What Are The Most Important Qualities Of Being A Paratrooper

The soldiers of the United States Army are the best in the world and I was one of them for twenty years. During my time as a paratrooper in the Army, I received my gender role socialization and learned to become a “man”. Within the Army there are specialized types of units designed to accomplish different types of missions. Some of the most elite units are those that are made up of paratroopers that can perform special missions through airborne insertion. Becoming a paratrooper was one of the best things I accomplished in the Army. However, due to the mental and physical demands it is not for regular soldiers. Army paratroopers are the manliest soldiers due to their ability demonstrate the ability to act, toughness, and the lack of emotion to perform airborne operations.
In the airborne community, paratroopers consider themselves to be better and manlier than their regular soldier counterparts. It is an environment filled with Type A personalities where everyone is in competition to be the best. Due to the macho nature of the airborne environment, the last thing any paratrooper wants to be considered is gay. In order to get by you must make sure that you walk, talk, and act in a different way from the gay stereotype (Kimmel 467). This was very important because the word gay in this environment is the antonym
of tough. The only way to prove you are better and not gay is through demonstrating certain qualities.
One of the most important qualities that paratroopers must possess is the ability to act.
In the paratrooper community there is no room for questioning or second guessing. The task of jumping out of an airplane at 500-1200 feet at 136 knots is not a normal thing for humans to do. When the order to jump out of a plane is issued each paratrooper is part of a bigger plan so individual concerns are secondary to the mission. As sociologist Michael Kimmel stated in Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men one of the “Real Guy’s Top Ten List” items is to “Just do it”. While the ability to act is important there are other qualities a paratrooper must
possess.
Toughness is another key piece that makes a good paratrooper. Regular soldiers conduct physical training during the week for an hour. During which time they perform some calisthenics and run a couple of miles. Paratroopers conduct physical training for at least an hour and a half during the week. Paratrooper physical training initially consists of pull-ups then progresses into intense muscular training followed by at least a four mile run. Performing this level of physical training takes a toll on knees, backs, and shoulders just to name a few body parts that become sore. In order to continue on you have to do as some say and “Take it like a man” (Kimmel 462). Anyone that cannot maintain the pace of the group during a run or has a slight injury is considered weak thus making them less than the others.
Thirdly, the lack of emotion to not cry when someone gets hurt or killed is important. The mission does not stop for one person. In order to prove manliness paratroopers must use another example from the “Real Guy’s Top Ten List”, items that “Boys don’t cry” (Kimmel 462). Even though paratroopers are men and not boys crying is not acceptable behavior.
Nothing impacted my gender socialization as deeply as becoming a paratrooper. This environment unlike others, was brutally macho and unforgiving for anyone who did not conform. Army paratroopers are the manliest soldiers due to their ability demonstrate the ability to act, toughness, and the lack of emotion to perform airborne operations.