Jump! Ch. 01

I saw a second military aircraft flying south-to-north on the other side of Town. No one jumped from it, though. After finishing my cup of coffee, I got up and went back inside...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I get up, and nothin' gets me down
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches and get to what's real..."

--- Van Halen, 'Jump'

9:00am, Saturday, May 8th. The Bypass and County Road 5 that went north-south were shut off to thru traffic up to the Farmer's Market to the south and BigPharmaCorp to the north. BigPharmaCorp had whined about it even though their employees were able to get to work. The Farmer's Market was allowed to be the parking area for Townspeople that came to watch the events, and therefore got a good breakfast crowd.

Todd Burke had given his employees a paid holiday, and was sponsoring the shuttle buses that brought Townspeople to BOW Enterprises and the land he controlled west of his facilities. A 'security area' had been set up for authorized personnel, which included military personnel and Police (and others) that were going to participate in the Airborne jumps.

Of course I was allowed to drive my Police SUV up County Road 5 to BOW Enterprises. Teresa was riding shotgun, and we were both attired in our 'black' Police uniforms, which were darn close to military combat uniforms. We were also wearing well-broken-in black boots... and mine were the same pair I'd worn during 16 of my 17 official military jumps, the one with the Israeli 55th Paras being the only exception. My 18th jump had been 'unofficial'. (Author's note: 'Power of Love', Ch. 03.)

A lot of the TCPD Officers that were not jumping were wearing normal blue 'field' uniforms... dark blue like the regular uniform, but the uniform material was a bit more rugged. These uniforms were worn during the times we interdicted the riots by various violent criminal groups.

Several large military tents had been set up, and entry to them was forbidden for the time being. As we walked towards them and the people there, Teresa said "That's unusual. The Sheriff's Deputies are wearing black uniforms instead of their brown field uniforms."

I said "The Sheriff ordered that, because some of the military soldiers are wearing brown camo uniforms, and he didn't want our guys to be mistaken for them." Then I said "So! You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Teresa replied. "I'm in good shape, so I'm not worried about getting hurt. Any advice?"

"Just keep your feet and knees together when you land." I said.

When we got to the group of people, I saw Admiral Leonard R. Cordell in a Navy combat uniform, the NWU Type 1, which was blue and gray camo instead of browns or greens, his embroidered Airborne wings with combat jump star sewn over the 'U.S. NAVY' patch above his left pocket flap. He also was wearing the Army Combat Medical Badge with a star for a second award.

And yes, the NWU Type 1 uniform was retired by the Navy. So was Admiral Cordell. I'll let you tell him he can't wear it.

Next to him, wearing her 'black' uniform, was Chief Deputy Cindy Ross. And next to her was Sheriff Griswold... in his normal Sheriff's uniform with gold stars glittering on the collars as well as the epaulettes of his shirt. Decked out, Our Sheriff was.

"Don't you even think about jumping." Cindy said to me as we came up, her ice blue eyes staring ice blue daggers at me.

"You look good in black, too." I replied nonchalantly.

Cindy said "Just following my Sheriff's orders. And it's turning out to be a good thing. I'm here for only two reasons: one, because the Sheriff told me to be here; and two, so I can make damn sure you don't try to jump, Don. And I don't have to worry about messing up this uniform when I fight you like hell to stop you from trying to jump." She was serious about that, the Green Crowbar was.

"Vee shall see." I said in my 'German' accent. "But I observe that Our Sheriff is out of uniform today."

"Har." barked the Sheriff. But his mustaches were quivering; he knew what I was really saying with that comment.

"You're not jumping with us today, Sheriff?" Teresa asked, stating out loud what I'd been implying.

"Har." barked the Sheriff again. "I've been a Leg all my long life, and I'll just stay a Leg for the remainder of it."

"I will excuse it." I said, trying to sound serious. "There are no Legs in the Klingon Empire. They can't parachute out of a Bird of Prey in outer space." Good asskissing skills, I had. The Sheriff approved.

Admiral Cordell said "The Sheriff is just making sure General McFarland knows who's really in charge around here." We all laughed at that.

