Blake Hall
Meet Army Spc. Matthew Tattersall. And Willy MakeIt.
Tattersall is a paratrooper and infantryman assigned to 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
MakeIt is a civilian. A civilian Japanese fighting fish. He’s a pet.
However, on April 11 both jumped in celebration of Tattersall’s departure from the Army (his enlistment officially ends May 20).
“It was a daytime combat jump, but with me being so close to getting out, I didn’t have any gear, so it was a Hollywood jump for me,” Tattersall said shortly after the jump.
The photograph shown above was taken by the proud soldier in the midst of parachuting down to the ground below the C-17 from which he exited. It eventually went viral, and into the hands of U.S. Army officials who — as you might’ve guessed — didn’t think it as funny as Tattersall did.
So, as punishment, they made him write a 1,000-word essay about the importance of airborne safety and professionalism in the Army, and gave him a warning that if he broke any more regulations he’d be bumped down to E-3.
“It was a daytime combat jump, but with me being so close to getting out, I didn’t have any gear, so it was a Hollywood jump for me,” Tattersall said.
“The way I see it, if you do the crime, you’d better be willing to do the time,” Tattersall said. “They certainly, if they absolutely wanted to, the punishment could have been far worse, so I’m not upset about anything. I understand that there were going to be consequences for it.”
While he admits that he didn’t take the essay “very seriously”, Tattersall did disclose that the consequences of what he did were no laughing matter.
From now until May 9, the soldier will spend evenings and weekends doing everything from cleaning rooms to moving boxes and other military equipment.
Tattersall, has a deployment to Afghanistan in his record after joining the Army in 2011, and shipping off to basic training in January 2012.
UPDATE: According to Colorado’s 9 News, Tattersall was given 12 days extra duty before he can officially close out his time in uniform.
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