I have jumped out of perfectly good aircraft enough times  now to quit counting. I have landed on tarmac, in cornfields, and in actual grass (the preferred spot).  I was on the night jumps. I have stood at an open door at altitude and felt nothing but focus.

The scariest moment of the entire Normandy trip was a folding table with a stack of paperwork in HQ north of St Mere Eglise, France.

The Document Check

Before you jump over Normandy — before you even touch a parachute — the French team checks your credentials. Every document. Your logbook. Your medical. Your certifications. Your waivers. Everything that says you are who you say you are and that you are qualified to do what you are about to do.

Six months of work sat in a folder in my hands at that table.

The man across from me — Round Canopy Parachuting Team, International — reviewed each page with the focused efficiency of someone who has done this many times and has zero patience for gaps. Around the hangar, other jumpers were going through the same process. The room had the particular tension of people who have traveled a very long way and are only now finding out if they’re getting on the plane.

We Were Prepared

Every document in order. Every certification current. Every signature where it needed to be. The folder closed. The nod came. Next.

I don’t think I exhaled properly until I was actually in the aircraft.

What It Taught Me

There’s a lesson in this that applies well beyond jumping out of planes: the work you do before the moment is the moment. The training, the paperwork, the prep — that’s not the preamble to the experience. That is the experience. The jump is the reward for everything that came before.

The men of the 82nd and 101st spent months training before they ever saw a C-47. They packed their own chutes. They checked each other’s equipment. They ran the drills. And when the door opened over Normandy at 0100 on June 6th, 1944, they were as ready as it was possible to be.

We followed a very small, very imperfect version of that path.

I was the only civilian on the manifest.

FAQ

What documents are required to jump in a French commemorative event? Typically: a current USPA (or equivalent) logbook with recent round canopy jumps, medical fitness certification, and event-specific waivers and declarations — all reviewed by French aviation authorities before the jump.

What is the Round Canopy Parachuting Team International? The organizing body for round canopy commemorative jumps — they coordinate the logistics, aircraft, and qualification standards for events like the Normandy D-Day jumps.

Author Bio

Miles Spencer is an entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of Reflekta.ai. His books include A Line in the Sand and Havana Famiglia.