SAN ANTONIO – The elite parachute team for the United States Army made history at Fiesta 2021. They descended into Fiesta Fiesta on Thursday to honor all the first responders who have been working through the pandemic.
“I love making history, that’s what our job is, but I’ve never actually been to fiesta so I’m excited,” SCF Jesse Robbins, U.S. Army, said.
The Golden Knights have conducted more than 16,000 shows in 50 states and 48 countries and they have broken 348 world records.
“A lot of people think of sky diving as a rollercoaster, but that’s not actually what happens,” Robbins said “The aircraft is actually moving at 120 mph and terminal velocity for a normal skydiver is 120 mph.”
Many of these skydivers have logged anywhere from 1,200 to 3,000 jumps.
Here’s a bit of history from their website:
In 1959, nineteen Airborne Soldiers from various military units formed the Strategic Army Command Parachute Team (STRAC). Brigadier General Joseph Stilwell Jr. gathered the Soldiers with the intent of competing in the relatively new sport of skydiving, which at that time was dominated by the Soviet Union. That year, the U.S. Army team began representing the United States on the international competition circuit and performed their first demonstration in Danville, Virginia. Two years later, the Department of Defense announced that the STRAC team would become the United States Army Parachute Team.By 1962, the team earned the nickname the “Golden Knights”. “Golden” signified the gold medals the team had won while “Knights” alluded to the team’s ambition to conquer the skies.
With Fiesta taking a one-year break, this year meant doing something special to honor first responders and the military.
For more on the U.S. Army Golden Knights, click here.