Unreal UH-1 Huey Jump - or was it?

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druryj

In Remembrance / Dec 27 2021
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Back in my active duty Marine Corps days, I used to do quite a bit of parachute jumping. Granted, that was some years back and all, but I still recall many of the procedures, the training, and some of the more memorable jumps, etc. My units did a lot of parachute operations at night, from various small aircraft and small helos, many times we used UH-1 Hueys. Jumping from a Huey is pretty cool; basically you just sit on the edge of the aircraft and let your legs hang over the side and you hold on to the cargo rings in the helos' deck until it's time to go, and then you kind of just roll on out. Now keep in mind, most of the time, we did this under cover of darkness. So last night, I swear I was sitting on that helo's deck in total darkness, legs swinging in the wind and waiting for the signal, and then I was gonna roll out...and so I did...sort of.

And when I rolled out and hit the deck ...in the bathroom, I realized I had gotten up to sit on the john last night and somehow fallen back asleep. It was all just a dream; there I was, as vividly realistic as can be; all kitted out, camo face, MP-5 strapped on, 5 days ammo and a few rations in my pack, and with a whole big gift bag of evil intent towards whatever bad guys we were going hunting for - when I rolled out of the bird...the porcelain "Huey" I was in on my way to the insertion point...

It was a very crappy insert, I can report to you on that!

dude on john.jpg
 

Jwryan84

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Back in my active duty Marine Corps days, I used to do quite a bit of parachute jumping. Granted, that was some years back and all, but I still recall many of the procedures, the training, and some of the more memorable jumps, etc. My units did a lot of parachute operations at night, from various small aircraft and small helos, many times we used UH-1 Hueys. Jumping from a Huey is pretty cool; basically you just sit on the edge of the aircraft and let your legs hang over the side and you hold on to the cargo rings in the helos' deck until it's time to go, and then you kind of just roll on out. Now keep in mind, most of the time, we did this under cover of darkness. So last night, I swear I was sitting on that helo's deck in total darkness, legs swinging in the wind and waiting for the signal, and then I was gonna roll out...and so I did...sort of.

And when I rolled out and hit the deck ...in the bathroom, I realized I had gotten up to sit on the john last night and somehow fallen back asleep. It was all just a dream; there I was, as vividly realistic as can be; all kitted out, camo face, MP-5 strapped on, 5 days ammo and a few rations in my pack, and with a whole big gift bag of evil intent towards whatever bad guys we were going hunting for - when I rolled out of the bird...the porcelain "Huey" I was in on my way to the insertion point...

It was a very crappy insert, I can report to you on that!

View attachment 103420

Too funny Joel, Thank You for your service.
 

dennishoddy

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My greatest nightmare is falling. I can't tell you how many times I've thrashed around in the bed gripping the edge to stop falling off the "cliff". Its amazing because when a kid when mom came outside to look for me, I was up in a tree on occasion. I have no fear of heights when awake.
My wife never fails to remind me about it though because it wakes her up.
 

druryj

In Remembrance / Dec 27 2021
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You were issued an MP5?

Well, yeah. We had different weapons for different missions and uses. There's not a whole lot of room in a Huey, and even less when you're stacked up A-holes to belly buttons in the back of an OV-10 (very small observation aircraft that we used for insertions too). I served with a couple of different USMC Recon units and did a few Joint Operations/deployments with other SOF units.
 

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