Tryouts make it through Week 1

 

As week one finally comes to a close, our logbooks are forty jumps fatter and our minds are filled with as much information as they can possibly store. Everyday brought new challenges. From rigging smoke safely to properly spotting the aircraft, we never had a boring moment. The Cadre slowly increase the intensity.  At one point a Cadre remarked “this course is like taking a drink of water…from a firehose”. We are beginning to believe it. The amount of information required to be a successful demonstration parachutist on the Golden Knights is astounding. Like little sponges, we are absorbing every bit of it.

The Baton Pass manuever rounded off our week with climbs to 12,500 feet over Lauringburg,North Carolina. It was nice to escape the nintey plus degrees of heat, humidity and grumpy Cadre on the ground. Even if for just a few short minutes. Every Candidates T-shirt was tinged in pink from our first smoke jumps, mingled with the sweat of knee touch walks and the hit it position. A true badge of honor representing our progression to the next level of training. Week one brought new meanings to information overload and fatigue. According to the cadre, week one was the easy week !

As we move toward week two, we take with us valuable lessons in teamwork. The Cadre made it clear, painfully so, that no one man will stand alone in this program. We succeed together, or we fail as individuals. Every member of GKAS class of 2010 has a role to fulfill. We must learn to trust that our teammates have completed their given tasks. We are learning to bond and to so so quickly, the alternative is the wrath of our instructors !  Week one ended with a five mile run and a full day of gorgeous weather for our training. One more week down…several more to go. Week Two? Bring it on !

Tagged as: 2010 Tryouts