In Jesus Name...Airborne

When we are making a tactical jump there are a series of commands that are given during every operation. They are intended to make sure that everyone is doing what they need to be doing and is as ready to jump as they can possibly be. Jumpers are commanded to stand up in the aircraft, they are then told to hook up their static lines (the "rope" that will actually deploy the parachute) to a cable inside the aircraft so that when they jump their parachutes will properly deploy. They are told to check their static lines and the one of the jumper in front of them. They are told to check their equipment to make sure that everything is right and ready to jump and then told to pass an OK forward from the back of the line of jumpers to the front. When the jumper at the front of the stick (line of paratroopers) receives word that everyone has checked their equipment and they are OK he says "all OK Jump Master" letting the jump master know that the entire stick of paratroopers is ready to exit the aircraft.

At that point the Jump Master stands at the open door of the aircraft and spots points on the ground that give their relative location to the drop zone and lets the jumpers know when they are approximately 1 minute and then thirty seconds from the drop zone. The next to the last command that a Jump Master will give before the jumpers exit the aircraft is "STAND BY!!" This indicates to the jumpers that they are only a few seconds from jumping.

In much of the world, "stand by" means to wait until something happens, it often means that someone is one the phone and they are putting you on semi-terminal hold. In the Airborne world it means that you need to be up on the balls of you feet, intensely aware of everything going on around you ready to move at the next command. The next command is going to be GO and you are going to jump from an aircraft in flight, it is doing somewhere near 150 miles per hour and life is going to get very exciting.

Jesus is recorded in the book of Matthew as saying "the exact day and hour? No one knows, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. . . . So stay wake, stay alert (STAND BY!!!) you have no idea what day your master will show up."

Jesus says that there are many things that happen leading up to His return but he says we need to be ready and waiting, up on the balls of our feet, leaning forward ready for something very exciting to happen!

Friday was a great day! I had the opportunity to serve as the static jump master on a CASA 212 aircraft. This is a small cargo plane that has two engines and not much else. When we are using it as a jump platform it holds up to 14 jumpers, although we never put that many in anymore, usually 12 is the maximum. There are three jump masters on most lifts. You have a Jumping Jump Master who controls the other jumpers until time to exit the aircraft. You have a Jump Master Safety, who's job it is to ensure that everything is done correctly by each of the jumpers and help correct any problems they may have so that they can safely exit the aircraft and deploy their parachutes and finally you have the Static Jump Master who has the task of spotting the place on the ground where the jumpers are supposed to leave the aircraft so that they safely land in the drop zone. On the ground another Jump Master has set up a series of high visibility panels that are 4 feet long by 18 inches wide so that the Static Jump Master can see where the release needs to take place. In order to see the panels it is necessary to lean out of the door of the aircraft and look around the wheel well and see where the aircraft is going. I can't begin to tell you how much fun it is to fly leaning as far as your arms will let you hanging out the side of an airplane!!!!!! I was the Static Jump Master for the first 4 lifts of 18 total lifts that we did on Friday, then on the 9th lift I took the role of the Jumping Jump master and had a great jump.

The Static gives time warnings of 1 minute and 30 seconds to the jumpers based on land marks that are on the ground below the aircraft and then about 10 seconds before the first jumper is to leave the aircraft the command of "Stand By" indicates that it is almost time to go. When the proper point over the drop zone is reached by the aircraft the Static Jump Master issues the command "Green Light! GO!", the Jumping Jump Master gives the command "Follow Me" and leaves the aircraft. The Static Jump Master observes as each jumper leaves the aircraft giving each one an individual command of "GO" when the jumper ahead of them has cleared the aircraft and it is safe to exit. All of these commands are yelled at the top of one's lungs due to the fact that flying in a cargo airplane with open doors is VERY loud.

During the entire operation there is a Jump Master standing (more likely sitting in a vehicle) near where the first jumper is supposed to hit the ground. That individual is called the Drop Zone Safety Officer or DZSO.

After the jump I was visiting with the DZSO and she said something about me being the Static on the first 4 lifts. "You keep track of who's doing that?" I asked, "not really", she said "but I could hear your voice as you were yelling GO!" I was amazed. The aircraft is at 1500 feet above the ground and flying away from the DZSO with 2 turbine engines pulling it through the sky and about 100 mph and yet she could not only hear but identify my voice.

In John 10 the Bible says "The Shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it."

