Staff Sgt. Jon C. Ewald addresses four guests who are preparing for a tandem jump with the army’s famed Golden Knights Parachute Team. All four participants will fly in a Fokker C-31A to 14,000 feet, then jump out the door, strapped to an experienced army parachutist.
“Okay, who’s going first?” Jon asks.
John Murdoch, director of Regular Baptist Chaplaincy Ministries, raises his hand and volunteers.
“But I didn’t sleep real soundly the night before,” Murdoch admits after the jump. “I was a little uptight, because I’m seriously afraid of heights. Heights and I have an issue.”
Chaplain Murdoch traveled to Fort Bragg, N.C., to visit Army Chaplain Jack Stumme, who ministers to the 82nd Airborne Division, the largest parachute force in the free world. Paratroopers are trained to jump from aircraft wearing combat equipment, using a static line to automatically open the parachute after they exit the plane at a combat height of 1,700 feet. Most tactical jumps are battalion-size or larger, involving 700 personnel in a force big enough to perform a tactical mission. Army chaplains are trained to go where the troops go, so Stumme trains for jumps with the division.
Also stationed at Fort Bragg, the elite Golden Knights team functions as official ambassadors for the U.S. Army, performing parachute demonstrations, tandem jumps, and competitive jumps for audiences all over the world. The Golden Knights developed their Tandem Team program for recruitment purposes, and has led jumps with many well-known media figures, including former President George H. W. Bush, who jumped with them to mark his 80th birthday. The program “enables the Army to reach out to influential citizens and give them a taste of the professionalism, leadership, and teamwork that is involved in giving them a tandem,” says Lt. Colonel Anthony Dill, commander of the Golden Knights.
Recruitment is also one of Chaplain Murdoch’s roles as GARBC endorsing chaplain—he travels to seminaries and churches each year, encouraging young ministry students to consider the military chaplaincy. All of this leads to an open door looking two and a half miles straight down to a very small X on the ground. The jump leader asks, “Any last words?” of Chaplain Murdoch just before Staff Sgt. Ewald propels them both out.
“When we went out the door, we did an unplanned flip,” Murdoch says of his moment-of-truth. “We were free falling for about a mile before the main chute opened up, but I had no concept of falling. It was more like floating or flying.”
“It was fun. But it’s a good thing I don’t have more fat in my face, or my lips would have beat me to death.”
Murdoch’s jump was recorded by Sergeant 1st Class Eric Heinsheimer, who wears a custom helmet with cameras for video and still photos.
“During the free fall, the photographer came over, we shook hands, I saluted, and he dropped down further. He was on the ground and out of his chute, taking video of me by the time I got to the ground,” Murdoch says. (See a video of the jump at www.RegularBaptistChaplaincy.org.)
After the jump, Chaplain Murdoch presented members of the Golden Knights with his Regular Baptist Chaplaincy coin, a military tradition to honor professionalism and excellence among service members.
