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lumpy
08-27-2007, 11:45 AM
That was my unit motto.When I first joined the Reserves I thought this motto was really stupid.As we walked past an officer we were suppose to great him with this motto or something like,"Airborne All The Way,Sir".It all seemed so ridiculous to me.That attitude however,would change after a weekend drill I had in Feb.'88.
It was a Fri afternoon and I had just gotten off work.I had drills that weekend.As I was driving to the drill hall I had my radiator 3/4 covered with a piece of cardboard and I still had to scrape the ice off the inside of my windshield as I drove down the road.
I got to the drill hall and found out the plans hadn't changed.We were still going to the field this weekend,and we were still parachuting in and parachuting out.
As usual, we weren't told anything specific.All I knew for sure was that we would be outdoors. We had weapons qualification this weekend.And I would be back at the drill hall sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Somehow I had to pack enough stuff into my alice pack to get me through the weekend.As I was trying to figure out what I should bring,a NCO gave me a spare battery for the PRC radio and some extra blank ammo for the squad M60(which we weren't bringing to the field this weekend).I also had my NBC gear that was required to be brought along.We couldn't just have stuff hanging off our alice pack,that would be a no-go.Fear was, this would increase your chance of becoming a towed jumper.That event could really ruin someone's day.
So here's basically what I had to do.Alice pack only contained food,2qt. canteen,my beloved poncho,sleeping bag,and all the required stuff mentioned above.I wore BDU's with the Issued polypropalene (sp.) underware(great stuff-I highly recommend) ,field jacket(I didn't have a liner.This was a couple of years before the gortex became standard issue)a civilian polyfilled vest,leather gloves,helmet liner,webgear w/2-1qt.canteens,and standard issue leather boots.I could have took the mickey mouse boots.I chose not too,because I didn't know how much movement we would be doing.That was a good decision,we would be on the move a lot that weekend. The mickey mouse boots would have slowed me down.
As the C-130 left the runway that night the pilot announced over the intercom that it was -14F.
The jump-in went well.Besides being a little chilled, the weekend went off pretty good.One major problem,by Saturday morning all of our water had froze.I kept a canteen over my BDU's but under my field jacket.It still froze.Perhaps I should have put the canteen under my BDU's.I was afraid of being frostbitten so I didn't try this.Water source needs to be a serious consideration in any winter survival plans.
The jump-out would be the only time I would be hurt from a jump(minor injuries).On that day,as soon as I exited the aircraft I was blinded by the bright sun reflecting off the snow below.I couldn't see anything.My feet hit on a sharp embankment sloping into a drainage ditch.The ditch was only about 2 feet wide.That big !#$%^&* drop zone and I had to land in a ditch.As I lay there waiting for the ambulance I thought,why couldn't I have done this on the jump-in.That way I could have spent the weekend in a climate controlled hospital.:)
Lessons learned:Polypropolene (sp.) underware-good stuff
Water can become a serious issue in cold weather.
Sunglasses need to a part of winter survival preps.

FVR
08-27-2007, 05:22 PM
Our Motto

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/FrankV/1strecon.jpg

Travel light
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/FrankV/77575-1.jpg

Poncho liners come in handy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/FrankV/81233-1.jpg

Cold weather training in Korea. Mickey Mouse boots suck, I'll stick with wool socks and panty hose.

HOP
08-29-2007, 07:46 AM
Hey Lumpy I was a pre gortex solider myself (20 yrs active duty) and have been cold beyond belief many times your weekend except getting hurt sounds like a great time. I rember having to thaw out c-rats and water many times , I alwayscaried a lot of the heat tabs . As a medic in a straight leg infantry unit I was always the odd man out and had to look out for myself.