Educator Takes a Flying Leap
By Robert Moore, Monroe County Indiana Schools' Director of Adult Education/Principal of the Bloomington Graduation School.
July 9, 2014
“It was the most calm, peaceful, serene experience I can remember having.” I’m not talking about spending an evening on the beach watching the sun set into the ocean, but rather the 15,000 foot tandem skydive I made with the Army’s Golden Knights in June at Fort Knox, Ky
I along with 24 other educators from six states, were selected to attend a two-day tour of Fort Knox on June 11 and 12 to learn about the post-secondary career training options in the Army that are available to young adults. The tour included a tandem jump with the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. I was invited by the Bloomington Recruiting Center to participate in the visit hosted by the Army’s 3rd Recruiting Brigade, which is headquartered at Fort Knox.
I was amazed at the wide range of careers a person can train for. I met soldiers who were mechanics, musicians, paralegals, linguists, marksmen, performers, a chaplain’s assistant, and on and on. Basically, if you have an interest and there is a job available, you can train for it in the Army.
On the morning of day 1, we witnessed ROTC cadets from several universities around the country engage in various qualification tests in the swimming pool and the obstacle course. In the afternoon, we were taken to the French Shooting Club, an outdoor range on base, where two members of the Army Marksmanship Team demonstrated some trick skeet shooting they do for competition.
Then they let us try it. The instructor gave me some great directions on the shotgun, and I hit my first skeet target dead on. After the demonstration, the group traveled to an indoor facility, where a simulated pistol range is used by various law enforcement agencies and military personnel for practice and qualification on stationary targets. I hit it 8 out of 10 times.
Later in the day, we met with the 3rd Brigade’s education services specialist and a panel of Soldiers for a Q&A session. They all stressed the importance of education and training in whatever field they are pursuing. Pretty much, a Soldier must pursue a civilian college education in order to advance in his or her career. Many of the Soldiers we met held bachelors and masters degrees. And the fact that the Army pays for this education makes it possible for them to do so.
We jumped with the Golden Knights on the second day. That morning, after a strongly-advised light breakfast, we gathered at the brigade headquarters for a bus ride to Fort Knox’s airfield. There, an instructor from the Golden Knights briefed us on how to dress in the regulation equipment, how the exit and landing would occur, and the risks associated with the skydive.
Then they took us up in the plane three at a time, each with an instructor and a videographer. It turned out to be a long wait for me, because I was the second-to-last group to go, so I skipped lunch and waited patiently.
Around 2:30, a member of the Golden Knights Tandem Team came to the room where we were waiting and called my name. He led me to another room and helped me get properly suited up in the gold and black jumpsuit, a harness, and helmet and goggles. He also introduced me to another member of the team who served as the tandem’s videographer.
All three of us climbed into the plane with two other tandems and videographers and began the ascent to 15,000 feet. As the plane drew near to the desired altitude, the instructor hooked his harness to mine and tightened the straps. And I mean it was TIGHT! He was on my back, I was on his front, and we were pressed together like we were one body.
Still in our seats, we practiced several times how we would eventually exit the aircraft. I’ll tell you, from then on I never felt safer. Sitting there strapped to the front of that Golden Knight made me feel very secure, like I could do anything.
Then the time came. I and my Golden Knight instructor, tied tightly to my back, duck walked to the door of the plane. With the videographer already hanging outside the door, we leaped forward and began a 120 mile-per-hour free-fall toward earth.
It actually felt like I was flying, not falling. It was amazing. I felt like Superman. There was no roller-coaster feeling at all like I thought there might be. Just a strong wind in my face, and all I heard was a loud roar.
The videographer, with camera mounted to his helmet, passed below, above, and to the side of us in flight. How he did that, I don’t know. He was all over the place.
After the 45-second free-fall, when the tandem had descended to 5,000 feet, I felt a strong tug upward and the videographer vanished. I looked up and saw the strings of the parachute, which had just deployed. And suddenly the loud roar of the wind gave way to a great silence. It was the quietest quiet I ever heard. We were just floating there at the end of the parachute. My instructor asked, ‘So how are you doing, sir?’ I responded, ‘Well, I didn’t eat any lunch, and I’m kind of hungry. Did you bring anything to eat?’ We just talked to each other in a normal tone of voice. We didn’t have to shout to be heard.”
