Posted on May 29, 2017
CPT Aaron Kletzing
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I'm a 5 jump chump and all my jumps went fine, thankfully. I was wondering who here on RP ever had to pull their reserve chute during a jump, and what that experience was like. Or, if you saw this happen to a friend, etc. Would enjoy some stories.
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2LT Infantry Officer
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I didn't have time. I reached up to pull my slip for landing...wound up holding my canopy silk. Bad juju, but a few seconds later I was on the ground, confused about why I couldn't stand up.
Lol, medic told me to stop moving, called a MEDEVAC, the chaplain came over and started praying. It turned out to be a great story, and after reconstructive surgery, I've still had several deployments and still run more than 90 points on my 2 mile run.

I did have a friend in Italy who had a Total Malfunction. Pulled his reserve, landed just fine with no injuries.
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LTC Jeff Shearer
LTC Jeff Shearer
>1 y
Top, a quick definition, any day you walk away from a jump is a good day.
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SPC Combat Medic
SPC (Join to see)
>1 y
Probobly not a good subject to read while i am in BAC....
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2LT Infantry Officer
2LT (Join to see)
>1 y
SPC (Join to see) - It's the PERFECT subject. Look at all the solid meat-eaters below that never used them! And me, sure, I had a bad jump, but I remembered my training, and drove on when I was able. FEET AND KNEES TOGETHER AIRBORNE!
Good luck SPC, keep at it.
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LTC Jeff Shearer
LTC Jeff Shearer
8 y
SPC (Join to see) - Dylan, I jumped for 20+ years, I was so scared the first couple of years they just kind of happened, the next bunch of years I did not like it all but did it so I could do the other stuff. Dylan I recommend as soon as you get a chance go to Jumpmaster course. You will learn so much
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SGM Erik Marquez
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Nope, never had to deploy my reserve, in a lot of jumps up to and then well past JM school and earning my senior wings, had only two jumps where I had interactions with other jumpers and never with the aircraft.
Now landings, ya, had a bunch of bad landings.
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MAJ Tex Hall
MAJ Tex Hall
>1 y
Not a bad landing if you can walk away, lol.
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SGM Erik Marquez
SGM Erik Marquez
8 y
Sir that's absolutely what you say the next day with a beer in your hand at the barbecue but it certainly isn't the thought process as you're laying on the ground taking accountability of what may or may not be broken