"Is General McFarland here yet?" I asked.

"He's up at BOW Enterprises." Sheriff Griswold said. "Todd Burke is giving him a quick tour. Alison is around here somewhere, in the crowd of visitors, maybe." I observed a slight twinkle in his eye and his mustaches quivering merrily as he said that. Hmmm, I thought to myself, something's up there...

A moment later, a lanky Hispanic man in an Army combat uniform came up to us. He saluted Admiral Cordell, who returned it, then said "Hello, everyone, I'm Master Sergeant José Morales, and I'm the Jumpmaster in charge of today's jumps... oh, hello Commander Troy, Commander Ross."

Yes, this was the same José Morales of the 75th Ranger Regiment whose dog Ranger was among those rescued by Your Iron Crowbar during the Town & County Kennel fire nearly three years before. (Author's note: 'Fire In The Hole', Ch. 01, 03.)

As he came up to shake hands with us, I said "Congratulations on your promotions, Master Sergeant. How's your dog Ranger doing?"

"He's good, sir." said Morales. "He's getting older, though, and can't travel with me anymore, so he's back at home."

After explaining to those needing it about Ranger the Dog, Jumpmaster Morales explained what we'd be doing. Those who were jumping would get their parachutes, put them on and be checked by the Jumpmasters in the first tent, then get their pre-jump briefing in the second tent, then load the plane.

"Where's the plane?" I asked, looking around.

"Right there, sir." said MSG Morales, pointing south. "Both of them." We all looked south to see two C-130J Hercules turboprop aircraft flying north. They landed on the Bypass, one on the northbound lanes, the other on the southbound lanes. Then they taxied over to near to where we were, and where the Public was beginning to gather by the hundreds...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Two large military tanker trucks were refueling the aircraft when their pilots came over to the tents, and Admiral Cordell brought them over to meet me. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Calvin." said the Air Force pilot as we shook hands.

"I'm Major Hobbes, the co-pilot." said the Air Force Officer.

"This is Commander Teresa Croyle." I said. They shook hands with her.

"Is this a training mission for you guys, too?" Teresa asked.

"Yes ma'am, it is." said Lt. Cmdr. Calvin. "Our pilots will fly into Fort Benning and Fort Bragg and fly jump missions on regular occasions. It prepares us for combat jumps in war, too."

"I like missions like these." said Major Hobbes. "Benning and Bragg are the same drop zones and runways, and the NTC is, too." The NTC was the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California. "This mission gives us the chance to see new and different ground markers."

"And you get to practice landing on our highway, too." I said. Then the pilots suddenly snapped to attention and saluted. I turned to see General Alexander McFarland coming up to us, and he returned the salute. He was wearing an Army 'Class B' uniform, which surprised me a little bit.

With him were two other General Officers, a 2-star and a 1-star, similarly attired, and two men in civilian suits and ties, with little earpieces in their left ears. And two Enlisted men in camo uniforms with embroidered Airborne wings and Pathfinder badges, wearing the maroon berets of the Airborne, and sleeves on their arms denoting them to be Military Police.

"Good morning, gentlemen." said General McFarland. "Good to see you again, Commanders."

"Good morning, General." I said. "Thank you for doing this for us."

"You earned this day, Commander." said General McFarland. He then lowered his voice and said "There wouldn't be a Town & County if it weren't for you." He was referring to the EMPTY QUIVER incident. (Author's note: 'The Nuclear Option'.)

"You're not jumping with us, General?" Teresa asked.

"I wish I could be jumping with you." replied General McFarland. "But my security guys wouldn't let me... your Commander Ross would like them."

"I already do!" said a voice behind us, which became the Green Crowbar as she came around to face us. "Good morning, General. Can I borrow your Secret Service guys here to keep Commander Troy from entertaining any ideas of jumping today?"

"They're having enough trouble keeping me from sneaking off and putting on a chute." McFarland replied. "So, Commander Ross, Alison tells me you and she have a surprise for us today."

"Oh? What's that?" I asked.

"Not much gets by the Iron Crowbar, General." said Cindy, with a gleam in her ice blue eyes. "But I think this one did."

