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If 21 years of military training taught Kevin Karambowich anything, it's how to read people. And that's a darned good skill to have when you're about to leap out of an airplane at 10,000 ft with a freaked-out stranger strapped to your chest.

It doesn't take much for a skydiving virgin to become a victim of sensory overload and completely space out as they plummet toward the ground at breakneck speed.

That's where Karambowich comes in.

When he retired his military fatigues last year and took on the job of tandem master at River's Edge Skydiving, near Innisfail, he became affectionately known as KK.

A veteran diver, and former Sky Hawk, KK knows his stuff.

He's the guy who puts newcomers to the sport in a state of mind to actually take the plunge - and enjoy it.

To do that, he needs to be able to get inside his students' heads.

As one of his first-time students, this reporter can unequivocally say KK is the man.

He knew what I was thinking before I did, offering a reassuring hand on my shoulder that said "don't worry, I've got you," when I wondered how strong the clamps were that held us together; and a joke when I needed to be distracted from the "what if I die today," thoughts that were running through my head.

He said first and foremost, when he's about to exit the plane, he's thinking "what is this person going to do to me when we leave this plane?"

So he has to be able to anticipate how they'll react.

"Once you're up in the airplane and that door opens, in your mind all hell breaks loose and you're like 'Oh my God, I'm actually jumping out of this airplane' and you can forget everything, it just wipes the slate clean."

That's why he has new divers do repeated dry-runs on the ground before taking to the air, so that even if their brains shut down, they can still operate on auto-pilot.

And he keeps it simple. Rather than having his students remember half a dozen steps, he uses one simple slogan - kick ass - which forces the body into a stable position by throwing the feet up and back, quite literally kicking KK from behind, and preventing both him and the student from spiraling out of control through the air.

If the student remembers just one step, this should be it.

The rest: checking the wrist altimeter every 1,000 ft and pulling at 6,000 ft, are secondary because these are things KK can take over if terminal velocity overwhelms the student too much.

It may seem simple enough with a bit of practice.

But ground training is one thing. When the plane actually leaves the ground and begins to climb, it's another thing altogether.

When we first took off, I was all smiles, but fear crept in and that excitement slowly turned into stomach-churning uneasiness, and finally to pure terror when the door flew open and I watched four other jumpers disappear into nothingness.

When that door opens, BAM, it's showtime.

Communication breaks down - literally - because the wind is so loud there's no point trying to be heard.

So this is it, no turning back. My life is in KK's hands as we take the plunge, somersaulting through the air.

Kick ass! That's number one.

And number two? Have fun.

Though I was tempted to close my eyes, I kept them open.

The free fall experience is a little different for everyone. It's 30 seconds at terminal velocity, which translates to roughly 120 mph, but for some people everything seems to happen quickly.

For me, it was a little slower.

And to my surprise, it didn't feel at all like I was falling. KK had told me this, but I didn't believe him until I had experienced it for myself.

It actually felt more like I was being pushed upward.

At 6,000 ft I pulled the cord and we soared through the beautiful blue sky and everything after that was smooth sailing, some fun dipping and diving and a slow descent to the ground.

All I could do upon landing was give the cliche response KK told me everybody gives, "Man, that was nothing like I thought it was going to be."

And it's always way better than anyone thinks it will be.

For me, the first jump was over, but for KK another first was just around the corner - back to square one, with another unpredictable stranger.

"That's the thing about being a tandem master, you have a new person strapped to your body every time," he said.

It's no easy challenge to read so many different people, but it's one KK says definitely has its rewards, especially when he's able to help someone who is really scared and doesn't want to jump overcome that fear.

"When I'm able to convince them to do the jump anyway and they have a great experience and they thank me forever for it, it's a pretty good feeling to be able to do that with people," he said.

Providing someone with that experience is a feeling KK said is hard to put into words.

"It's like trying to explain what free fall feels like," he said. "You can try to put it into words, but unless someone's actually done it, it's hard to say, but it's almost an emotional thing for me, although I control my emotions well."

He said feeding off the energy of other people is as big an adrenaline rush as the actual jump and there's nothing like sharing that with a first-timer.

"I really get enjoyment out of taking people up for their first skydive because people don't get to experience that unless someone takes them, so to be that person is a very big feeling of accomplishment, gratitude, all these things at once," he said. "It's incredible."

KK has been into extreme sports his entire life, having competed in rodeo, waterskiing, biathlons and more, but he said skydiving is probably the most exciting.

He calls it the best kept secret because so many people are afraid to try it, or want to try it, but continually put it off.

That's why Ross Arnfinson, owner of River's Edge, brought KK on board on day one-to use his experience to put people at ease with the experience and help entice more people to take up the sport.

"He gets to be a big fish in a little pond," said Arnfinson.

And he doesn't have to take orders from senior officers anymore, a definite bonus.

KK and Ross get asked constantly why anybody would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

"It makes me laugh every time I hear it, not because it's funny but because I can't understand why they wouldn't want to," he said.

But for these guys, it's more than just a thrill ride, it's a way of looking at life from a totally different perspective.

And it's an experience they promise you'll never forget.