MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- For some Marines, the path into the military followed their parents’ footsteps. For one Marine stationed here, he not only followed his mother’s footsteps into the service, he followed her into the service and out of a perfectly good airplane.

For Sgt. Adam Tippie, his interest in skydiving ignited in childhood after watching his mother jump with an Army airborne unit in Fort Bragg, N.C.

"He (Tippie) grew up on the dropzone, he always said as soon as he was old enough he was going to jump," explained Army Sgt. 1st Class Tammi Eldrich, Tippie's mother.

“I used to watch her get geared up, get on the plane and land safely with a smile on her face, only to pack up and go for another jump," said the 22-year-old flight equipment technician. “I knew if she was getting so much joy out of it, it had to be great."

Tippie decided to take his first jump in 2004, strapping himself to an instructor and taking the “leap of faith" out of an airplane and into the San Diego skies.

“My exact words were, ‘Man that was awesome, I want to do it again!’" said Tippie, remembering his first skydiving adventure. “It was something I wanted to do for a long time and after I started, there was no stopping!"

For Tippie, skydiving is one of his greatest joys. Though he doesn’t rate wearing military jump wings, he does tout a considerable amount of experience through civilian skydiving programs. He has completed more than 1,000 jumps, jumped at night, jumped from altitudes as high as 18,500 feet and jumped wearing a wing suit — a gliding jumpsuit with frabric membranes between the legs of the jumper and from the arms to the upper torso.

“I love skydiving because it is something you can never fully conquer,” said Tippie. “There is always something to learn. You can have 10,000 skydives and someone with less than a hundred can teach you something new from a different perspective. It’s also a huge adrenaline rush!”
Occasionally, the adrenaline rush comes with an extra jolt of fear. For Tippie, his first night jump stands out as his scariest skydiving experience.

“I had already jumped around 500 times and I was a little cocky before going up,” Tippie explained. “Then, the whole ride up I was thinking to myself, ‘Why am I jumping at night?’ It was cool though, because I could see downtown San Diego all the way to Tijuana all lit up.”

Tippie emphasized, not only is it the feeling of skydiving that draws him to the sport, but also the people he’s met through skydiving.

Before a seven-month deployment to Iwakuni, Japan in July 2006, all of his friends at his favorite drop-zone threw him a large formation jump.

It was his last jump before he returned and even though he went too low and fell under the formation, his friends made sure it was fun, explained Tippie.

For Tippie, skydiving is not just a hobby it is a big part of his life, so much so that he decided to seek professional coaching.

“Around my 150th jump or so, I was watching a lot of skydiving movies and realized it would be great to learn from the best, so I decided to get a coach,” said Tippie.

Wyat Drewes, Tippie’s coach for the last two years, took his leap of faith in 1995 and has since completed more than 8,300 jumps.  He has instructed thousands of free-fly and canopy students during the last 10 years.

“The most important skill to bring to the table when taking on a skydiving coach is a good set of ears,” Drewes said. “Adam (Tippie) is a great listener and very intuitive, and he asks a lot of questions, which puts him ahead of the norm.”

Although Tippie’s Marine Corps service will be ending this year, his jumping has only just begun.

After Tippie gets out of the Marine Corps, he plans on moving to Chula Vista so he can be close to his favorite drop-zone and become an instructor.

“I want to take people on tandem jumps and teach them the Accelerated Free-Fall Course,” said Tippie. “I enjoy watching and teaching others about something I am so passionate about. Whenever I see someone struggle and put so much effort into something they love, finally get it and smile; that’s an awesome feeling!”

Although not an instructor, his advice as an experienced jumper is still valuable.

For first-time skydivers, Tippie advises tandem jumping. The first jump should be as relaxing as possible. Not having to worry about pulling the parachute, falling in the arched position or landing helps take the stress out of that initial jump.

“Get coaching, learn as much as you can, teach your experiences to others and be humble or the sport will humble you,” said Tippie. “You’ll be glad you did.”

For more information on skydiving, visit ww.skydivesandiego.com.