August 16th is National Airborne Day

It’s fitting that I was with some young paratroopers at midnight last night with Uncle Jimbo, both of us old paratroopers. One of my co-bloggers here, COB6, is also a member of that elite club which requires that you obey the law of gravity. But here’s the history of why today is considered “our” day;

In July 1940, the task of organizing the platoon began. First Lieutenant William T. Ryder from the 29th Infantry Regiment volunteered and was designated the test platoon’s Platoon Leader and Lieutenant James A. Bassett was designated Assistant Platoon Leader. Based on high standards of health and rugged physical characteristics, forty-eight enlisted men were selected from a pool of 200 volunteers. Quickly thereafter, the platoon moved into tents near Lawson Field, and an abandoned hanger was obtained for use as a training hall and for parachute packing.

Lieutenant Colonel William C. Lee, a staff officer for the Chief of Infantry, was intently interested in the test platoon. He recommended that the men be moved to the Safe Parachute Company at Hightstown, NJ for training on the parachute drop towers used during the New York World’s Fair. Eighteen days after organization, the platoon was moved to New Jersey and trained for one week on the 250-foot free towers.

The training was particularly effective. When a drop from the tower was compared to a drop from an airplane, it was found that the added realism was otherwise impossible to duplicate. The drop also proved to the troopers that their parachutes would function safely. The Army was so impressed with the tower drops that two were purchased and erected at Fort Benning on what is now Eubanks Field. Later, two more were added. Three of the original four towers are still in use training paratroopers at Fort Benning. PLF training was often conducted by the volunteers jumping from PT platforms and from the back of moving 2 1/2 ton trucks to allow the trainees to experience the shock of landing.

Less than forty-five days after organization, the first jump from an aircraft in flight by members of the test platoon was made from a Douglas B-18 over Lawson Field on 16 August, 1940. Before the drop, the test platoon held a lottery to determine who would follow Lieutenant Ryder out of the airplane and Private William N. (Red) King became the first enlisted man to make an official jump as a paratrooper in the United States Army. On 29 August, at Lawson Field, the platoon made the first platoon mass jump held in the United States.

From Blackfive (another fallschirmjager);

Please visit these Airborne Qualified bloggers:

Froggy Ruminations (SEAL now blogging here)
SF Alpha Geek (SF – back from a tour in Afghanistan and elsewhere)
Uncle Jimbo (SF Vet)
JB’s Sanctuary (SF Reservist)
Jack Army (SF, now with 25th ID in Iraq)
Michael Yon (SF Vet – Independent Journalist in Iraq)
Thunder Six’s 365 and a wakeup (Army OIF Vet)
The Late Major Delaplane’s Fire Power Forward (Army OEF Vet)
Bloodspite of Technography (Army Vet)
John Donovan of Argghhh! (Army Vet)
Dogtulosba, ink. (Army Airborne Combat Engineer somewhere dangerous)
Fred Schoeneman (Army RANGER Vet)
Tobacco Joe at Cadillac Tight (Army Vet)
Gold Falcon’s Jump Blog (SF Vet)
Francis Marion’s Where I Stand (SF)
Airborne Combat Engineer (Army Vet)
American Soldier (Army OIF Vet)
Texas Music (Army Vet)
The Fastest Squirrel (SF Vet)
Streams (Army Vet)
Bill Roggio (Army Vet)
Watch Your Six (Army OIF Vet)
Shared Daily (Army Vet)
Alexander the Average (Army OIF/OEF Vet)
Greg, Stuck In Qatar (Army in, well, Qatar)
Right In Raleigh (SF Vet)
Major Dad 1984 (Army Vet)
Old And Evil (Army Vet)
Assumption of Command (Army OIF Vet)
TBone’s War Journal
The Universe and Other Things (Army Vet)
Counter Column (Army OIF Vet)
Doug Petch (Army DS and OIF Vet)
Can’t Spell Lost Without The LT (Newest Airborne grad and newest blogger)
Cop the Truth (Army Vet)
The Chronicles of Jake (SF Student)
The Illegal and Political Rantings of Shamrock7 (SF Student)
Fun Turns to Tragedy (Army Vet)
PJ Country (USAF Pararescue)
Euphoric Reality
Fun Turns to Tragedy! (Army Vet)
Bouhammer’s Afghan Blog (Army OEF Vet)
Crotchety Old Bastard (RANGER)
This Ain’t Hell
Outside the Beltway (Army Vet)
Excalibur Blog
Eigty-Deuce on the Loose (82nd in Iraq)

And don’t forget my old buddy Mark at Paratrooper.net.

Part of my own history as a paracaidista

Keep your feet and knees together.

Hit the hole, poleman. Hit the hole.

Category: Bloggers, Support the troops