It was one very early January morning in 1989. I was the first jumper in my “stick.” The rear ramp of the DHC-4 Caribou had opened, and I could see the Strait of Malacca as the aircraft banked left sharply, aligning itself with the Alor Setar airport’s runway.
I looked below. The houses suddenly looked small from 1,000 feet. I have travelled the world in airplanes prior to that, but on that day, I was watching the houses without the protection of an aircraft’s fuselage.
“Periksa kelengkapan! (Check equipment!)” shouted the Jumpmaster. So we checked our equipment while screaming out the name of each item: topi keledar (helmet), Capewell (Capewell release system), penyangkuk dada (chest hook), penyangkuk cadangan (reserve chute hook), tangkai cadangan (reserve chute ripcord), penyangkuk kaki (thigh fastener), ikatan tengah pack (middle pack tie) – this is when we check the middle pack tie of the jumper in front…on this occassion I was silent because I was front most; tali statik terkait (static line hooked).
The “traffic lights” (jump lights near the ramp door) were still out. Then we had to say out that our equipment was ready and we were ready to be dropped. Three minutes out, the Jumpaster shouted out the final jump brief above the din of the Caribou’s engines:
“Dengar sini semua sekali! Lampu merah berdiri di pintu, lampu hijau keluar pesawat! Keluar dalam keadaan compact! Kira Satu Ribu, Dua Ribu, Tiga Ribu, CHECK! Sekiranya payung tak kembang atau payung kembang tak baik, pandang, pegang dan tarik tangkai cadangan! Tarik rigging line di sisi, ambil kedudukan mendarat, mendarat dengan selamat, lapor kepada DZSO (Drop Zone Safety Officer). Sekiranya payung kembang dengan baik, buat pemeriksaan sekeliling. Ambil kedudukan para! 150 kaki, menghadap angin! 30 kaki ambik kedudukan mendarat! Mendarat di atas 5 titik pendaratan! Buat HR and D (Harness Release and Dragging) dengan pantas, lapor kepada DZSO.”
Once the aircraft has stabilised, and it is on the jump run, the Jumpmaster shouts out the final command:
“Lampu merah berdiri di pintu! Lampu hijau keluar pesawat! Sesiapa yang enggan terjun akan dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Tentera! (On the red, stand by the door! On the green, exit the aircraft! If you refuse to jump, you will be brought before a Courts Martial!)”
Then the traffic light’s Red came on.
“Berdiri di pintu!” came the command.
I edged two steps with my right hand holding onto the static line, my left hand by the side of my reserve chute. The whole world looked awfully huge and things below were so small. I could make out the motorcycle lights of kampung folks going out to work, or to the market. I stole a look at the traffic light, dreading the moment it would turn green.
Then the inevitable happened. The light turned green. The Caribou’s rear ramp wasn’t big, as compared to the ones on the C-130H, but I remember I took six steps to walk to the edge, and I had an assisted exit – the Jumpmaster kicked me out of the aircraft.
I remember I did not count. I just closed my eyes. Bad! My intestines were all left inside the aircraft and I was falling at a rate of 100 feet per second. Three seconds later I heard the flutter of the ripstop nylon canopy and took a deep breath.
I did 51 more of those static line jumps, the last was on January 3rd 1993 at what is now the RMAF Base, Gong Kedak. Dislocated my shoulder once, injured my elbows twice, twisted my ankles after a hard landing on the tarmac, before I advanced to do freefall jumps. I’ve jumped with mortar boards, M-16A4 (predecessor of the M-4 Bushmaster), the Steyr AUGA1.
In total I have 642 jumps including my freefall jumps and the jump at the North Pole, but excluding my BASE jumps as I cannot log them onto my freefall log book.
Yes, I am missing those days when I was still in uniform. Had I not listened to my ex, I could have been a Lieutenant Colonel by now. Then again, had I not listened to her, I wouldn’t have been able to meet all the wonderful friends I have made along the way since leaving the service.
Time to don white uniform now…with white shoes.
SeaDemon Says 