Blog Posts tagged with "Kaiserslautern"

A Jumpmaster candidate conducts the Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection (JMPI) on a 1-10 Special Forces Group (Airborne) Soldier

Last week in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Fort Benning Jumpmaster Mobile Training Team graduated 19 new jumpmasters. I was among the graduates and my head still hurts from memorizing pre-jump training, my nerves are still frayed from PWAC (Practical Work in the Aircraft) and my fingers are still healing from JMPI (Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection). If you’ve been to the course, you know exactly what I’m talking about!

Why would anyone put themselves through this? First, one might wonder why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Not a bad question…. It’s simply a way to work for many in the military regardless of their branch of service. We in the military must be able to get to work from the land, air or sea. Jumping from an aircraft propels us through the air (under canopy…hopefully) and to our place of work (whatever that “work” may be) as quickly as possible. But why is becoming a jumpmaster worthwhile? One reason is that the jumpmaster must be responsible for the safety of every jumper during an airborne operation. People’s lives are in the balance and there is no room for incompetency, therefore, it is a distinguished mark of leadership.

Although ensuring safety is an important reason for becoming a jumpmaster, to me, an equally vital rationale is about pulling oneself out of the comfort zone. In other words, it is important that we constantly keep our finger on the button of progress (so to speak). Striving to become a jumpmaster is one endeavor that challenges an individual’s status quo. Of course, there are many ways to challenge oneself, develop professionally and stray outside the comfort zone.

The military offers so many chances for men and women who serve to excel. Of course we are constantly “out of the comfort zone” when in combat (tens of thousands are there every day), but we can still push ourselves to do the best possible for the mission while deployed. In my opinion, the ultimate goal of the military experience is to seek greater professionalism through constant challenge, whether in training or in real-world situations. From cooks striving to make the best meals for their units to military intelligence analysts digging deep for critical information to support an operation to (in my community) Special Forces Soldiers solving complex issues on the ground worldwide, we breed better individuals and teams by working and training hard, regardless of the tasks involved.

Interaction with other professionals adds to the experience as well. The team of NCOs from the Ft. Benning MTT epitomized professionalism. All of my classmates and I are better because of their hard work. In addition, we were all enriched by our interaction with each other, regardless of whether we graduated or not. The only way that one of us could ultimately fail is to concede defeat and never try again. We all accepted the jumpmaster challenge and every ounce of our determination went into becoming one. Some of us can begin our march towards the next challenge on the horizon, while others of us will have to grind down the path again someday, peeling finger cuticles off  during “the circles” and scouring brains to remember JMPI sequences and deficiencies.

Congratulations to all of the graduates: three SOCEUR Soldiers, four 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group Soldiers, seven 5th Quartermaster Company riggers, one 173rd Airborne Soldier and four Air Force personnel, to include the commander of the 435th Contingency Response Group, Col. Tim Brown. Fourteen of our classmates were given the opportunity to try again next time – it was not easy to pass this course, but of course, that adds to the challenge. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy as the old saying goes!

MAJ Jim Gregory
SOCEUR PAO