I was TDY at a SIGINT site up on the East German border. When I was on the border, I mean, you could walk across the dirt road that ran by the facility and you were in East Germany. (We could have a whole discussion about that, but it's a different story.)

So, the site where I was working looked more like a golf tee with a ball on it. Tall, skinny, hollow building with a golf ball on top. The NCOIC of the facility had a lot of experience in things like rappelling, and asked me if I wanted to learn how to do that. Being a complete REMF with no such experience, I thought that sounded like a great idea, especially after a few Weißbiere. So, off we went to the top of the golf tee. There was a platform there that gave us the perfect place from which to rappel. My instructor went over the side, and then suddenly shot to the bottom, slamming into the concrete. I was pretty sure he was dead, but he started laughing. He then came back up by elevator, and told me it was my turn.

I told him he was insane (well, with a bit more emphasis), but he told me that the reason he slid to the bottom was because the carabiner popped open (he had burn marks on his hands from his slide). He was going to use two carabiners on me, so no chance for a duplication. Remember, we were a few Weißbiere in at that point, so it sounded like it would work. Over the side I went. No problems! I slid to the bottom, and loved it. Multiple trips to the bottom and I was officially ready to get my Air Assault Badge!

One of my more interesting/fun experiences in my travels.