AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019 - 72

When Kat Healey's brother went through ADT's
jump school in 2008, women weren't allowed. Healey,
46, of Morristown, New Jersey, was born on June
6-D-Day. "That spurred my interest in World War II.
I have passion for this. I have passion for the veterans."
She was accepted for the July 2014 class and now has
134 jumps; she was the first female to earn her senior
(50 jumps) and master wings (100 jumps).
How? OSS. During the war, the Office of Strategic
Services-a U.S. intelligence agency that was a precursor to today's Central Intelligence Agency-trained
female agents to jump behind enemy lines to help the
resistance. Women jumped in coverall jumpsuits over
French peasant dresses; after landing, the OSS agent
would remove her jumpsuit and slip into the local population. "Little girls go to the airshows, too," Healey
said. "So many times I've heard a mother say, 'Look,
there's a girl!' I feel I can be an inspiration. They need
to know they can do that, too."
Kaitlin Harriott, 22, of Silverwood, Colorado, first
came to jump school with her dad, an active World
War II reenactor, when she was 17 and too young to
participate. In January 2014, at 18, she completed
jump school before graduating from high school. "My
friends thought it was weird," she said. "Nobody that
age understands anything about World War II."
Today Harriott is an ADT instructor, teaching
proper parachute landing falls in a sand pit. Other
phases of training include suspended harness, where
students develop muscle memory for various emergency procedures, and mock door training where
exiting the aircraft is drilled.
Jacob Stottlemyer of Bunker Hill, West Virginia,
said his first jump was "sensory overload, seeing the
72 | AOPA PILOT February 2019

first couple of people go out in front of you. And it was
a vacuum noise, like something getting sucked up in a
vacuum cleaner, whenever anyone went out the door.
Then it was my turn." He earned his wings after five
jumps, and has jumped two times with ADT since then.
"I enjoy the camaraderie. It's just like when I was in
the Army," said the former cavalry scout.
"I'm proud to be a part of the team, and to meet
the veterans that I've met," Stottlemyer added. When
he jumped in Virginia in December, he met Norwood
Thomas, a 101st Airborne Division veteran who
jumped into Normandy on D-Day. "Norwood was saying it was a great honor to meet us, but really, it was an
honor for us to meet him."
C.J. Machado said her first jump was "terrifying.
It's a lot of pressure, and your life depends on making
a proper exit" from the aircraft, she said. "On the first
jump you don't know what to expect, because you've
never done it." Each jump got easier for her, however,
even though her suspension lines tangled each time-
something she attributes to her light weight and exit
technique. Tangled lines are one of many potential
issues jumpers are taught to resolve, in this case by
cycling your legs as if you're pedaling a bicycle.
A photojournalist from San Diego documenting
the program, Machado said the training was excellent-and intense. "We had to learn a tremendous
amount of information in a limited amount of time,"
she explained. "The instructors were determined and
dedicated to helping us succeed."
The high point for her? After completing five
jumps, World War II paratrooper Vince Speranza-
who served in the 101st and fought in Bastogne,
Belgium-pinned on Machado's ADT jump wings.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019

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