Airborne All the Way

By CH (CPT) David M. Dodson

I’m sitting, fully rigged in T-11 main and reserve parachutes, in a C-17 high-performance aircraft, 1,250 feet above Fryer Drop Zone at Fort Benning, Georgia. The jumpmaster gives the commands to “stand up” and “hook up.” My heart is beating much faster than normal as I prepare to exit a perfectly good aircraft for the first time. As I begin moving toward the door, I think, “How did I get myself into this?”

My mind leaps back to July 1996. It was a warm Texas evening in Fort Worth as I settled into my seat for the Wednesday service at the National Association of Free Will Baptists. All week, I had resisted, refusing to do what I knew God’s Spirit was calling me to do—yield all to him. I could resist no longer. At the sound of the invitational hymn, I raced to the altar and gave myself to Jesus Christ and His will. Little did I realize His leading would take me to India, St. Croix, Uruguay, and at age 41, the United States Army and the Basic Airborne Course.

Volunteering for the 82nd Airborne Division means going to jump school, living on jump status, and, if necessary, parachuting into combat. Chaplains are not exempt from the expectation to “jump, fight, and win tonight.” Since World War II, the chaplains of the 82nd have been willing to follow their “congregation” out of aircraft and into the fiercest fighting.

World War II Chaplain (CPT) Delbert Kuehl was one such combat chaplain. In 1944, he jumped with his men into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden. As the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment prepared to cross the Waal River to neutralize the Germans and take control of the bridge, Chaplain Kuehl requested permission to join his men in the assault. He later said, “We were on a suicide mission, and my men didn’t even have the choice to volunteer. Since they had to go, I chose to go too.”

Chaplain Kuehl embodies the philosophy of a muddy boots ministry that says, “I will go with my men into the worst of circumstances to minister to them in their time of need.” I strive to be a chaplain that goes with his men wherever they go, even if that means jumping out of an airplane.
My thoughts return to the present and the glowing green light inside the aircraft. The jumpmaster yells, “Green light, go!”

Somewhat surprisingly, my legs remember how to move and carry me to the door. I jump from the C-17 with feet and knees together, chin on chest. I count, “one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand, four-thousand, five-thousand, six-thousand.” I feel the chute deploy and look up to see one of the most beautiful sights of my life—a canopy filled with air!

I land safely on the ground and lie still for a moment, looking up at the sky and thankful, not only to be alive, but also to be an airborne chaplain.

About the Writer: Chaplain CPT David Dodson is assigned to the 2-501 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1 Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Learn more about Free Will Baptist chaplain ministry: www.FWBNAM.com.