"I have a question, sir." said Teresa. "I see that these Military Policemen are Pathfinders, and I heard that in the Viet Nam era, when my father and Dr. Cordell were over there, Pathfinders were in the Military Police. Is that still true?"

The Brigadier General said "If I may, sir?" McFarland nodded, and the Brigadier said "The Pathfinders have always been part of the Airborne support units, just like the Airborne Riggers are. And in the past, at least 50% of the Pathfinders were MPs, as they would provide MP-type security after setting up the drop zones, so that made sense."

Airborne Riggers are the people who pack the parachutes. It is legend that their quality control test is to pack five chutes, and their leader picks one of those five, hands it to them, and tells them they will be jumping with that chute that day. That is more legend than reality, though like anyone on active jump status, they jump at least once every three months.

The Brigadier then said "But over time, the Pathfinder mission has become integrated with other roles, and so the Pathfinders are now in the Combat Arms as much as Combat Support. And as a reflection of that, the Pathfinder School at Fort Benning, Georgia has ceased operations, though the one at Fort Campbell, Kentucky remains open."

(Author's note: That really is true, that they discontinued Pathfinder School at Ft. Benning. And your author is 'not happy' about that.)

Teresa said to me "You were an M.P. Officer, sir. Why didn't you become a Pathfinder?"

I said "Same reason I didn't become a Jumpmaster: I was in the Reserves. If I had been Regular Army or full-time active duty as an M.P. Officer, I likely would have gone to Pathfinder School right out of the Basic Airborne Course..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The time was fast approaching. One of the two aircraft that had landed was going to be used to give the visitors a tour of the inside of a C-130J Hercules military aircraft. The other would demonstrate the abilities of the C-130J to take off on a very short runway, and to deliver United States Paratroopers to jump out onto a drop zone.

All of the Public Safety Officers that were listed to jump had arrived, and all were wearing the correct 'black' uniform... except EMS Lieutenant Ellen Brooks and Paramedic Kevin Randolph, whose 'black' uniform equivalent was blue. And the Sheriff had authorized, and the Chief and I had ordered, embroidered white Airborne wings on black or blue backgrounds, to be worn on our uniforms. above the left pocket flap like where the Military wears theirs. The Chief also had embroidered Army Aviator Wings sewn onto his uniform.

Kalsu was a Master Blaster, and Ranger Halston's jump wings had two combat jump stars... and the missions for which he got those jumps are still highly classified.

Daniel Patrick had another embroidered badge on his uniform in addition to his Senior Parachutist Badge. Teresa asked him "What's that badge with the downward-pointing wings?"

"HALO, which means 'High Altitude Low Opening'." said Patrick. "Military freefall."

Everyone had their Police helmets, with two exceptions: Teresa Croyle had her Auburn football helmet with the Clan Crowbar icon, which she'd used in the Police Boxing Matches. The faceplate (and face mask) had been removed. I might add that some of the Jumpmasters had motorcycle helmets or football helmets, so Teresa's headgear was not all that unusual.

The other exception, of course, was Your Iron Crowbar: I had my Wildcats football helmet with Clan Crowbar icon, sans faceplate.

When Julia Rodriguez had reported for duty, she was instructed to stay with Chief Moynahan. So when a Jumpmaster named Evans (related to Molly's ex-husband?) had everyone get in line, I yelled where everyone could hear "Rodriguez, get in line behind the Chief! You are jumping today!"

Everyone was surprised at that, and so I explained that Julia had gone to Airborne School but was injured before she could make her fifth jump. "You will be making that jump today, Detective Sergeant. Get in line, behind the Chief!" Julia was surprised, but moved out smartly to join the Airborne mission.

When Jumpmaster Evans said "Admiral Cordell, I've been told that you want to stand in the door. So come to the front of the line."

"No." said Cordell, then pointed to Teresa and said "I want her to stand in the door. Her father made me stand in the door on my combat jump, and it's time for some deferred payback." Everyone cheered as Teresa went to the front of the line.

"Okay, we're going to run all of you through the line to practice the Airborne Shuffle and jumping out the door. So let's go over to the makeshift frame we've set up."

