<Begin Segment 15>

TI: So describe the training for paratroopers. When you, so you went from Shelby to Fort Benning, you said?

TT: Yes.

TI: And so what was that like?

TT: Well, actually, it's four weeks of training. First week to get you in shape, physical, all the physical exercises, training. One thing we do is we got to double-time everywhere we go as a group, in formation. [Laughs] You have to get up and go to the mess hall, we had to fall in formation and go double-time to the mess hall. And if you're caught goofing off doing anything, you had to "knock out fifty" they call it. Fifty push-ups. And after you do fifty, then you've got to catch up with the group. [Laughs] Well, anyway, the first week is just putting you into shape. And the second week, they call it the 34-foot tower. It's a tower thirty feet, thirty-four feet off the ground, and it's got an open door. And you've got a cable stretched from the top on an angle all the way down to nothing. So what they're gonna teach you is how to go out the door. In fact, they figured that is an airplane door, you know. So you hook up, you're in harness, and they call it a static line, you hook it onto the cable. And when the (time) comes, it's ready, you have to jump out. And you slide down on the cable, and when you come to the bottom, they teach you how to land. You do that for a week plus other training. And the third week, they take you to the 250 tower. Have you been down there?

TI: No, I've never been to Fort Benning.

TT: At Fort Benning they've got about three or four 250-foot towers with the arms stretched out, I guess there are three or four arms. And the first day, they put you on a buddy seat and strap you in, and buddy in the seat, and they drag you up on a cable up to the top and then release you. You come zooming down. [Laughs] And you hit the bottom and you're bouncing around. That's really scary. [Laughs] Then you wonder, "Boy, I wonder if it's going to be like this," when you jump out. But then next day they put you on the harness and hook you up to the parachute, regular parachute, open chute, they drag you up to the top and then release you and you come drifting down. Most of the time it was all right as long as it's not windy. When you hit the ground, you gotta fall right. That's the third week. And the fourth week is the actual jumping out of a plane. Not only that, you got to pack your own chute. What you do is pack your chute at night and the next day you go out and jump. You do that for a week. And right after that, you move across the border, Alabama side of Fort Benning. Fort Benning is mostly on Georgia side. It's right on the border between Georgia and Alabama. And for advanced training, you go over to the Alabama side and you're there for advanced training. And after you complete that, you're ready.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.