48 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2009
Next month
Joint
The things
account – in
people will do
Scotland for
international
for a medal...
war gameswar gamess
EIGHTEEN months agoEIGH , Lt Paul
Goddard spied an Godd Ironman medal
in an antiques shop in in an an Weymouth.
“T“The only wThe ay to own one
was to bas tot buy one,” the submariner
(pictupictured aboured ve) based at DSTL
WinfrWinfriith reasoned.th
IrIronman requires a 2.4-mile onm
swim in a reserwimm in voir (“I couldn’t
swswim a stroke of front i
ccrawl”), a 112-mile bike
ride (“I hadn’t ridden
ffor years”), followed by a
mmarathon (“I was a runner
so I had some base fitness”).so I had
AnAnd so began the road to nd
Bolton,Bolto hosting the UK race of
the 2009 Ironman championshipsthe 2 .
SSome 1,500 ao thletes from three
Waves and d
dozen nadozen tions descended on the
LancastrLanc ian town.
waves – a a
FeFew last-minute preparaw tions
for the race could hafor th ve been
week of
worse than those of the
submariner. We’ll let him tell the
story...
adventurous
● ’chuting gallery... CPO Steve ‘Shaka’ Hähn (824 NAS) and PO ‘Pony’ Moore (HMS Triumph) unfurl the White Ensign over Beni Mellal in
Morocco with the Atlas Mountains in the background
The fi rst bout of sneezing
came on Thursday: this was
training at
“
the fi rst time I thought that
a year’s worth of training for
Culdrose
Beni hills ideal
Ironman could be in jeopardy.
Friday was the full-on nose
blowing every ten minutes,
Saturday seemed to ease up.
Sunday the head and eyes started
to ache and my sides were stone
cold. Monday I felt so bad that I
stayed in bed and Tuesday wasn’t
for skydivers
much better.
Wednesday I felt well enough
to go to work and Thursday
I managed a short swim; this
aggravated my throat and I
developed a cough. Saturday we
set off for Bolton.
As we approached the car park/
TWENTY Royal Navy skydivers
had been taught into practice, 13,000ft above racing the aircraft down earlier in the week, and
fi eld the traffi c was at a standstill.
headed for the Atlas mountains for
where they stood. almost winning!” said CPO Hähn.
We eventually got into the
Although not all of the students had the When not in the air the students and
waterlogged fi eld only for the car
a rare – and stunning – foray into
opportunity to jump on the fi rst day it wasn’t instructors alike could either be found at the
to get stuck in the mud.
foreign skies. long before all had successfully completed hotel poolside, or sitting around the balcony
Luckily some local scallies
And 20 Royal Navy skydivers, you’ll be their fi rst skydive, some needing slightly debriefi ng area in the setting African sun.
helped to push me out. I
pleased to know, came back from foreign skies more encouragement than others; one of the In addition to a chilled beer there were
cautiously drove to the other end
Club feat –
– seven of them as newly-qualified jumpers. instructors was heard to say to one reluctant classic evenings such as the quiz night, with
of the fi eld. I was the last one;
Exercise Freefall Africa (you can guess jumper: “You’ve had two children, how can the surprise appearance of everyone’s favourite
they closed the fi eld and then
the front-line
what’s involved and where it was) took seven anything seem hard after that? Get in the quiz master: Bananaman. Only a POPT could
allowed cars to park on the road
complete novices – Surg Lt Eames (submarine door!” fi nd space for fancy dress when the rest of
that I had just spent an hour
role played
training), AB Tinsley (HMS Triumph), LH In addition to the AFF course, there were the skydivers had been so limited on luggage
queuing on.