"DOUBLE TIME!" I screamed as I began running ahead of them. Yeah, I knew all about those 'break area procedures' at Airborne School!

Everyone took off after me. Ranger Halston caught up to me and beat me to what looked like an unfinished wall of a house with a door frame. When we got there, I told everyone to 'fall in' in the two 'sticks' they'd be lined up to jump in.

"Congratulations." said Jumpmaster Monroe, a very large, well-built black man wearing Master Blaster jump wings, the Air Assault badge, and the Combat Infantry Badge on his camo uniform. "Your Police Commander just saved you from getting smoked like cheap cigars! We double-time everywhere until you put on your parachutes, and from that point on you'll walk with a purpose. Is that clear?"

"Clear, Sergeant Airborne!" shouted the Airborne-qualified persons, and Julia. We did not convince Jumpmaster Monroe.

"My God, that was weak!" shouted Monroe. "Sound off like you mean it!"

"CLEAR, SERGEANT AIRBORNE!" everyone yelled. It was a much better effort.

Jumpmaster Monroe said "We're going to practice jumping out the door, and you'll hop to your military left to make room for the jumper after you. As you know, when you check your canopies, you should see a fully deployed canopy in international olive drab above you. On rare occasions, you might see an international orange canopy."

Jumpmaster Monroe: "But there is one color that no parachute will ever be, and that is international sky blue! If you see nothing but the sky, you will immediately deploy your reserve." He had two military soldiers with him, who had been part of the Pathfinders that had jumped that morning. They demonstrated how to deploy the reserve chute.

Jumpmaster Monroe: "If there are any problems at all, you must immediately deploy your reserve. If you look up and see a 'cigar roll' instead of a deployed chute, don't even think about it; pull your reserve. If a cord goes over the top of the chute, it will create what we call the 'Mae West'. I'll let you figure out why."

A 'Mae West' was when a cord caused the chute to have two sections, and the legendary Mae West's bras were like that.

"Last but not least." said Jumpmaster Monroe. "If for some reason you land on someone below's parachute, run to the edge and jump off. If two of you collide and your parachutes become entangled, both of you should pull your reserves..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Everyone practiced jumping through the door, counting to four and yelling 'Check canopy!". The Jumpmasters did not abuse us with the tricks that occurred at Airborne School, like yelling 'Check a can of peas!"

Then we went to a sawdust pit, which BOW Enterprises personnel had created out of wood chips they used for packing material, with a three-foot-high box next to it. Ranger Halston eagerly, a bit too eagerly, volunteered to go first and demonstrate, and he executed a dynamic and coordinated parachute landing fall (PLF).

Then Jumpmaster Monroe had Teresa come up to do it. She did a good job, but Monroe made her do it six times to make sure. Turns out that Admiral Cordell and EMS Lieutenant Ellen Brooks had worked with Teresa on all this stuff already, so it wasn't totally new to the Iron Wolf.

Then we all went through it. I was at the end of the line, and as I stepped up onto the platform, I saw Cindy and the Sheriff watching from near the pile of parachutes near the first tent... and the Green Crowbar did not look happy. I executed my dynamite PLF, anyway, then waved to her as I got back in the line. And to quote the Emperor Palpatine in 'Return of the Jedi'... I could feeeeel her annnngerrrrr...

Once we were done, it was time to get our parachutes. We got in one line and an Airborne Rigger handed us a chute from the pile as we went by. As I got mine, I suddenly found Cindy right in front of me.

"You... are NOT jumping today!" the Green Crowbar yelled into the face of the Red Crowbar from two feet away. She turned and yelled "This man has broken his back TWICE! And he is NOT going for the third strike!"

There were groans and murmurs in the group, and some "Come on, let him jump!". And then I saw Teresa coming towards us, ready to stop Cindy from stopping me.

I held up my hand to stop Teresa, and said loudly "It's okay, guys! She's only looking out for me and my health. And she's right... I'm not jumping with this equipment today."

As more groans cropped up, I sprang my trap. I thrust the parachute right into Cindy's chest and yelled "YOU ARE!"

To be continued.