  It's 12:15 a.m. and plain is bouncing around like a boat in water. The jumpmaster gives the command and all the paratroopers come to there feet. Green light comes on, and one by one the paratroopers in front of you disappear into the night. What a rush to be part of the 82d Airborne Division. I wish it was that easy to walk out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute on your back and fifty-five pounds of gear attached to your harness. But it's not, it all begins about eight hours before you take that step into the black hole.
There is a first formation called "manifest", where all soldiers are checked to make sure they are present and all gear is serviceable. Next comes the "PLF's" (performance landing falls) where you get on a three foot platform and perform your landing falls. Each direction one time. Then comes the airplane mock up. You load the mock up like you would the real aircraft, the drills to exit the aircraft are performed, and you walk out like if it was the real thing. All under the close supervision of a jumpmaster.
Then you load the transportation to the airfield where you pick up your parachute and reserve, and wait for the go ahead to put on your equipment. You always have a buddy when rigging yourself. Not one person can perform it themselves. Your buddy riggs you up then a jumpmaster comes around and gives you the real inspection. The inspection is done by the book with out falter. Once the equipment checks out, then comes the final slap in the ass, with the jumpmaster saying something like, "Have a good jump!".
The you wait for the aircraft to arrive so all can board in the order that was set during initial manifest. You take a seat, fly around for about an hour. The jumpmaster tells you to "get ready", "stand-up", "hook-up", "check static line", "check equipment", you pass up slap in the butt to the person in front of you so it can get to the rear of the aircraft. Once all is ok, then you wait for the green light. Once the green light comes on, you see one paratrooper at a time walking out the door into the black abyss. If someone out there tells you that there not scared when there jumping.
They are not telling you the truth. It all takes a toll on you, some people just handle it differently. What a rush! Airborne paratrooper, Hooah! ! 
