Page 44 - Cadet Review Autumn 2023

HSY ACF
With a 5+ hour drive
ahead from CTC Driffield,
with pick-ups along the way
the mood in the minibus was one of excitement and trepidation!
We were on our way to the home of Army Parachuting at Airfield Camp, Netheravon!
We arrive around 2245 and quickly
find the bunk house, rooms quickly
allocated but all the cadets are still
excited for what lays ahead of them
in the morning, reluctantly they all get their
heads down dreaming of blue skies and light winds.
The morning arrives all too soon and they are up doing their morning routine still excited from the night before, so once everyone is squared away, we head to the Parachute Centre.
We walk in to this massive aircraft hangar which is now used for the Army Parachute Association
and is home to all the military parachute teams, including The Red Devils (Parachute Regiment) The Tigers (Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment) The Royal Signals, The Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) to name a few, I soon find our point of contact and told we will be called when our instructor finishes the morning brief, so what a great time to grab a Bacon & Egg Banjo for breakfast and await our call over the Tannoy!
With all fed and watered, we hear the dulcet tones of our instructor calling us into the main hangar,
we are greeted by our instructor John Bagwell (Baggers) an extremely experienced skydiver and instructor and I think to myself the cadets are going to learn a lot from him.
Straight into the classroom and the lessons
begin. The ground school itself is very informative and easy to understand mixed with theory and practical lessons, glad to see they still teach the PLF! (Parachute Landing Fall). Also, plenty of revision on what they have learnt out of the mock ups (wooden structures that resemble the actual aircraft door, each
The cadet’s level of excitement jumps 200% as the thought of jumping the same
day becomes a real possibility
lesson builds on the last and in no time, they are ready! The cadet’s level of excitement jumps 200% as
the thought of jumping the same day becomes a real possibility, with that the John disappears to talk to the Centre’s Chief Instructor (CCI) and we all wait with anticipation...
Then John reappears and all eyes are on him, he then tells the cadets that the winds are too high and there isn’t a possibility to jump today, with this news there was a noticeable reaction on the faces of the cadets, not too sure if it was disappointment or relief, with this now the end of the ground school John informs the cadets that they will be jumping first thing in the morning, and that the weather looks good for student jumping, a smile returns to their faces, John informs the group that he is unfortunately unable to be there first thing and that another instructor will be taking them up and dispatching them.
With all the ground school completed its was now time to go spend some money in the Drop Zone (DZ) shop I am sure the shop had a bumper day after
HSY BLUE SKIES JUMPING
By Sergeant Instructor Trevor Murphy
44 CADET REVIEW AUTUMN 2023