Franke's experience lasted only for two months and had a significant impact on his life. Matt and Jack have been operators in the Special Operations Forces for 4 and 12 years. ON KILLING delves into the minds of these experienced warriors. Questions like 'how do you tell your sons that you kill people for a living'; 'how does your wife cope not knowing what kinds of dangerous situations their loved ones are in?'; 'how does the family react to a guy that needs a month or two to settle down'; 'do you run risk of acquiring PTSD'.

On the professional side the film shows the daily life of a Special Forces operator in enemy territory in Afghanistan. Tedious hunting and exhilirating fire fights. Franke gets honest answers to his questions: 'why wasn't I afraid?'; 'we should have been dead'.