As we continued our descent, I asked the Golden Knight how fast we were going now. He said we were going about 25 miles per hour forward speed and about 20 miles per hour downward. So the parachute really slowed us down. But again, it felt like we were just floating, not falling. The earth was very slowly rising to me; I was not falling to it. All the while, the sight was spectacular: a complete, unobstructed, panoramic view of sky, sun, clouds, horizon, and earth all in one glance. My instructor pointed out the top of the Federal Gold Depository building and the field where they would eventually land.
Then I learned what performance parachuting was all about. The instructor said, “OK, now I’ll show you what this thing can do.” The tandem did a spin and dive maneuver to the right and another to the left. Now that was definitely a roller-coaster feeling. That’s for sure! After that, we returned to their peaceful, downward descent.
As the objects on earth grew larger and larger, it was time to prepare for the landing on Brooks Field. As instructed, I pulled up my knees and pointed my legs straight outward. The 7-minute flight was over as my instructor’s feet made a gentle touchdown on the turf.
This was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, the entire two-day visit. If I learned anything, it was that the Army really stresses education, training, and safety above all. They really take care of their people. Their standards for training and safety are so high, they really do minimize danger far more than we do in the civilian world. And the education benefits the Army offeres — you just can’t beat them.
Soldiers told us, ‘I didn’t pay a dime for my college degree.’ If parents and students are really serious about exploring all options for funding a college education, they’d do themselves a favor by at least exploring that with a military recruiter in addition the college recruiters. I mean, with so many college students graduating with such enormous debt from loans and no job prospects in the fields they were trained for, you ought to seek out all the options and pick the best one.
They showed us that young adults don’t even have to make military service their whole career. Even for a short time commitment, they can get a college education, learn some marketable career skills employers want, get some valuable work experience for the civilian job market, and give back to their country.
Moore is the local adult education director at Broadview Learning Center in Bloomington, Ind. He has a great working relationship with recruiters in the Bloomington Center. He counsels young adults who are working toward earning their GED and sends referrals to Army recruiters any time he speaks with students who are interested in a career with the military.
By Robert Moore, Monroe County Indiana Schools' Director of Adult Education/Principal of the Bloomington Graduation School.
July 9, 2014
“It was the most calm, peaceful, serene experience I can remember having.” I’m not talking about spending an evening on the beach watching the sun set into the ocean, but rather the 15,000 foot tandem skydive I made with the Army’s Golden Knights in June at Fort Knox, Ky
I along with 24 other educators from six states, were selected to attend a two-day tour of Fort Knox on June 11 and 12 to learn about the post-secondary career training options in the Army that are available to young adults. The tour included a tandem jump with the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. I was invited by the Bloomington Recruiting Center to participate in the visit hosted by the Army’s 3rd Recruiting Brigade, which is headquartered at Fort Knox.
I was amazed at the wide range of careers a person can train for. I met soldiers who were mechanics, musicians, paralegals, linguists, marksmen, performers, a chaplain’s assistant, and on and on. Basically, if you have an interest and there is a job available, you can train for it in the Army.
On the morning of day 1, we witnessed ROTC cadets from several universities around the country engage in various qualification tests in the swimming pool and the obstacle course. In the afternoon, we were taken to the French Shooting Club, an outdoor range on base, where two members of the Army Marksmanship Team demonstrated some trick skeet shooting they do for competition.
Then they let us try it. The instructor gave me some great directions on the shotgun, and I hit my first skeet target dead on. After the demonstration, the group traveled to an indoor facility, where a simulated pistol range is used by various law enforcement agencies and military personnel for practice and qualification on stationary targets. I hit it 8 out of 10 times.
Later in the day, we met with the 3rd Brigade’s education services specialist and a panel of Soldiers for a Q&A session. They all stressed the importance of education and training in whatever field they are pursuing. Pretty much, a Soldier must pursue a civilian college education in order to advance in his or her career. Many of the Soldiers we met held bachelors and masters degrees. And the fact that the Army pays for this education makes it possible for them to do so.
