“Da ya remember those World War II rats—lima beans, pound cake and Lucky Strike cigarettes, yah, and those fish net dinners we had in the ’70s. I remember jumping a 28 on a hot day, boy, did I smoke in. Before the D-bag, if I had bad position, I ended up with abrasions on my clavicle and a sore neck—on a calm morning you could hear those 28s open at the Bear Creek training jump spot four miles away.” When getting together with old jumper friends the conversation quickly gravitates to “the good ole days—remember when …” A bit of embellishment made the story a tad bit better, and perhaps, a bit more unbelievable. After a recent “old jumper conversation” I sat down and began to reminisce about jumping in the 50s and 80s— and all that changed—crew composition, hiring and firing practices, jump related equipment, parachutes, fire packs, aircraft, fire suppression operations, pay and other aspects of the program. I assume that you also experienced significant program changes during your career. Each decade of the jump program saw significant changes, and the program continues to change. This piece spans the mid ’50s through the 1989, a period that saw significant program changes. For the most part, these were “the good ole days.”
The Jumpers: Who They Were
The WW II and Korean War vets, and the CPS jumpers of the late ’40s and early ’50s were gradually replaced by more college bound rookies putting themselves through four years of college—jump four years, get a degree and get “a real job.” Recruits in the ’50s-’60s were often seasoned farm boys with one or two seasons of fire experience—but they were hard workers with practical woods and mechanical equipment skills. In the ’70s there was a transition to recruits with extensive fire experience, many with college degrees. Jumper tenure was much longer, facilitated by ending of the draft in 1973 and longer term WAE appointments. After the fire season some worked on projects taking advantage of jumper climbing or prescribed burning skills—some hunting, skiing and worldly travels. Francis B. Lufkin (NCSB- 40): Francis was the Aerial Project Officer (APO) of the Okanogan Aerial Project, renamed North Cascades Smokejumper Base in 1967. The APO pretty much had control of the hiring and firing. Francis gained fame as one of the original 1939 experimental pioneers, a man bred during the 1920-30s Great Depression. Both feared, and admired, his expectations were high. Francis had an uncanny ability “to size up his jumpers.” If you didn’t measure up, or if you screwed up “you could be sent down the road “kicking horse turds.” If you were “salvageable” you were given another chance to prove your worth. Francis often counseled a wayward jumper, using the analogy of a bad bear. “When you have a bad bear in camp it is sometimes necessary to shoot it to get rid of it.” Or as he “counseled” rookie Gino after a night of partying: “Gino, you’re spittin in the wind.” Gino survived, his partner in crime, with previous offenses, didn’t. No HR in those days!
Jumper Salary
The 1957 pay for the GS-5 rookie was $1.79/hr. with overtime paid at the same rate. On days off, if there was a T-storm in progress, and anticipating “jumper fires,” we were expected to standby without pay. Once a jumper request was made, we went on “pay status,” at straight pay.
By the time messhall and bunkhouse deductions were calculated you might clear $2,500 for the fire season. The prestige of being a smokejumper, the experiences you had and the guys you worked with primed you for another season.
Thanks to efforts by the Missoula jumper’s union in the late ’60s, time and a half was initiated along with Hazard Pay, Sunday Differential, and other employee benefits. The age 40 policy restriction was lifted, and jumpers could jump until mandatory retirement, providing they could pass the PT test adopted in 1969.
Standard attire in the ’50s was either Levi or Frisco jeans, stagged! If the jumper did not stag his new pants, the crew would do the honors for him. The work shirt was a standard long sleeved work shirt. Whites were the jump boot of choice. You broke them in by wading in the irrigation ditch running through the base and wearing the boots all day or until they felt dry.
PPE: By the mid 1960s the orange fire resistant shirt was standard. A yellow shirt, more distinguishable from fire flames, soon replaced the orange shirt. Fiberglass hard hats replaced metal hard hats. By the early ’70s the Frisco/Levi jeans were replaced with standard fire Nomex pants. Thus, introduction of the smokejumper “black leg syndrome.” The 3.5-pound fire shelter was adopted as a standard “must carry.”
Jump Training
Rookie training was 4-4.5 weeks, with seven training jumps. Refresher training was usually 3-5 days with two refresher jumps. After a couple of weeks without a fire jump, we got a refresher jump. Throughout the season we did PT twice a day, including running the 1.5 mile around the airport in our Whites. By the ’70s running shoes were permitted.
The Torture Rack: Its value was questionable. Some old timers attribute their “back problems” to the torture rack. By 1970, the torture rack was gone without
anyone coming to its defense.
Jumper Related Gear
The Jump Suit: In 1960 the 1950s cotton canvas fabric jump suit was replaced with nylon fabric with high density foam padding. After a few years the combustibility of the nylon suit was recognized and its use terminated. Nomex, and later Kevlar, materials replaced nylon.
