PERRIS, Calif. - The U.S. Army Parachute Team, "Golden Knights" brought home two gold medals, and numerous silver and bronze medals while competing at the 2005 National Skydiving Championships last week in Perris Valley, Calif.
The Knights hoped to win the gold in style, accuracy and four-way formation skydiving, enabling all of their competitors to travel to the Federation Aeronautique International games in Europe to represent the U.S. and the Army next fall.
The Knights will be sending their Style and Accuracy Team to the 29th FAI World Style and Accuracy Parachuting Championship next September in Stupino, Russia to compete on the world stage.
Knights win Style and Accuracy
"I didn't know we won when I landed, but people came up to me and were congratulating us," said Sgt. 1st Class Elisa Feldt, Style and Accuracy competitor.
"People said Angela (the next jumper to land) could get a .16 and we would still win. That's when I realized how far ahead we were," said Feldt, whose team ended up with a combined total score of .30 centimeters.
The goal in accuracy is to have the lowest score possible. The second-place team managed .55 centimeters.
"I'm certainly one of the biggest Golden Knight fans, and I'm always happy when one of our teams goes that far," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Vernon Miller, a former Knight who is now a piloting instructor at Fort Rucker, Al.
Alumni compete in 8-way open
Miller and his co-worker and former team member, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Carey Mills, also a flight instructor at Rucker, came out to Nationals in order to compete in 8-way open with the current Golden Knights.
"Its great to come back and be part of this organization," said Mills. "It was a rewarding and an awesome privilege," he said.
Most Knights, current and former, reached their goals and attained their dream of getting selected for the National team. However, the Knights formation freefall team missed their goal by just two points at the end of 11 rounds.
Formation freefall is an event where teams compete in groups of four, eight, 10 and 16; skydivers perform predetermined geometric formations in freefall in a predetermined amount of time. Each team has a freefall videogrpher recording the jump and that recording is passed off to judges upon landing.
Florida team goes neck to neck
In a neck-and-neck competition between the Golden Knight Formation Freefall Team and DeLand Fire, a team out of DeLand, Fla., the Knights lost by two points after being ahead by two points.
"Their improvement in the last 15 months, since the team was formed, is amazing," said Sergeant Major Michael Eitniear, team sergeant major.
Once the tapes were reviewed, the judges saw that DeLand's team had pulled even with the Knights at the end of round 10, tying the two and forcing an 11th-round jump-off.
There hasn't been a jump-off since 1998, according to Richard Schachner, a 4-way judge. The Knights had to turn more points than DeLand because a tie in the 11th round always goes to the underdog, meaning DeLand would win.
After the 11th, the tapes were reviewed and the Knights just couldn't do it. DeLand managed to keep their heads in the game long enough to turn 36 points against the Knights 34.
"It was meet stress," explains Sgt. 1st Class John Hoover, team leader for the formation freefall team. "DeLand Fire just provided a consistent platform."
"I'm sure the Army will always put together a great team," said Hoover about the future of the 4-way team.
Nationals top 11-year stint
Winning the gold medal in four-way and earning a slot on the national team meant more than just representing the Army and the nation to these guys. Hoover and Sgt.1st Class Brooks Weiner are already on orders to return to their Special Forces units.
After 11 years on the team, Hoover says he is ready.
"It's just been a really good run I've enjoyed myself for the last 11 years. As far as training goes no one is better than these five guys. I'd like to see them in the future be as good at competing as they are at training," said Hoover who is excited about moving on to his new job.
The formation freefall team may feel as if they let the command down, but the command sounded anything but disappointed.
`Never quit’ Warrior Ethos
"They did a great job displaying the Warrior Ethos, of 'never quit'. They could have easily quit after round ten because the odds were stacked against them. But they went out there and gave it all they had," said Sgt. Maj. Michael Eitniear.
"They should walk away with their heads held high. The command is real proud of them," said Eitniear.
Although the team is sad about not winning the gold, those at the meet were happy with the way things were going during the competition.
"Those last two rounds were pretty good rounds, with lots of emotion in the crowd," said Richard Schachner, 4-way judge.
"They were the two favored teams and they were neck and neck, which elicits lots of excitement. I took off my duties as a judge in order to go out and watch the live judging of the 11th round," said Schachner.
Schachner points out those closer competitions are good for the sport because it gives everyone something to get excited about and actually watch.
"I felt a little bad about the Knights losing because they trained hard," said Schachner, a DeLand Florida native. "They are equal teams-it's just that the final score is different."
8-way competition close
Once the 4-way competition was done, Tuesday afternoon, the Knights picked themselves up Wednesday morning, got back on the plane and gave Arizona Airspeed a run for their money in the 8-way competition.
The regular formation freefall team hooked up with some of their former team members to form the 8-way team.
"In 8-way we ended up with a very good average," said Hoover. "Last year the winning average was 16.8 ours this year was 19."
Airspeed and the knights were really the only teams close to the top. Airspeed won by a mere 9 points, putting the Knights at second with 191 points, while the third place team, Paraclete, ended with 126 points.
16-way bronze, 10-way goldt
At the 16-way competition the Knights kept up with winning spirit by brining home the bronze medal. Airspeed and a team out of Texas, Deguello, took first and second respectively.
In 10-way speed, the Knights not only won the gold, but they also set a new national record by completing their formation in the least recorded amount of time.
"I'm happy we won 10-way. It was my first 10-way gold," said Miller.
Although the exact future for the formation freefall team is uncertain, the Knights have a good future to look forward to with their Style and Accuracy team. The team is certain to spend the next year training hard in preparation for the FAI championship next year.
Team to practice ‘canopy piloting’
The team will also be incorporating some canopy piloting into their competition repertoire, according to Sgt. 1st Class Chris Moore, Style and Accuracy Team Leader.
In canopy piloting, athletes demonstrate their skill and precision in maneuvering parachutes very fast through a course laid out on the ground and over a pond. Competitors literally "swoop" toward the earth and pass trough the first course gates at speeds approaching 75 miles per hour.
Moore explained that by expanding their competition portfolio, the Style and Accuracy team will be able to reach out to more of the public and spread the Army message.
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