Wyatt (Westminster), LH Legge (SFM also fi ve intermediate skydivers who had already allowance due to the amount of equipment
Now a short walk with the
Devonport), LS Patterson (820 NAS), POPT completed a qualifying course: PO O’Rourke required...
bike down towards the reservoir
by 771 NAS
Murphy (RAF Halton), and L/Cpl Hogg (847 (847 NAS), CPO Parkin (847 NAS), PO Throughout the progression of the
and another fi eld that resembled
NAS) – to Beni Mellal in Morocco (about 100 Gregory (HMS Vigilant), Cpl Ellis-Stansfi eld intermediate skydivers the AFF students
Glastonbury. Registration was
miles northeast of Marrakech). (AFCO East), and Mne Kennedy (847 NAS). continued to literally fl y through the required
straight-forward and quick albeit
All wanted to throw themselves out of The next stage for these skydivers was to levels.
muddy. They announced that the
Plus
a perfectly serviceable aircraft. And who is further advance their skills whilst in freefall, not LH Legge continued to have diffi culty
race brief would be in the Reebok
the RN to reject such a perfectly reasonably just on their own but in formation with others overcoming her fear at the door, but it was with
Stadium in Bolton. So back to the
request... as well. This progression of training under determination, a smile, even the occasional
car for more mud surfi ng.
Going down
The accelerated freefall (AFF) course is qualifi ed formation skydiving coaches would tear, and the support of her instructors and
I went to bed at 7pm, my two-
designed for people who wish to learn how to earn them their FS1 (Formation Skydiving 1) fellow students that she achieved not only
year-old daughter thought that
to Southport,
skydive from scratch. qualifi cation. her personal goals, but also joined her fellow
screaming the hotel down was
It comprises an initial ground school, seven To achieve that, the students were required students in completing all 18 AFF jumps to
much more interesting than going
jumps under the control of AFF Instructors, to complete a skydive with three other jumpers qualify for a licence.
to sleep.
going to have
and a low-level ‘Hop and Pop’ jump. The fi nal in which they had to achieve a minimum of It is perhaps more impressive that all the
She eventually went to sleep at
stage consists of ten solo consolidation jumps, four specifi ed formations relative to each other, students achieved this milestone as well as
8pm. I on the other hand didn’t
ourselves a
after which they are fully qualifi ed skydivers. in approximately 35 seconds. learning to pack their own parachutes after
sleep a wink until I got out of
The fi rst load took off with advanced In doing so, they would demonstrate that each jump.
bed at 3.30am for my breakfast
time... Sea
instructor Lt Cdr Gibbs (NCHQ), AFF they could move in all directions, work at Since returning from Africa, all of the
of muesli and room temperature
instructors Cpl Tuckley (1 Para) and Stuart close proximity to other jumpers in the air in students have continued to skydive.
milk. I left the hotel at 0400 to go
Cadets hold
Murtha, formation skydive coaches CPO Hähn a safe, controlled manner, and move into clear LH Legge has overcome her door phobia,
to the Reebok stadium. I was then
(824 NAS) and PO Moore (HMS Triumph), airspace from the other jumpers to facilitate a and has since completed numerous canopy
bussed to the start.
and experienced skydivers CPO Brown (702 safe deployment of their parachute. handling courses, while Surg Lt Eames has
Next was to put the wet suit on
regatta on
NAS) and Lt Adams (849 NAS). They were coached throughout this demonstrated a natural ability for formation
and walk 400m to the reservoir.
As the aircraft, a Pilatus Porter, climbed progression by CPO Hähn, PO Moore and Lt skydiving and is close to achieving his formation
We entered the water at 5.50am:
Merseyside
through the Atlas Mountains to 15,000ft above Cdr Gibbs, with assistance from CPO Brown skydiving certifi cate.
this was the fi rst time I’d seen the
the dropzone it became clear that the scenery and Lt Adams. The intermediate jumpers all represented
reservoir.
on the way to altitude would be almost as “It was impressive to see the effort that was the Navy at this year’s Inter-services Parachute
All my open-water training had
exciting as the skydive back down to earth. put in by everyone to overcome sticking points Competition, while the coaches obtained their
been in the sea so it was quite
Despite the realisation that Africa was clearly – including PO O’Rourke’s tendency to fl y in a required demonstration clearance and are now
pleasant not to taste salty water.
not always bikini and shorts weather, the seven circle and PO Gregory adjusting his fall rates part of the Royal Navy Raiders Parachute
It was at this point I realised
students were soon able to put the skills they to work with some of the smaller skydivers after Display Team. marina Continued on page 46
Published by Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth and printed by St Ives (Andover) plc.
046-048_NN_Oct.indd 3 22/9/09 08:50:08
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