Stay Golden

On Saturday, June 22, eight members of an Army parachute team relaxed in a plane hovering at an altitude of 11,500 feet, its door wide open to catch the freezing 120 mile per hour winds and offer a stomach-churning view of sprawling farmland below reduced to the size of postage stamps.

While prepping for their jump, they talked about "getting out" of the plane the way others would talk about getting out of a cab. But for them, it's just another day at the office.

The U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team performed at Fairchild Air Force Base's 2019 Skyfest on Saturday, June 22. This year marks the team's 60th anniversary since its inception in 1959, when 19 soldiers were recruited for the Strategic Army Corp Parachute team with the goal of competing against the Soviet Union in what was then a new sport - skydiving.

Three years later, the team was nicknamed "The Golden Knights," for its habit of bringing home gold medals from skydiving competitions. In the years since, the competition team has won more than 460 national championships and over 100 world championships.

Now, they travel all over the world competing, performing in parachute demonstrations and conducting tandem orientation to assist with Army recruitment and outreach. The Golden Knights provide technical expertise for military free-fall programs and have also broken about 350 world records, according to Air Force documents.

About 90 airmen are currently involved with the Golden Knights in various capacities, but it was the Black demonstration team that made an entrance at Skyfest.

Bridging the gap

Soldiers can't try out for the team until they have 100 free-fall jumps under their belts, but some members have more than 10,000 jumps worth of experience.

Sgt. 1st Class Ryan O'Rourke joined the team in October and has notched 1,025 free fall parachute jumps in his career.

He said he didn't love skydiving at first and it made him "a little bit scared," but once he started doing it he discovered his passion for it and its potential to make an amazing job. The primary function for the Golden Knights demonstration teams is to attend events like Skyfest.

"We want to show people that the Army consists of regular guys," O'Rourke said. "We bridge that gap between the Army and the American public."

Many team members took up skydiving recreationally before trying out for the team. Tryouts are an eight-week process during which contenders are tested for their physical wellness, emotional fortitude and teamwork skills.

Many people would never consider leaping out of a perfectly good airplane, but for the Golden Knights it's nearly routine.

Spend even a short time with the team, and you'll notice a common thread. The Knights all look different, come from diverse places and are of varying ages, but one thing is the same - the anticipatory grin that spreads across their faces just before they jump.

"There's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane," O'Rourke said. "The parachute was invented because airplanes fail - we just took that idea and made it into a sport."

Practice makes perfect

When asked if he feels his job is dangerous, O'Rourke's answer was confident and immediate.

"No."

In fact, O'Rourke said he finds public speaking scarier and has been working on the narration aspect of his job.

"On the Golden Knights, safety is paramount," he said. "In the days leading up to the show, we talk about what we're doing. Before we get on the plane we talk about it and when we're going up we're all thinking about it. We've rehearsed it."

Before the airplane ever takes off, the team performs what they call a "dirt dive," where they go through the motions of the coming maneuvers while on solid ground. There's a safety briefing, a practice announcement and a group huddle just before they board the aircraft.

And the spirit of the Golden Knights is perhaps embodied by the phrase they shout just before the huddle breaks.

"Out of the gold, into the black. Once you go gold, you never go back!"

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].