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GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Army uses skydiving as a recruiting tool at high schools
HARLINGEN — The jumpers strolled freely about the inside of the C-31A Fokker as it circled nearly 5,000 ft. above Harlingen High School, hatch doors wide-open and cold air blasting through the plane’s cabin. As one diver hit the siren near the jump doors, the loud buzz that blared through the cabin meant the show was on.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Reese Pendleton waited for the signal and seconds later jumped out into the open air, saluting as he started his quick descent toward the ground. Fast behind him were six other members of the United States Army Parachute Team — the Golden Knights.
High above Harlingen High School Tuesday morning, the Golden Knights dove into the air, flying through the sky with ease before parachuting into the school’s football field in a routine demonstration for local high school students.
The Golden Knights parachute team is one of three aerial demonstration teams authorized by the U.S. Department of Defense — alongside the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels. Tuesday’s team was one of five Golden Knights crews that conduct parachute demonstrations and tandem jumps all over the country, often at air shows and high schools.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Noah Watts, a jumper with the Golden Knights, explained that the team’s main goal is to act as Army representatives and to connect with civilians who see their jumps. The Army often uses the Knights as a recruiting tool at high schools, he said.
“Our primary job isn’t really skydiving — that’s really just a way for us to get to work” Watts remarked. “Anyone can be trained to skydive, but we use this as a way to bridge that gap between military and civilians.”
The Golden Knights draws its team from all branches of the military, holding an annual assessment program for service members wishing to join. Before winning a spot with the Knights, Watts — originally of St. Peters, Mo. — served as an infantryman with the U.S. Marines.
The team, Watts said, looks for service members who have logged a certain amount of jumps, have clean military records and who have good communication and public speaking skills, given the team’s near-constant contact with the public. “One of our main jobs is to show people the capability and opportunities of the Army,” Watts said.
Before joining on with the Golden Knights, Sgt. 1st Class John D. Berentis served as an Army airborne ranger.
Berentis, originally from Yuma, Ariz., previously filmed and photographed the Golden Knights’ free-falls before becoming team leader.
Berentis toured the team’s 25-year-old C-31A Fokker “Troopship” as it sat on the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport tarmac early Saturday morning — one of four aircraft used by the Golden Knights. Though the team was scheduled to perform Saturday, the jump was canceled due to heavy rain and high winds.
Walking through the hull of the aircraft, Berentis called the plane his team’s “home away from home.” The team’s luggage, jump gear and parachutes all stow away neatly in the plane’s cabin as the Golden Knights travel all over the country. “We’re completely self-contained, we travel all over the place like this,” Berentis said.
Berentis explained that under free-fall, divers plummet toward the ground in excess of 120 mph. Usually, the team jumps at around 12,000 feet, though Tuesday they jumped at an altitude around 5,000 feet due to high winds.
Demonstrating how the team lines up for their jumps, Berentis looked out the plane’s open hatch, saying, “This really is the ultimate jump platform, it’s like the plane came off the assembly line meant for what we do.”
The team lined up on the tarmac early Tuesday morning, each member suiting up into their flight gear and prepping their parachutes for the jump. Though each jumper packs his or her own main parachute, a parachute technician with the team packs and checks each reserve chute, Watts said.
Before boarding the plane, the team circled around Pendleton as he read a briefing and weather advisory from his iPhone. Watts and Berentis pulled out iPhones and mapped out exactly where on the high school’s field the team wanted to land, alerting the others to fences and high-tension power lines nearby.
“Stay safe and stay up wind guys,” Berentis yelled to his team, and soon the Golden Knights were up in the sky, the plane engines and wind roaring though the cabin.
Tuesday as the aircraft circled Harlingen overhead, Berentis and Pendleton crouched on the edge of the open hatch, thousands of feet above the ground, eyeing the target drop zone over Harlingen High School, high wind blowing back the skin on their faces.
“You’ve gotta step out hard when you leave the aircraft,” Berentis said. “You’ve gotta be real aggressive when you leave the plane, it’s a real rush,” he said.
Seconds after Pendleton jumped out the plane, he deployed his parachute and lit smoke flares that left a bright red trail as he circled toward the ground. After watching how he fell, the rest of the team lined up in the cabin, ready to make their jump.
One more siren rang, and soon the last six divers jumped one after the other out into the clear blue sky, quickly disappearing as they fell toward the ground.