Jump Helmets: In the late ’50s and early ’60s we had a mix of old classic leather football and plastic football helmets. By the 70s the Bell motorcycle type helmet replaced the football helmets.
Jumper Communications: The yellow signal streamers, later dayglo pink, were the primary communications with the jumper or observation aircraft and forest headquarters. Radios were at a premium. The 5-Watt and 10-Watt radios weighed several pounds and were dropped on a 10-12 ft.chute—more weight and bulk to packout. The radio’s channel was the Forest’s primary channel or an Air Net frequency. The compact 9600 Channel King personal portable radio introduced in the ’70s greatly improved the communications between the jumper, jump plane, and forest headquarters. The signal streamer continued to be a secondary means of communications—you still put out an “L” to indicate a safe landing.
The Fire Pack and Chainsaws: The basic contents of the fire pack, hand tools and subsistence items, except for food, changed little from the ’50s to ’80s. The primary jumper tools were the Pulaski and fire shovel. In the 1950s, chainsaws were a luxury tool with only two chainsaws in our inventory in 1957. The standard “falling tool” was still the Pulaski or cross-cut saw. Gradually, each year, we added more chainsaws. By the mid 70s we had a chainsaw for every jumper. From the WW II “C-rats,” consisting of Lima Beans, SPAM, a small fruit pound cake and a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, the fire pack food gradually improved. We experimented with different innovative food packs. Through the years we were introduced to post 1958 “upgraded” rations, the “fishnet” breakfasts and dinners, requiring boiling, Vietnam era MREs, and different freeze-dry foods. Climbing Gear Multi-purpose Gear: During the ’50s and ’60s the climbing gear consisted of a length of rope cut from the letdown rope, the main parachute tray belt with D-rings, and a tree branch. The section of letdown rope, depending on the circumference of the tree, was tied to the D-ring on the tray belt. A slim smooth tree branch was inserted into the tubular nylon jump rope and the end of the rope was attached to the other D-ring on the tray belt. The inserted branch formed a rigid semihoop and would serve to advance the rope up on the backside of the tree. This innovative use of jump rope, tray belt and a branch did not instill much confidence in the tree climbing operation. The standard “professional climbing equipment” introduced in the 70s greatly improved our confidence tree climbing.
Parachutes—Before the D-bag and AIN
Pre-D-bag Era: The chutes were the Derry slotted FS-2 candy striped (or white) 28-footer, or for the heavy weights, the 32-foot FS-5A canopy. The canopy was accordion folded on the tray and covered with a bungee cover. The apex of the chute was attached to the end of the static line with a 120 lb. break- cord. The deployment sequence resulted in relatively hard opening shock. Poor body position, on your side, or head down position, would result in harness burns on the clavicles, occasional loss of helmet, riser or shroud line neck abrasions, and one hell of a sore neck. On one occasion, on a fire jump the opening knocked the jumper out for about 60 seconds, waking just before impact. Line-overs were common, and there was an occasional perfect “May West.” By 1962 the D-bag was adopted and by 1965 the 28-footer was phased out. The D-bag greatly reduced both the opening shock and malfunctions. In about 1978 the addition of the AIN (anti inversion netting) almost completely eliminated malfunctions. Remembering Those 28s: I remember those 28s for two reasons—the hard openings and hard landings. At 180 lbs., on a hot day, on the Unity District of the Wallowa-Whitman, I numbed the bottom of my feet and popped the shoelaces on my Whites. The Toggle Guideline: In the early ’70s the two guidelines attached to the rear riser were shortened. Wooden toggles were added to the end of the guideline. A small pouch on the riser stowed the toggle until opening. The toggle allowed for better guideline access and control of maneuvering during the descent. The FS-10 and FS-12 Chutes: In 1970, we began the transition from the Derry slotted 28s and 32s to the parabolic FS-10 (T-10) with deployment bag. AIN was added in 1977. Modelled after the Soviet Forester smokejumper chute design, in 1980 the Forest Service adopted the 32-foot multi-porosity steerable FS-12 with a deployment bag.
Aircraft
From Recips to Turbines: The Noorduyn—that old 600 horsepower beast could be heard 30 plus miles away, lumbering along at 138 mph. The jump door was on the right side. In 1957, NCSB’s primary jump plane was a Noorduyn Norseman with a “back up” contract Twin Beech, contracted primarily for the La Grande spike operations. In 1958, NCSB upgraded to a USFS Twin Beech. On June 23, 1958, N164Z crashed on 8 Mile Ridge, killing the pilot Bob Cavanaugh, supervisory smokejumper Keith Hendrickson (NCSB-47), and jumpers Gerald Helmer (NCSB-53) and Robert Carlman (NCSB- 57) a jump qualified forester. Eventually, NCSB upgraded to a Forest Service DC- 3, N168Z. In the ’70s, a Beech 99A replaced the Twin Beech. An Aero Commander “general utility” backup platform was used at NCSB in the ’70s and ’80s. In the 1980s NCSB had a contract Beech 99A and later, contract Twin Otters.