We jumped with the Golden Knights on the second day. That morning, after a strongly-advised light breakfast, we gathered at the brigade headquarters for a bus ride to Fort Knox’s airfield. There, an instructor from the Golden Knights briefed us on how to dress in the regulation equipment, how the exit and landing would occur, and the risks associated with the skydive.
Then they took us up in the plane three at a time, each with an instructor and a videographer. It turned out to be a long wait for me, because I was the second-to-last group to go, so I skipped lunch and waited patiently.
Around 2:30, a member of the Golden Knights Tandem Team came to the room where we were waiting and called my name. He led me to another room and helped me get properly suited up in the gold and black jumpsuit, a harness, and helmet and goggles. He also introduced me to another member of the team who served as the tandem’s videographer.
All three of us climbed into the plane with two other tandems and videographers and began the ascent to 15,000 feet. As the plane drew near to the desired altitude, the instructor hooked his harness to mine and tightened the straps. And I mean it was TIGHT! He was on my back, I was on his front, and we were pressed together like we were one body.
Still in our seats, we practiced several times how we would eventually exit the aircraft. I’ll tell you, from then on I never felt safer. Sitting there strapped to the front of that Golden Knight made me feel very secure, like I could do anything.
Then the time came. I and my Golden Knight instructor, tied tightly to my back, duck walked to the door of the plane. With the videographer already hanging outside the door, we leaped forward and began a 120 mile-per-hour free-fall toward earth.
It actually felt like I was flying, not falling. It was amazing. I felt like Superman. There was no roller-coaster feeling at all like I thought there might be. Just a strong wind in my face, and all I heard was a loud roar.
The videographer, with camera mounted to his helmet, passed below, above, and to the side of us in flight. How he did that, I don’t know. He was all over the place.
After the 45-second free-fall, when the tandem had descended to 5,000 feet, I felt a strong tug upward and the videographer vanished. I looked up and saw the strings of the parachute, which had just deployed. And suddenly the loud roar of the wind gave way to a great silence. It was the quietest quiet I ever heard. We were just floating there at the end of the parachute. My instructor asked, ‘So how are you doing, sir?’ I responded, ‘Well, I didn’t eat any lunch, and I’m kind of hungry. Did you bring anything to eat?’ We just talked to each other in a normal tone of voice. We didn’t have to shout to be heard.”
As we continued our descent, I asked the Golden Knight how fast we were going now. He said we were going about 25 miles per hour forward speed and about 20 miles per hour downward. So the parachute really slowed us down. But again, it felt like we were just floating, not falling. The earth was very slowly rising to me; I was not falling to it. All the while, the sight was spectacular: a complete, unobstructed, panoramic view of sky, sun, clouds, horizon, and earth all in one glance. My instructor pointed out the top of the Federal Gold Depository building and the field where they would eventually land.
Then I learned what performance parachuting was all about. The instructor said, “OK, now I’ll show you what this thing can do.” The tandem did a spin and dive maneuver to the right and another to the left. Now that was definitely a roller-coaster feeling. That’s for sure! After that, we returned to their peaceful, downward descent.
As the objects on earth grew larger and larger, it was time to prepare for the landing on Brooks Field. As instructed, I pulled up my knees and pointed my legs straight outward. The 7-minute flight was over as my instructor’s feet made a gentle touchdown on the turf.
This was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, the entire two-day visit. If I learned anything, it was that the Army really stresses education, training, and safety above all. They really take care of their people. Their standards for training and safety are so high, they really do minimize danger far more than we do in the civilian world. And the education benefits the Army offeres — you just can’t beat them.
Soldiers told us, ‘I didn’t pay a dime for my college degree.’ If parents and students are really serious about exploring all options for funding a college education, they’d do themselves a favor by at least exploring that with a military recruiter in addition the college recruiters. I mean, with so many college students graduating with such enormous debt from loans and no job prospects in the fields they were trained for, you ought to seek out all the options and pick the best one.
They showed us that young adults don’t even have to make military service their whole career. Even for a short time commitment, they can get a college education, learn some marketable career skills employers want, get some valuable work experience for the civilian job market, and give back to their country.
Moore is the local adult education director at Broadview Learning Center in Bloomington, Ind. He has a great working relationship with recruiters in the Bloomington Center. He counsels young adults who are working toward earning their GED and sends referrals to Army recruiters any time he speaks with students who are interested in a career with the military.
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