FNG Signing In
I am a 33-year old male paratrooper, currently serving in the US Army as an officer.
I joined the Army in 1996 when I was 18, failed my first AIT (had no idea I was that bad at electronics until I nearly electrocuted myself) and became a PAC clerk. Served in Korea in 2ID (with 509th PSB, as a clerk), followed by three years in 1-5th SFG(A). Attended airborne school in April/May 1998 and racked up around 23 jumps in my time there. Left the Army in July 2000 for ROTC as a Green-to-Gold scholarship winner. (About 18 months later, just after 9/11, all my friends/acquaintances in 1-5 SFG were in Afghanistan, kicking ass, and I was in Women's Studies class at my university, cursing my luck). Came back on active duty in May 2004, went to FA school, served as a company FSO with 101st ABN DIV, saw some combat in Iraq in 2005-2006, came home. Branch transferred to Transportation, went to Korea. Commanded a couple companies and had a good time in Korea. Came to Fort Bragg; served as a general's aide-de-camp in the 1st TSC for a little while (went to Afghanistan for a short while with him), and then went to 3-3 SFG(A) where I was the Battalion S4 (and went to Afghanistan again), until recently, when I came over here. Now I am in another area on Fort Bragg (still in USASOC), still jumping, still serving as a Logistics officer/desk jockey/coffee fetcher, and should attend Jumpmaster school this fall and Pathfinder school in the late spring/early summer.
I have approximately 36+ months of jump status experience, spread out over about 12 years. I currently have only 26 jumps on my 1307: 10 CE, 3 N, two MT, the rest A/NT. Being in an SFG(A) we usually jumped Hollywood, A/NT, and only at my 1SG's insistence did I jump CE or N. I also had about 10 "fun jumps" that never made it onto my jump log when I was younger, so if it sounds like I had a lot of time on status and not a lot of jumps...well, there's the rest of the story. I wish I'd gotten myself on more MT/CE/N jumps when I was a lad. My body does not hit the Earth at age 33 like it did when I was 21. The good news is that I will attend jumpmaster school this fall, and only need five CE and a night AJ and I will be a Senior Parachutist.
I am married to another Army officer, who is also airborne qualified (although not a paratrooper currently). We have two kids and a cat and live near Fort Bragg. My hobbies are hunting, fishing, and shooting my guns.
Great to be here, salutations and greetings to all my fellow paratroopers.
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