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JBSA News
NEWS | Sept. 23, 2015

Army Golden Knights to perform at JBSA air show

Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Public Affairs

Known for their precision jumping skills, the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team has been impressing audiences with their demonstrations at air shows for more than 50 years.

The public will have a chance to see the array of breathtaking aerial demonstrations the Golden Knights have performed around the world at the Joint Base San Antonio Air Show and Open House Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at JBSA-Randolph.

Twelve members of the Golden Knights Gold demonstration team will perform at the air show, said Sgt. 1st Class Shelby Bixler, a member of and spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.

Since they were started in 1959, the Golden Knights have performed in over 16,000 shows throughout the U.S. and the world, including 48 countries.

Traveling 275 days a year to air shows around the world, Bixler said the Golden Knights serve as goodwill ambassadors for the Army and are one of three Department of Defense sanctioned aerial demonstration teams, which include the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbird flight squadrons.

“We go out and interact with the American public,” Bixler said. “In many instances we are sometimes the first contact the American public has with a Soldier.”

Stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., the parachute unit consists of 89 soldiers and civilians in several sections including two demonstration teams, Black and Gold, a tandem team, a competition team and aviation detachment and headquarters detachment.

Bixler said the Golden Knights will perform demonstrations that include free-fall maneuvers and formations starting from 13,000 feet in the air. The parachutists jump out of a C-31A Friendship aircraft, with each parachutist releasing red smoke from two canisters attached to their left ankle and creating a bomb burst effect as they separate from each other.

“The first parachutist out of the aircraft will narrate the demonstration for the audience,” Bixler said. “Some of the parachutists will fly the American, POW and Texas flags underneath their parachute during the show.”

The demonstrations can involve speeds of hundreds of miles per hour, Bixler said.

“The combined closing speed of these jumpers is 300 miles per hour when they get within 50 to 100 feet of each other,” Bixler said.

At the end of the show, Bixler said members of the Golden Knights will be at the Army recruiting booth to sign autographs and allow the public to assist them in repacking their parachutes.

Members of the Golden Knights are active-duty Soldiers who are selected for the unit through an extensive selection process that includes several tryouts. The tryouts are held each year in the fall and include those that test a Soldier’s flying and parachute canopy skills.

To try out for a spot on the Golden Knights team, a Soldier must have completed 100 military or civilian free-fall parachute jumps and must be on active-duty status with the Army, said Bixler.

Bixler said most of the jumpers, including her, have deployed several times and perform various jobs in the Army.

A four-year member of the Golden Knights, Bixler has served in the Army for 14 years, including two deployments in Iraqi. Belonging to the Golden Knights gives her the chance to share her experiences about being on the parachute team and the Army, she said.

“It’s an honor,” Bixler said. “I love the opportunity to share my individual Army story with younger girls and women because they need to know that there are many opportunities available for women in the military, especially in the Army.”

Information about the U.S Army Golden Knights Parachute Team can be found at  http://armygk.armylive.dodlive.mil/.