Airborne!

One of the many things we love about being stationed with 6th RTB is the opportunities to watch Duane do his job. Because we live just down the street from the battalion buildings, the runway, and two of the drop zones we sometimes get to view a jump up close. Generally, jumps are done during the weekday when we are at school and work but this Saturday afternoon the RI's were able to do a Cadre jump on the airfield closest to Camp. My friend Trish, who teaches 6th grade, brought her little ones out and most of the neighborhood showed up as well. We packed a picnic, drove down the runway (literally) and staked a spot right to the side of the drop zone. We were able to watch 3 plane loads of instructors jump as well as a few HALO jumpers. Unfortunately for Duane and most of his buddies, there was a horrendous crash on I-10 right after the first load of jumpers went. This area is part of the air space they needed and it was shut down for a good 2 hours while the Life Flight helicopters came to the scene. This means that Duane and most of the jumpers circled for a good 2 hours in the plane, getting sicker by the minute. By the time they finally jumped, they were all in pretty foul moods! Of course, being met on the ground by a crowd of adoring kids improves one's mood pretty quickly. Here are a few pictures of the plane on our runway and of the jumpers in the air. Duane was the first out so he is the little dot closest to the ground.