Saw an old soldier walkin' down the street...
He had a chute on his back and jump boots on his feet...
I said, "Hey old soldier, where ya' goin' to?"
He said, "The US Army Airborne School!" ...
Airborne school, three weeks of
physically,
mentally and
spiritually trying
ordeal that any soldier with enough
intestinal fortitude to volunteer and meet the standard of, can attend and earn the title of "Airborne".
But first, one must ask the question,
What is Airborne?
Where did it come from?
Why is it such a Damn Big Deal?
Scientifically speaking, "Airborne" is a form of military low-altitude parachuting conducted from between 800 and 1500 ft. It is different from much higher-altitude
civilian parachuting programs in the sense that the jumpers go "out the door" with the aid of a
static line, a 15-20 foot canvas cord which relieves the jumper of the responsibility of having to open his/her own
parachute. It is noted that the static lines are between fifteen and twenty feet because depending upon the model of
airplane/
helicopter the prospective jumpers are using, they may requires static lines of differing lengths. Airborne also differs greatly from other civilian programs not only in it's proximity to the ground and method of exit(It should noted though that there are civilian
static line parachuting programs out there), but it also has to do with the rate of decent and force with which the paratroopers comes in contact with the ground.
To explain this, one must point out the differences between civilian and military parachuting. In
civilian parachuting, which came after the
military variant, the primary goal was to allow the perspective jumper to enjoy the
rush and
exhileration of falling through the
sky while also allowing them maximum time to
appreciate their surroundings while
also allowing them the least
dangerous possible landing, not mention the landing that requires the least
thought. Now, there are a number of ways these requirements are satisfied, quite simply, in fact. In the first instance: Allow the jumper to enjoy the
rush of
falling through the
sky, to remedy this, you simply throw the
jumper out the door, much the same in military parachuting. In the second instance: Allow the jumper maximum air time to appreciate surroundings, you simply increase the size of the parachute canopy = increased lift = more air time. In the third case: Give the jumper the easiest, safest landing, the enlarging of the canopy will allow for much of this, but the jumper is also given rudamentary instruction on what should be a "proper" landing, mostly a "Try to remember these things when you hit the dirt".
With military parachuting, on the other hand, there is one primary objective: Get a whole lotta
soldiers into a far-off battlefield as quick as possible, consequences be
damned, let's kick some ASS!!! WOOOHOHOOOOO YEAH ARGHHH!!!! Forgive me, I got a bit carried away there. Anyways, with this in
mind, lets see where civilian and military parachuting differ. The jumper still must be "helped" out the door in case of sudden
reluctance, which is pretty much the same across all lines, although I'm sure they aren't so
draconic about it on the civilian side. Second, air-time. In the
military case, this is a non-factor, as more air-time = more oppurtunity to be ventilated in the
worst way, aka shot-up. So parachute canopies are smaller, which means the soldier falls faster; From around 1200 feet the
soldier is insured about 40 seconds in the air, maybe 30 seconds if it's raining (The rain saturates the canopy and increases rate of descent). And the third factor: Get the
jumper to the ground
safely. On the civilian side, much of this is cared for by the size of the canopy, which brings the force of impact with the ground way down. But in the military case, this isn't the truth. Because of the reality a military parachutist faces: "You're jumping to get to the ground, not to have a joy-ride", the fun parts are usually minimized, although you can never
kill the rush of jumping from a perfectly good
Air Force aircraft. Bit I disgress. With a military parachute, a soldier will hit the ground much harder, and measures are taken to compensate for this, mostly with strenuous training and re-training. So with these things explained, you, the
reader, should have a fairly rudamentary understanding of what being
Airborne consists of, although I'm pretty sure I missed a few things, but
so it is.
On the Historical Side, the American Airborne tradition officially began on June 5th,
1944 with the midnight Airborne invasion of
Normandy by
allied soldiers, most notably the
82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne (The so-called "Screaming Eagles"), on the American side of things. This midnight attack was pivotal in the war, because not only did it break the previous
symmetry of
allied tactics (Attack only at
dawn & in
perfect weather), but it also created enough
chaos to catch the Germans completely off-guard the next morning with the well-known beach-head assault of the main ally forces. In actuality though, the Airborne tradition began
four years prior, when word had
spread of the frightful effectiveness of a deadly new method of soldier insertion utilized by the Russians and Germans; parachuting soldiers into battle, instead of the previous conventional methods of enterting, such as foot power, boats, etc. In response, the US Army began developing their own military parachuting program in hopes of someday harnessing this deadly
power for their own purposes.
The first individuals to actually "Go Airborne" were the infamous "Airborne Test Platoon", whose initial training lasted only three weeks, the same length as it does today. These brave
paratroopers who
risked their lives on a totally experimental program led the way for what would become one of the most prolific and enduring
traditions of the United States Military. After the fine-tuning of the Airborne program was complete, the army began widespread training of the
infantry in order to have a deployable Airborne attack force. At the time, this training was focused almost exclusively on the 82nd Infantry Division and the 101st Infantry Division (At the time, both divisions were HQ'd at
Ft. Bragg,
NC. Today, only the 82nd remains at Ft. Bragg, while the 101st has moved to
Ft. Campbell]. Four years later, the 82nd and 101st made the jumps into Normandy and the Airborne legacy began and the tradition continues to this day.
So the final question we have is: "What is the big deal about being
Airborne?", the answer to which is a fairly simple one. Amongst members of the Army, and perhaps even the Armed Forces at large, being airborne is regarded as just one little thing that you've done that perhaps the soldiers around have not (unless you're at
Ft. Bragg, where everyone their mom is Airborne), a matter of pride perhaps/bragging rights.
But regardless of the reasons, an individual who's been through the training feels a sense of accomplishment, that one completed the jumps from a plane required to be given the title of Airborne. Amongst members of the Army, it is an enduring
tradition, a legacy probably matched only by that of the
Infantry, which is the only thing more
macho than Airborne. I'm sure you can imagine the ego-trip of being Airborne Infantry.
Any corrections anyone has about this write-up are welcome, specifically about the historical aspect of this
node. If you want to learn more about the
historical side of Airborne, you should see "
The Longest Day", a movie about the allied invasion of Normandy from various angles. It is an excellent
movie, although
LONG, like it's title suggests. And last, but not least, forgive all the
run on sentences.