fade in: dark inside of c-130 aircraft, paratroopers all standing holding static lines. 0100hrs.
MONOLOG:
I held my breath as the C-130 closed over the drop-zone; I think we all did. I’ve done this too many time, I thought to myself as the thunderous noise from the open hatch drowned out the sound of our loud music playing over the 1MC.
The inside of the belly of the aircraft was lit only with a hazed red light. Talking among my soldiers had mostly stopped; we had begun to prepare ourselves for the unknown journey ahead. I let my breath go as the signal light turned from red to green and the jumpmaster standing to my left hit the top of my Kevlar signaling me to go. My left foot hung for a moment over the edge of the plane before my right foot followed. The snap of the static line pulled my body upward releasing my chute from its bag causing my body to swing a bit in the air as I hung from the harness. I closed my eyes tight, the sweat on my forehead rolled down my face stinging them. I knew the sweat carried with it oil from the black and green make-up covering my face.
As I fell from the dark black night sky thoughts of my mother popped into my mind. She never wanted me to join the army, and she certainly didn’t like the idea of me going airborne, but still I did it anyway. Until recently it was still relatively safe to be a woman in the army, but now things are different, the world is different. I am a member of an all military police airborne unit attached to the 82nd airborne. Where they go, I go, with only one objective, complete the mission.
My brother and sister entered my mind next. My brother is older than me and has always felt a need to father me due to a lack of a true father figure in our lives, and my sister is younger than me; I wonder how it might affect her to never see me again. Would my family understand if I didn’t make it home this time, or would they think that somehow I was responsible for my death? Would my mother call Erin, my lover of ten years? Would she be invited to my funeral, or would my family forget to tell her? How would she ever explain things to our son if I didn’t make it back?
The hardness of the ground erased these thoughts from my mind, thoughts that would never again occur while in this horrible place. My love for my family is a motivation, but it is also a distraction, a distraction that I cannot afford to carry along with me. I had too many other responsibilities to concern my mind with.
Once we had all secured our chutes and readied our weapons, I gathered my soldiers on my position. It was so dark that hand to shoulder contact was needed in order to maintain my platoon’s placement while I reviewed our orders.
Sfc collins:
“Everyone good to go?”
Looks into each of their scared eyes, the only part of their blackened faces she can see.
“Good, remember these are our orders.”
Says in a hushed but reassuring voice.
“We are to rendezvous with the rest of the company where we will assist in establishing a secure perimeter around the landing strip the Engineers are building. Eyes and ear open and expect resistance, this ain’t no training exercise and we ain’t at Bragg no more.”
Takes a moment to pause for questions, but none come.
“Keep it low, voices only if necessary, understood?”
They shake their heads.
“Good, let’s move….”