You check your parachute equipment. You move toward the door of the aircraft - and then it's your turn. The cold air hits you in the face and, suddenly one step later, the only thing between you and the ground is 1,300 feet of air. And, of course, three weeks of intense training that have thoroughly prepared you for this moment. Having successfully survived jump school, soldiers graduate and are given their Airborne wings.
Wings are a mark of courage, daring and skill.
But jump school is more than an airborne academy. It's a confidence school, a leadership school. And soldiers who complete the course leave with a greater respect and awe for themselves and the skills they have acquired. That's something they have for the rest of their lives. During ground training week, you begin an intensive program of instruction building individual skills designed to prepare you to make a parachute jump and land safely.