“In 1997, I was lucky to go to the Military Freefall School (MFF), before I was a Gold Winger, meaning I hadn't done my 10 prerequisite static line jumps to earn my Gold Wings. I remember checking into MFF at Fort Bragg with my brother Kenny "Q" Urquhart, who also was not a Gold Winger, and the hate we were getting from the other Marines, especially the east coast guys who had dozens of static line jumps and waited years to get a quota, was abundant. Coming out of MFF at Yuma Proving Ground with around 30 jumps, I immediately got put into the free fall team, and I ended up having over 40 jumps, before I finally finished the prereqs for static line, earning my Gold Wings. Going to Static Line Jump Master, Free Fall Jump Master, the Advanced Free Fall Course, and eventually being a Team Leader for the Vehicle Team, which was also the Low Level Static Line Jump Team, I ended my career with around 500 jumps, but probably less than 30 of those were static line. Team 1, 4th Platoon, 1st Force Recon Co. Circa 2000. Jump Package, El Centro? 50lbs of chute. 30 Ibs of "Deuce Gear", 60 to 110 Ibs of ruck. Check out the throat mics! L-R Bobby, Rat, Shindig (RIP 2008), Myself. Not pictured. Sneaks and Dirty.”
-****Courtesy of FORCE RECON vet Bob Blanton