A paratrooper literally places his life in the hands of his Jump Master team. He knows their voices and listens to and obeys, unquestioningly their commands. Jesus used the illustration of the Good Shepherd because that's what his audience knew and understood, but the truth is the same. If we learn to listen to His voice and follow His commands truly we will know that our trust is in the exact right place

I'm currently in Iraq. It's only a short trip this time but it has been a long time since I've been here and it is interesting to see how things have changed. Some people may remember at the beginning of the war there was a great deal of discussion about body armor and who had it and who didn't have it, there was a great deal of political clout thrown about and in some cases Soldiers bought their own body armor when the Army didn't supply it for them. Well, that has now changed. EVERYONE has body armor. There are several different types but you just don't move around the country without it on.

One of the challenges with it becomes where do you store your armor when you're not wearing it. You want to have it close and you want to be able to access it when you need it but you don't want to wear it all the time, it's very heavy, and you don't want to just pile it in a corner. As a result there are racks built for it. They are usually made out of some 4x4 and 2x4 lumber and are in the shape of a small cross with a base, you can place the armor on the rack and your helmet on top of the rack giving you a safe place to store it. However, on the rack it does NOTHING to protect the owner.

What a beautiful image. The armor of God is given to us through the work of Christ on the cross. However, the armor does us very little actual good when we need to be protected if it is just hanging there. In order to be protected we need to put on the full armor of God and be well able to stand the one who would fling his attacks against us

My wife has been asked to share her testimony with a women's group from the church. She was asked several months ago and this is the weekend that she'll be doing that. She is the kind of person that writes stuff like that out so that she remembers all of what she wants to say. The other night she asked me to listen as she read what she wrote.

As she recounted a story that after nearly 20 years of marriage, is pretty familiar to me, a story of parents who would rather drink than parent, of violence and anger--her mother attempting suicide etc. I was once again reminded of how God has always provided people who love her and cared for her. I am so thankful for many people that I've never met and won't this side of heaven. They enabled a young girl to experience God's love through them and to discover His love for her.

Time and time again throughout the years that we've been together we've seen God use the pain and suffering in her life to enable her to speak to others in pain. She would tell you it wasn't that bad and since she lived it she felt like it was pretty normal. Writing it and then reading it she sees God's hand woven throughout her life guiding and leading and protecting even in difficult times and allowing her to learn to minister to others that are hurting.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

God allows things to happen to us that don't seem to make sense but He also sustains us through those things and then they become tools in His toolbox as others need help.

May you comfort someone with His love today

Yesterday was an interesting day. I went out to to drop zone, not to jump, but because the jump was the major training event of the day and I believe that as a battalion chaplain I need to be where the major training events for my unit are taking place. The jump was a pretty typical one for where I serve. It was supposed to be from a CASA 212, a small cargo aircraft that holds 12 jumpers. We were scheduled to do 12 lifts of jumpers and put out a total of 130 people. Not all of the lifts, if you're doing the math, would have 12 jumpers on them but you get the idea of how it was supposed to work.

The weather, we knew before hand, was going to be a little sketchy, the clouds were low so we had to wait for them to lift. Hours went by and on most days the jump would have been scratched. Yesterday, however, the aircraft and the drop zone were both available all day. The block time (the time we're supposed to jump) was extended and as the clouds slowly rose it became apparent that we may get to jump after all.

The problem for some people, however, was that they had scheduled the jump in the morning and, anticipating that it would be finished, had other things that they had to do in the afternoon. Here and there people had to leave the dropzone. Pretty soon the Primary Jumpmaster (The person running the jump) came up to me and asked if I could perform a safety duty in the aircraft since the person who was going to do that on the first three lifts needed to go. I said sure and began preparations to do that. In the early afternoon the aircraft finally arrived and we began jumping. I did the safetly duty on the first three lifts and then left the aircraft to begin helping to get the other jumpers ready for their jumps. By now the sun was shining beautifully and the winds were pretty calm and it had turned into a beautiful afternoon to enjoy jumping out of an airplane. As I walked over to where the other jumpers were I was asked, again by the Primary Jumpmaster if I wanted to jump, I said "let me get my helmet, what lift am I on" and proceeded to have a great jump.

After the jump finished, one of our NCO's received her Senior Parachutist Wings. That meant that she had at least 30 jumps and was a jumpmaster and had done several qualifying jumps in the processes to meet that level. We celebrated with her as only Paratroopers will understand.

As I drove home I was reflecting on what turned out to be a really fun and rewarding day when I didn't think I'd really have anything to do with the jump. How often does God do that for us? All we need to do is make ourselves available and be qualified to do what He has for us and He will provide the blessings.

Paul wrote to Timothy "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:21)

When we are qualified and available, He is able to do good things through us.