In priority what hurts less
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MAJ Tex Hall
MAJ Tex Hall
8 y
SGM Erik Marquez - Valid point. But I rodeo'd a LOT as well. Didn't take time to assess what was broken when a bull was coming at me after those kinds of landings, just got up and moved out smartly! The newby I sponsored in Vicenza had a PERFECT day for his cherry jump - nice and warm, no wind, lots of uplifts. But he had a feet-ass-head landing and we confirmed the concussion at the hospital. So I bet George would accept your sage advice. :)
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LTC Stephen C.
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Edited 8 y ago
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CPT Aaron Kletzing, I NEVER had to dump my reserve, EVER, on a military jump. However, as a civilian skydiver, I did have a malfunction that required a breakaway from my main, return to free fall, and then I pulled my chest reserve. Unlike Army practice which is to retain the main canopy and deploy the reserve (at least when I jumped), generally civilian skydiving practice is to breakaway (cutaway) from the main, return to free fall and pull the reserve.
I had performed a routine 30 second delay from 7500', separated from the other jumpers, and then pulled. I checked my canopy and had a Mae West (see photo). They can be dangerous, because with a descending round canopy, much of the area designed to catch air is gone. Your rate of descent increases dramatically. It was totally my fault, as civilian jumpers pack their own main parachutes.
I cutaway from the main and went back into free fall. Since the canopy releases are on your front shoulders, you begin to fall backwards (inverted) and the reserve was on my chest. I pulled, and the pilot chute just lay there, as the spring was old (and not springy)! I screamed SXXT, pushed the pilot chute off my stomach and it caught air and the reserve deployed. I had an uneventful ride down, and landed on the DZ.
We retrieved the main canopy and it was not significantly damaged.
By then, I was already a USPA licensed advanced parachutist and a rated jump master and instructor, so I immediately chuted up again, took up three students, put them out and jumped again!
Was I scared? Yep. But the training takes over and you take care of business. I was also lucky, because some have not been so fortunate (thinking of the Navy SEAL this past weekend).
I was also licensed by the FAA to pack reserves and saw a jumper ride down a reserve I packed. That was immediately scary but ultimately most gratifying as the jumper enjoyed a nice ride down on the reserve that I packed! LTC Stephen F. 1SG(P) (Join to see) SSG Chris Erickson LTJG (Join to see) CPT (Join to see) MAJ Javier Rivera
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CPT Aaron Kletzing
CPT Aaron Kletzing
>1 y
Wow that is a crazy story
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LTC Stephen C.
LTC Stephen C.
>1 y
Never seen anything like it in the military, MAJ (Join to see). Had I been that major's CO, we most certainly would have been discussing his thought process, and I'd really be wondering about what other irrational decisions I might expect from him in the future. He may have "brass ones" but I personally think it was a stupid thing to do. CPT (Join to see)
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SSG Donald O'Shei
SSG Donald O'Shei
>1 y
Sounds like a "story". Its hard to imagine that the Jump School cadre wouldn't put a boot up that guys backside and send him down the road.
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SSG Diane R.
SSG Diane R.
8 y
I had a Mae west, like you I used my reserve, and made several more jumps later the same day. We were at St Mere Eglise, DZ at Ft Bragg, 1979.
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During a jump, have you ever had to deploy your reserve parachute?
SSG Squad Leader
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I have never had the need to use mine. It happens, it is rare but it happens. It is much more likely to use it when you don't need to then to ever have the need to use your reserve chute.
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SSG Squad Leader
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SFC (Join to see) - No always adjust the one you get to the size you need.
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SFC Interpreter/Translator
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SSG (Join to see) - Sure, I'm just saying that I've never had an issue switching with someone before they've unrolled their straps. However, I always checked to ensure everything was fastened and secured before I donned it. Is there a rule in the ASOP that prohibits chute trading?
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SSG Squad Leader
SSG (Join to see)
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SFC (Join to see) - No I just find it to be bad luck.
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SFC Interpreter/Translator
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SSG (Join to see) Ah, I see. I've never been one for superstition. I'm the guy that collected everyone's discarded Charms from their MREs, and ate them while patrolling.
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CPT Retired
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Never had a malfunction on a military jump but did doing civilian skydiving. My fault. Training kicked in and I landed just fine with reserve. We recovered my main and then I bought the jump master who packed my reserve a drink.
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LTC Jeff Shearer
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CPT I was on jump status for more or less 20 years, I have no idea how many jumps I have, its a bunch out of all kind of A/C. I am not sure how many pair of foreign wings I have but I have never had to pull my reserve. Never! Thank God! I was even a jump master but the truth is jumping was not my favorite thing to do. I did it so I could do all the other cool stuff we did, not to mention it was part of the package. It was not always without incident, I have seen a few bad things on the DZ and those are the things you take up with you every time you put a chute on. Even on a bad day I would never have changed what I did. Oh, when I was young I heard there were two kind of jumpers; 1) tree jumpers 2) those who were going to be tree jumpers hahahaha

CPT from one paratrooper to another I wish you the best, don't run with the wind and keep your feet and knees together.
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
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I've got a little over 50 jumps and I've never had to pull mine.
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MAJ Javier Rivera
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I had a cutaway on a MFF Jump, does that counts?
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LTC Jeff Shearer
LTC Jeff Shearer
8 y
yea that counts
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LTC Stephen C.
LTC Stephen C.
8 y
Absolutely, MAJ Javier Rivera!
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SSG Donald O'Shei
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I have seen static line reserves deployed about a half dozen times and I had to deploy my reserve on a HALO jump at Luzon DZ at Camp Mackall.
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LTC Jeff Shearer
LTC Jeff Shearer
8 y
Donald you HALO guys are a little out there anyway. I always thought it was very cool but I never felt the calling to try the HALO. I did do civilian freefall and I did not like it at all so I could only image how much less I would like free fall with all that gear, O2, nods etc... Lots of respect goes out to y'all
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SP5 Peter Keane
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Whille not a military jump, I went behind a fellow that did. On the ground, he told me all the way down he was saying to himself, ton of shit, ton of shit.
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