thedrifter
01-11-06, 09:03 AM
Cherry Point single Marines go skydiving
MCAS Cherry Point
Story by Cpl. J.R. Stence
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. (Jan. 11, 2006) -- Lance Cpl. James Bambard, a gunner with 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, is used to shooting down enemy aircraft, but Saturday, he was the one falling out of the sky.
Bambard was one 12 Marines who participated in a Cherry Point Single Marine Program skydiving trip to the Raeford Parachute Center in Raeford, N.C.
After a watching a short instructional video and undergoing a comprehensive equipment check, the Marines were flown to 13,000 feet above the ground in a twin-prop airplane. As the aircraft slowed to a cruising speed of about 105 miles per hour, the Marines, mostly first-time jumpers, leapt out in tandems: one Marine and one Raeford instructor. The instructors released the parachutes and steered, allowing the Marines to experience the rush at a reduced risk.
For all of the Marines, the experience was exhilarating and terrifying.
In the moment prior to exiting the airplane, Bambard was struck by the unnaturalness of what he was about to do, but he didn't have much time to think about it. The instructors quickly moved the tandem jumpers to the aircraft’s back hatch, and within minutes, the pilot was banking back toward the runway to board the next wave of skydivers.
Meanwhile, Bambard was plummeting toward the ground.
“For the first seconds, it felt like a roller coaster,” he said. “Then it went calm.”
Bambard said the experience was “insane,” which is apparently a good thing; he plans to return to Raeford to earn a solo skydiving certification in a nine-session course.
Other Marines were less enthusiastic about future skydiving trips. Bambard’s friend, Lance Cpl. Kenny Mitchell, also a 2nd LAAD gunner, said, “The worst feeling in the world is watching that perfectly good airplane go away. I'm looking at it, and I'm like, ‘Why, why, why?’”
Summarizing the experience, Mitchell said it was a “check in the box” but something he won’t do again.
Ellie
MCAS Cherry Point
Story by Cpl. J.R. Stence
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. (Jan. 11, 2006) -- Lance Cpl. James Bambard, a gunner with 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, is used to shooting down enemy aircraft, but Saturday, he was the one falling out of the sky.
Bambard was one 12 Marines who participated in a Cherry Point Single Marine Program skydiving trip to the Raeford Parachute Center in Raeford, N.C.
After a watching a short instructional video and undergoing a comprehensive equipment check, the Marines were flown to 13,000 feet above the ground in a twin-prop airplane. As the aircraft slowed to a cruising speed of about 105 miles per hour, the Marines, mostly first-time jumpers, leapt out in tandems: one Marine and one Raeford instructor. The instructors released the parachutes and steered, allowing the Marines to experience the rush at a reduced risk.
For all of the Marines, the experience was exhilarating and terrifying.
In the moment prior to exiting the airplane, Bambard was struck by the unnaturalness of what he was about to do, but he didn't have much time to think about it. The instructors quickly moved the tandem jumpers to the aircraft’s back hatch, and within minutes, the pilot was banking back toward the runway to board the next wave of skydivers.
Meanwhile, Bambard was plummeting toward the ground.
“For the first seconds, it felt like a roller coaster,” he said. “Then it went calm.”
Bambard said the experience was “insane,” which is apparently a good thing; he plans to return to Raeford to earn a solo skydiving certification in a nine-session course.
Other Marines were less enthusiastic about future skydiving trips. Bambard’s friend, Lance Cpl. Kenny Mitchell, also a 2nd LAAD gunner, said, “The worst feeling in the world is watching that perfectly good airplane go away. I'm looking at it, and I'm like, ‘Why, why, why?’”
Summarizing the experience, Mitchell said it was a “check in the box” but something he won’t do again.
Ellie