My heart pounded. The altimeter read 15,000 feet. We could barely move with 180 in full gear packed into the cargo hold of a 727 jet. The green light flashed and our 10 man team moved to the exit. I went headfirst down the stairs and was taken by the relative wind under the tail, like being shot out of a cannon! The 170 miles-per-hour force of it was disorienting. When I’d slowed to terminal velocity and spotted my teammates it was time for parachutes. Sadly, we did not join together in a star formation; velocity had scattered us like puzzle pieces across the blue sky.