Silver Wings

At Ease

Airborne School is over. Lou officially graduated Friday the 13th, yesterday. It was an overcast morning, which we were all very glad for, after all, metal bleachers get warm in the sun. Pinning the wings on my husband is such an honor for me, the pin always seems like such a small thing for the labor he does to complete these courses. And yet, it means the world to him. And I'm glad to have a small part in all this.

Pinning the Wings

These are hard to get straight!

An Airborne Ranger at last!

The Airborne School letterhead

Lou really graduated Wednesday night, in my book though. That was the night of his 10pm jump. Utter darkness, 400 men and women parachuting at 1200 feet out of a half dozen planes over a Georgia clay field. They finished the jump and were released at 2am Thursday morning, and when Lou came home to a sleeping Kim-he was full of stories and excitement! All kinds of hair raising tales about parachutes that didn't open correctly, soldiers that got psyched out and literally jumped mili-seconds after the parachutist ahead of them, causing senseless acts of line entanglement and years-off-your-life interactions, and the norm: random broken bones. Hearing,"This one guy broke his back!!" at 2 in the morning with contacts out and sleep/awake still fighting for the upper hand- I have to say that I was very thankful to see him in one piece!

Truly breathtaking

 Although I wasn't able to get any photos of his night jumps, Cassie and I did go to the first of his and Bill's 5 jumps and we took myriads of photos....most of tiny white parachutes flying out of C-130s at break-your-neck speed.

The plane coming in

The jump was scheduled for 11am, so we drove to out in the middle of nowhere Georgia/Alabama territory Fryar Field (where the time was officially an hour earlier) and hung out waiting....the jump began at 1230.....and by that time the sun was high in the sky.....and we were officially...sun kissed and perspiring......A LOT.

Those little dots being jerked sideways are people....

 Such an amazing thing to watch! I can't imagine how the first aviator must have felt when his plane left terra firma. I do know that watching the guys jump "hollywood style" (that's minus their weapon/rucksack) was an awe-inspiring moment for me. Well worth the wait.

Coming down off their high (altitude)

The half mile walk back from the field

Lou arriving! The sun glare was so bad I couldn't tell that it was him....just some guy waving like crazy!

He was definitely coming down with post-jump enthusia!

And now that he has officially graduated and has the paper to prove it, we are off for a much needed vacation! We were trying to figure out the last time we took a "vacation" (we only count week-long trips for pleasure officially as vacations) and we came to the conclusion that it was last summer. Somehow that seems a lifetime ago! It is 4 schools and a move ago....so maybe that's why. The bad thing about "quitting the education circuit" is losing the friends who also must now leave the "Army training nest" and go to their respective duty stations, all across the country and world. We will miss them! But, at least in the Army you know that you'll probably run into each other 5 years later- and 25 lbs heavier (for the guys, that is)! Next on the agenda- Panama City Beach Florida! Ahhhhhh................

Bill and Lou- they have gone through BOLC 2, I-BOLC, Ranger School, Airborne School together.