Jumpmaster Dean
I just made it through 99% of Jumpmaster School. All that remains is to burn through a few jumps next week in whatever position the instructors put me, provided the weather doesn't snow like it is being forecast right now. The Jumpmaster course has been quite the challenge - more than I've put myself through in quite a while.
It all started with the nomenclature test. Simply put, I had to correctly and exactly identify each part of the parachute harness, reserve parachute, weapons case, canopy release assembly, riser assembly, H-harness, et cetera. Any mistake resulted in a reduction in points.
Any score below 70 points on any portion of any test in the entire course was considered a failure. Safety violations of any kind were an automatic failure (minus 35 points). Why they didn't just make it a 99-point violation, I'm not quite sure.
After the nomenclature test was the JMPI portion, which stands for JumpMaster Personnel Inspection. We learned the proper sequence for inspecting a jumper rigged either with Combat Equipment, or "Hollywood" which is harness only without additional equipment. Once we had the sequence down, we had to hone our speed. 30+ jumpers stood in a circle of 30+ other jumpers and practiced JMPI sequence over and over and over, until it was embedded into your brain. We did this for a solid week. The final JMPI test involved JMPI-ing three jumpers: one combat equipment-rigged jumper, and two hollywood jumpers. And it had to be done in correct sequence, all in under 5 minutes. Oh yeah, during this speedy inspection you also had to identify any major and/or minor deficiencies along the way and call them out correctly without breaking stride. If you caught the deficiency, but used the incorrect nomenclature (name), points were deducted. If you missed a minor deficiency, you were deducted 11 points. If you missed any major deficiency, you failed. For almost two weeks I woke up from a dead sleep running through JMPI sequence in my head. Several times I was actually moving my hands over imaginary jumpers as I was waking up. I will never forget the sequence in my lifetime.
The next portion was PWAC, which stands for Practical Work in the AirCraft. During this phase I learned and performed the duties of Primary Jumpmaster (PJ), Assistant Jumpmaster (AJ), Safety, and DZSO (Drop Zone Safety Officer). I hung out the side of a C-130 aircraft with my face being slammed by 130-knot winds looking for panels on the ground which told me it was time to kick a jumper out of the aircraft doors.
All that is left is to jump a few times next week, provided the weather cooperates with us. Then I'm officially a jumpmaster!
It all started with the nomenclature test. Simply put, I had to correctly and exactly identify each part of the parachute harness, reserve parachute, weapons case, canopy release assembly, riser assembly, H-harness, et cetera. Any mistake resulted in a reduction in points.
Any score below 70 points on any portion of any test in the entire course was considered a failure. Safety violations of any kind were an automatic failure (minus 35 points). Why they didn't just make it a 99-point violation, I'm not quite sure.
After the nomenclature test was the JMPI portion, which stands for JumpMaster Personnel Inspection. We learned the proper sequence for inspecting a jumper rigged either with Combat Equipment, or "Hollywood" which is harness only without additional equipment. Once we had the sequence down, we had to hone our speed. 30+ jumpers stood in a circle of 30+ other jumpers and practiced JMPI sequence over and over and over, until it was embedded into your brain. We did this for a solid week. The final JMPI test involved JMPI-ing three jumpers: one combat equipment-rigged jumper, and two hollywood jumpers. And it had to be done in correct sequence, all in under 5 minutes. Oh yeah, during this speedy inspection you also had to identify any major and/or minor deficiencies along the way and call them out correctly without breaking stride. If you caught the deficiency, but used the incorrect nomenclature (name), points were deducted. If you missed a minor deficiency, you were deducted 11 points. If you missed any major deficiency, you failed. For almost two weeks I woke up from a dead sleep running through JMPI sequence in my head. Several times I was actually moving my hands over imaginary jumpers as I was waking up. I will never forget the sequence in my lifetime.
The next portion was PWAC, which stands for Practical Work in the AirCraft. During this phase I learned and performed the duties of Primary Jumpmaster (PJ), Assistant Jumpmaster (AJ), Safety, and DZSO (Drop Zone Safety Officer). I hung out the side of a C-130 aircraft with my face being slammed by 130-knot winds looking for panels on the ground which told me it was time to kick a jumper out of the aircraft doors.
All that is left is to jump a few times next week, provided the weather cooperates with us. Then I'm officially a jumpmaster!
Comments
Post a Comment