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/.