Fire Operations
Aggressive initial attack began with Lufkin’s 7-minute “wheels up” policy. The suit-up procedure was speeded up when Titus (Bill) Nelson (NCSB-66) developed a “speed rack” with pre-connected gear—simply slipin to the gear mounted on the rack, attach the three harness straps, secure the reserve, and proceed to the spotter checkout. During periods of moderate and high fire danger the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests employed an “automatic jumper dispatch” policy. As soon as a fire was reported jumpers were launched. The program was successful but abandon when the newer fire staffing guidelines were adopted. Jumper patrols were standard operations after lightning storms and during periods of high fire danger. When NCSB flew Forest Service aircraft it was standard practice to “fly off ” the daily twohour Working Capital Fund time on evening standby.
1970 Fire Season
NCSB Record Year: 1970 was almost a continuous fire bust with endless mini and mega lightning storms from early June to late September. For a 10-day period NCSB exceeded Spokane International in terms of takeoffs and landings—325 daily. During the July bust 176 jumpers worked out of NCSB. It was a 24-hour operation, serving over 800 meals a day out of the messhall. We ended the season with 1066 jumps on 212 fires out of NCSB and 213 jumps on 64 fires out of our satellite base at La Grande. Aggressive Fire Containment Quick Containment Objective: Once on the ground the standard game plan was to fight the fire aggressively until achieving containment, sometimes doing an “all-nighter,” taking advantage of the cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity. The aggressive initial attack containment objective resulted in preventing “jumper fires” from becoming major incidents—a novel concept! Packing Out The Gear From Packboards to Packout Bags: The standard jumper pack in the 1950s, early ’60s, was a WWII military pack board, two seamless Bemis grain sacks to stuff your gear in, and innertube rubber bands to secure the Bemis sacks on to the backboard. Later, from Lufkin’s military surplus source, we modified military canvas bags (the Elephant Bag) by adding shoulder straps. By the ’80s, we manufactured well designed packout bags from lighter materials, with adjustable load straps.
Program Survival
Predictions of Phase Out: With increased helicopter use and the introduction of helitack and helijumpers in the ’50s, and rappelling in the ’70s, the question was, and continues to be, what’s the future of the jump program? Rumor had it that helitack would take over, and jumpers would be obsolete in the late 60s. With the introduction of rappelling in 1973 a similar prediction was made, and the jump program days were numbered.
NCSB Base Studies: NCSB has been the victim of a half dozen plus studies to determine if it should remain a permanent base, a seasonal base, or an occasionally used spike base. After a national base study in 1978, the national and regional office targeted NCSB to become a Region 6 satellite or spike base. In the early ’80s, the Regional Office all but terminated the NCSB program.
Stripped of Chutes and Sewing Machines: NCSB could no longer rig chutes or manufacture jump related equipment at NCSB. All the sewing machines were transferred to Redmond, except for a couple we “rat holed.” After chutes were jumped, they had to be sent to Redmond for repacking and repairs.
NCSB Staffing: In 1981, staffing was reduced to 11 jumpers, counting the Base Manager. With support from the Forest Supervisor, NCSB implemented a “mini-retread program,” adding six call when needed jumpers, five of which were ex-NCSB jumpers working on the Okanogan and Gifford Pinchot National Forests. The sixth, was an ex-jumper working locally. The six “retreads” averaged five fire jumps while the “regulars” averaged 10.4 fire jumps. In 1982 four “blue chip,” fully qualified volunteers (paid for training and when assigned to a fire) were added to the crew. They were great jumpers and became “regulars” when NCSB permanent base status was reinstated.
RAC Spike Base at Wenatchee: The Region set up a spike jumper operation out of Wenatchee, 65 airline miles from NCSB. Jumper dispatches for fires in the North Cascades, even within sight of NCSB, were dispatched from Wenatchee. Okanogan Dispatch dispatched NCSB to some “Okanogan fires.”
Saved From Extinction: During this dark period Forest Supervisor Bill McLaughlin (MSO-58), along with Washington senators, representatives, state and local politicians rallied on NCSB’s behalf to maintain NCSB as a permanent base. Supported by a comprehensive 1984 Region 6 smokejumper program study, headed up by Ken Snell (MSO-67) Region 6 Fire Management, the decision was made to maintain NCSB as a permanent base with 21 jump personnel. Parachutes, along with “rigging privileges” and sewing machines were returned and normal operations resumed.
NCSB’s Future: The 2015 base study appeared to support keeping NCSB as a permanent base with upgraded facilities and 30 jumpers. As of this writing there has been no progress on upgrading the facilities. What does the future hold for NCSB, and for the national smokejumper program?
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Bill jumped at NCSB 1957-89 and was Base Manager 1972-89.
