Admiral Barry Bruner . Tandem Skydive

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Admiral Barry L. Burner’s Tandem Skydive

On Tuesday, September 16th 2014 Sam Brasfield celebrated being promoted to a Naval Commander at Skydive Orange. Way to go, Sam!

Admiral Barry L. Bruner accompanied Sam by making a tandem skydive! His last two jumps were 36 years ago.  Ron Condrey was the Tandem Instructor and Gigi Rucker, DZM joined in on the fun, as well!

The Oath

By Rear Adm. Barry L. Bruner
Director, Programming Division, N80

Last week I was afforded the honor of promoting one of our officers in the Programming Division of OPNAV (N80). This time however, the promotion ceremony was significantly different from the past few we have done.

CDR Sam Brasfield is an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer. Prior-enlisted, he has served in the Navy for more than twenty years and is one of the many great Americans that I have the honor of serving with in OPNAV. Sam asked if we could do the promotion in front of family and friends at the Orange Community Airport and follow the ceremony with a joint skydiving effort. The last time I jumped out of an airplane was 1978 – when I was still in my teens. I jumped twice back then, both times in the old round chutes. I did not like it. Twice was enough for me and I had never intended to jump again (call me dumb but not stupid!). But how could you say no to a request like Sam’s?

When I walked into the hangar I met a group of mostly active duty and former service members. I met a former Army EOD tech who was badly injured in the Middle East but still liked to hang around with his EOD buddies. He skydived – even though with only one eye his depth perception makes the landings a bit difficult and his other injuries require a special chute. I met others – Marines, Army and Navy veterans. I shook each of those great Americans’ hands with honor, glad to be included as one of them – even if only for a couple of hours.

We promoted Sam Brasfield to Commander, then climbed into a twin-engine Otter, climbed to 12,000 feet and stepped outside. I was tethered to Chief Ron Condrey, another member of the EOD community, and he made this, my third jump, seem easy. I’m still not sure I liked it, but it was far better than the two jumps I remember as a teen.

As I drove away a few minutes later I considered the oath Sam had taken an hour or so before:

“I do solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. To bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation – or purpose of evasion. And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to embark. So help me God.”

Each of those that were there – Sam’s friends, they had all taken that oath – or one similar. And that oath, its intent – to protect the ideal we call America, is branded on their very souls. For over a decade now they have truly given their lives, again and again, to the defense of our nation. They come from all walks of life, from every state and from every race. They have fought and many of them have seen their best friends die, have lost pieces of themselves (both physical and mental) in the process.

For some of us in the military, we have been the fortunate ones that although we have taken the oath too – we have not yet had to go into battle. But every time we pull in our uniform, we take that oath. Each time our ship slips away from the pier – we take that oath.

That promotion ceremony reminded me of how fortunate I have been, and still am – to be serving with the likes of my Navy shipmates. To those that have taken the oath – Thank You.

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About Whitney Payne

Co-Operations Manager at Skydive Orange - Working with Skydive Orange for 10+ years - Previously positions held: Office manager, manifest, guest services, social media manager, she does it all! “If you told be 10 years ago I’d be co-managing a skydiving facility and loving every minute of it, I would have laughed in your face. I am not an adrenaline junkie, not spontaneous and definitely not a thrill-seeker but I love these people. Skydivers are truly a different breed of people and I am forever thankful for them accepting me into their community. Watching people visit Skydive Orange to face fears, celebrate milestones or just jump out of a perfectly good airplane has been truly life changing for me and helped be become the person I am today.” – Whitney Payne

2 Comments

  1. yesterday i did the tandem dive for the first time. i have been wanting to skydive since i was a little kid and i could not have asked for a more beautiful day or a nicer group of people to do it with. this was the most incredible experience of my life and i cant wait to come back and do it again and again! Jon Forman was my instructor and he was great! Jon made me feel safe and welcome and i had a great time learning from him. i was never once scared or nervous and my camera man was incredibly nice and attentive and made an AMAZING video for me to share with my friends and family. so thank you to everyone involved, you made this experience better than i could have ever dreamed, you will definitely be seeing more of me 🙂

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Kellen James Lynn – Arlington, VA

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