Hanging Out With The PTSU

Defence Minister shown the ropes

There’s something reassuring about a Defence Minister who’s prepared to be shown the ropes by his military personnel, hang out with them and eventually make a splash. So, enough with the puns but that’s exactly what Defence Minister Phil Goff did when he made a parachute jump from a C-130 Hercules aircraft on Friday 23 February, during a visit to Base Auckland.

Mr Goff was at Whenuapai to show support to 15 Defence personnel undergoing training at the Air Force’s Parachute Training Support Unit (PTSU). He said he didn’t feel any nerves or fear when he leapt off the stern ramp of the Hercules from about 1,500 feet over the Rangitoto Channel, and landed in the waters of the Hauraki Gulf.

‘It was certainly an adrenalin rush, but I didn’t have the sense of terror that I thought I might have had.

‘It was an interesting experience as you stand back on the edge of the back ramp of a C-130 and there is a clear view right out over Auckland, and nothing between you and what is beneath you.’

His parachute, attached by static line to the aircraft, opened automatically. Ninety seconds later, he was picked up from the harbour by a Navy rigid-hull inflatable boat.

He described floating down as ‘ very peaceful’. ‘You have got this sensation of peace and calm and you are gently floating through the air. You have got 50 seconds to look around at the city and Rangitoto and Takapuna Beach.’

It takes five days of training at Whenuapai’s PTSU to prepare personnel for their first land jump, but just three hours to prepare for a water jump.

Mr Goff was accompanied by his military secretary, MAJ Mike Beale, who also jumped. After the two men were dropped into the sea, the Hercules returned to Whenuapai – climbing 12,000 feet – to literally ‘drop off’ the NZDF personnel on a free-fall sortie.