Stand in the Door!

Quick answer: When was the first official U.S. Army parachute jump?

August 16, 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia. After German airborne troops stunned Europe that spring, the Army sought volunteers from the 29th Infantry Regiment. More than two hundred stepped forward, and forty-eight became the Parachute Test Platoon, with no manual, no doctrine, and no proof it wouldn't kill them.

Stand in the open door of an aircraft in flight and the first thing you notice is the wind, a wall of air at over a hundred miles an hour pushing against your chest. Every instinct says back away. Then the light turns green, the jumpmaster shouts “Go!”, and you step off. Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers have done it since the first small group tried it over a Georgia field on August 16, 1940. That spring, German parachute and glider troops had taken bridges and fortresses in the Low Countries in hours. The U.S. Army had no such capability and decided in a hurry to find out whether Americans could do it. More than two hundred men from the 29th Infantry volunteered at Fort Benning. Forty-eight were chosen as the Parachute Test Platoon, and they were the experiment: no school, no doctrine, not even a settled way to pack the chute. The manuals now are thick. The door and the wind haven't changed. John's lesson: when the chance comes, go first.

Why it matters for leaders: Every capability starts with someone willing to go first without a manual, and someone has to be that person.

Q: Why did the Army create the Parachute Test Platoon?

A: In spring 1940 German parachute and glider troops took Low Countries bridges and fortresses in hours, and the U.S. Army had no such capability.

Q: What lesson does John draw?

A: Don't hesitate, when the opportunity comes, to go first.

Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/stand-in-the-door

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation