'No one died, but I spent five days in the hospital with my abdominal muscles and organs bruised,' explained Barnes. His injuries were bad enough to warrant a medical evacuation from the drop zone. He wasn't alone more than 40 other Soldiers sustained serious injuries from that jump. 'He increased the airplane's speed and started climbing to gain altitude as the Soldiers were jumping.'īarnes' parachute collapsed 300 feet above the ground. 'The pilot came in too low for the jump,' said Barnes. Among all of them, though, was one he said he remembers most: the 56th. That first jump left a scar on the back of his neck, and a healthy dose of fear: 'I was a lot more hesitant on my second jump,' said Barnes.īarnes completed 57 training jumps during his next few years at Fort Bragg, N.C. When he tried to release the parachute canopy, it didn't deflate because his neck was still holding the suspension line. The suspension cord from the parachute had become wrapped around his neck. 'The jump was flawless, except for landing.' 'My first jump was adventurous,' said Barnes. The film not only helped to cement in Barnes' mind one career path, it also cemented one duty station: a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.Īfter completing initial entry training, Barnes went to the Army's jump school to learn how to jump from an airplane. 'After watching the film 'A Bridge Too Far,' I got hooked on the idea of being a paratrooper,' said Barnes. He credits a movie for steering him into what field he would eventually pursue. He wanted to learn all about being a Soldier, so he decided to give up his scholarship and enlist. When the Army then turned around and offered him a four-year Army Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship, Barnes turned it down. The board turned him down, but didn't turn off his desire to serve in the Army. 'I went through the process all the way to the final selection board.' 'While in high school, I began preparing to go to the United States Military Academy at West Point,' said Barnes.

It was during those high school years that he chose a different path from his father, setting his sights on the Army. When his family eventually settled in Ohio near Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Barnes attended Hillsboro High School, graduating in 1992. His father served in the Air Force and would regularly move the family from base to base around the world, including England, Arizona, Michigan and Travis Air Force Base, where Barnes was born.

Michael Barnes finds it much more interesting to jump from an airplane than to fly it.īorn near San Francisco as the middle of five children, Barnes grew up around airplanes.

Enlisted to officer air force