I was poking around in the study today looking for a dictionary when I came across one of those government endorsed publications chronicling the inception and development of National Service and found myself chuckling at the story of the scared shitless recruit who, when informed by his training officer that "when throw must shout grenade loud loud", hurled his menancing cargo and hollered "GRENADE LOUD LOUD!!!"
I have to say if there's anything I miss about the army, and there's not much of that, it has to be jumping. The waiting for the light to turn green, the jumpmaster's tap, the rush of gravity and the jerk that means your canopy's deployed. The clear, plain and totally undisputed logic of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Airborne! Excuse us but we'd rather not be there for the landing bit.
I have to do that again before I die.