On a beautiful cloudless day in Homestead, when most people would be enjoying bike-riding or visiting the beach, I was mentally preparing myself to jump out of a plane. What some consider the thrill of a lifetime and others would say is the paragon of fear was actually a proportionate mixture of both.
The opportunity to jump with the U.S. Army’s parachute team, the Golden Knights, was one I couldn’t pass up. During the team’s winter practices at Homestead Air Base, media representatives, members of other U.S. military organizations, teachers, and civic leaders are invited to experience tandem jumps.
I figured if I was going to jump out of a plane I wanted to make sure the person strapped to me was the best of the best. Within 45 minutes of shaking hands with the personable Jimmy H., my assigned Tandem Instructor, he very quickly transformed from new acquaintance to the man who held my life in his hands. I also had the pleasure of being paired with Richie S., a talented videographer, to capture my inevitable embarrassment on film for me to relive for years to come.
The act of falling is strange. Most people, myself included, have only experienced sensations of falling from a roller coaster. Skydiving is not even remotely similar to the visceral feeling of your stomach trying to crawl deeper into your diaphragm, the uncomfortable fear that accompanies the drops at Universal Studios. Falling from over 13,000 feet at 120 miles an hour is, for obvious reasons, unlike anything else I have experienced. I felt like I was floating.
However, two things did surprise me. I was not expecting the dive to be something akin to peaceful, nor did I consider that jumping into the sky (and more importantly, landing) is an incredible skill.
In the moments leading up to diving headlong into “blue skies” as the Golden Knights say, despite my jitters, I was constantly reassured not only verbally but in witnessing the precision and immense forethought that goes into every single jump. Jimmy, a former Military Police Officer, and Richie, a former Marine, were professionals. I felt safe.
Jimmy’s watch glistened in the sunlight and I made out the number: 4.6 altimeters.
“We’re not even halfway there,” said Richie, with two thumbs up and the videocamera mounted on his helmet. I could barely hear him over the engine and the roar of the wind parting as the plane, a Viking Twin Otter, cut through the sky. We rose higher until finally the time came to jump. The fall isn’t scary, it’s the countdown right before and the feeling of your feet leaving the aircraft. Everything after that feels like unimaginable freedom.
We fell while showcasing the gold and black colors of the Golden Knights, the gold which represents the team’s reputation for bringing home gold medals from competition and the “knights” alluding the team having conquered the skies. The team earned the title of the Army’s Goodwill Ambassadors to the world by proving their excellence and informing the public of the “call to duty” through shows.
The Golden Knights are a part of the Army Marketing and Research Group which, apart from participating in marketing and media outreach at events like air shows and festivals, are active duty that provide military support through the Strategic Outreach Program. Additionally the Golden Knights evaluate new parachuting equipment and techniques for improved operation and safety.
The next scheduled Florida event is taking place in Lakeland on April 4 - 6 for Acrofest 2016.
For more information on the Golden Knights, visit www.armygoldenknights.com.