Red eyes and spinning out of control

When I was in the Air Force we went winter warfare training in Stowe, Vermont. It was a lot of fun to learn how to use an altimeter to better pinpoint our location on the mountain…this was before GPS. I am not a cold weather enthusiast but skiing was fun. We were able to have one day of downhill fun and then learned how to travel using these Army issued planks painted white…At the conclusion of the trip we parachuted back in to Fort Bragg. We had been recently issued new rucksacks for winter operations. A few of us decided to test jump our new rucksacks…I learned a lot and thank God I survived that lesson.

The rucksack is secured to your body in the front and in free fall it rides between your legs. The shoulder straps go around your legs and can stabilize the equipment as you fall. These rucksacks were taller than the old ones. I was quite surprised when I found myself spinning rapidly immediately after exit. One of the shoulder straps was above one knee and the other shoulder strap was the below the other knee. This forced the rucksack to sit at an angle to my body and made the equipment/Ronney mixture into an unbalanced propeller. My plan immediately became let me grab my feet and I could fall butt to earth. Unfortunately I was spinning so fast I could not reach my feet…I was starting to “red out.” I was able to reach the equipment release and pull it. Almost immediately the rucksack was on a taunt 15 foot lowering line. Ronney rucksack Ronney rucksack went the not-so-merry-go round. I was able to release the lowering line and launch my newly issued rucksack full of winter warmies and stuff into the night air. As far as I know no one was hit by my equipment…Thank God.
The rest of the jump went well. I was immediately stable and landed at the PI. The bosses were upset that I lost my equipment and made me fill out a “report of survey.” I was honest when I wrote “during the ensuing spatial disorientation I lost visual contact with my equipment.” Thank God my weapons were properly secured or we might still be out at the drop zone searching. Over the next few days I discovered how close I came to death. Many of the blood vessels in my eyes burst giving me the most heinous “red eye.” People would let me go to the front of the line at the quick stop once they looked at me…I guess I looked as insane as I really am. The soles of my feet and finger nail beds all showed signs of bruising.
I learned a few lessons that day. One lesson is to add risk factors incrementally rather than all at once. Night freefall is NOT the place to add new equipment. Perhaps a day static line jump, then a night static line jump, then day freefall then night freefall would be a better way to test the new gear. I also learned which teammates were Monday morning quarterbacks and who were not. I had previously learned not to advertise to my wife the dangers of work unless she asked. “How was work?” is a question that can be answered in ways that unnecessarily alarm your loved one. “Work was interesting, I learned a lot. I love you, how was your day?”