Soldiers from the U.S. Army Parachute Team compete, win gold at skydiving world championships

BEAUFORT, NC – Soldiers of the United States Army Parachute Team (USAPT), known as the Golden Knights, won gold at the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) International Skydiving Commission (ISC) World Skydiving Championships. The Soldiers competed as part of Team USA from Oct. 5-11 at Crystal Coast Skydiving in Beaufort. The competition includes multiple skydiving disciplines and began on Oct. 5 with the opening ceremony.

The biennial skydiving competition, held at a different location each session, hosts the world’s top skydiving teams in multiple disciplines of skydiving. The USAPT competed in the 8-way Formation Skydiving (FS) event along-side Golden Knights and civilian champions from Paraclete XP. Formation Skydiving is the skill of building formations or patterns while in freefall, recorded by an aerial videographer. A competition has up to 10 rounds, with each round comprising 5 or 6 formations drawn from a pre-determined international pool of random and block formations. The team has a certain number of seconds to repeat the sequence of formations continually in freefall. Each correctly completed formation scores one point. Judging is based on the videographer’s footage of each round. The winning team is the team that has collected the most points.

Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Stahler, a Soldier on the U.S. Army Parachute Team, competed as a member of Team USA 8-way.

“The World Meet is a culmination event: you have to qualify at the previous year’s U.S. Nationals. In 2023 skydiving nationals, we earned a gold to give us the nomination to represent as Team USA. It’s an honor to be wearing red, white, and blue and to see all of the competitors doing so well in their events.”

Stahler, who is serving in his 14th year on the Golden Knights, has been assigned to the competition section since 2012 and has amassed more than 7,800 skydives.

Team USA 8-Way competition team, named GKXP8, is comprised of a hybrid of Soldiers and civilian skydiving talent, include three active-duty Soldiers, three Golden Knight alumni, and four civilians. Members of the USAPT competing for Team USA 8-Way were Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Stahler, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Connors, and Sgt. 1st Class Mitchell Stockenberg (alternate) are all members of Team USA 8-Way and the USAPT.

This is the first world competition attendance for Connors.

“This has been a goal of mine for several years,” said Connors. “It is extremely rewarding to realize that dream with my team and see all of our hard work pay off. It has been an absolute honor being able to represent and win for the United States on the world stage, and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity as well as the mentorship from my teammates.”

Sgt. 1st Class (Ret.) Andrew Starr, a former member of the Golden Knights, was one of the veterans competing on Team USA 8-way.

“It’s been a very proud and rewarding experience to compete again alongside my former teammates, and to see the Golden Knights return to the pinnacle of formation skydiving on the world stage.”

Starr, who recently retired from active-duty military service, spent 17 years on the Golden Knights. He’s spent 14 years as a competitor and has amassed more than 11,000 skydives.

Since their formation in 1959, the USAPT competition teams have earned more than 130 medals in world level competitions and multiple world team titles. In 1961, the team adopted the nickname of the ‘Golden Knights’; Golden, signifying the gold medals the team had won; Knights, proving that they were world champions and had “conquered the skies.”

Lt. Col. Alan Wilson, commander of the U.S. Army Parachute Team, attended the skydiving event.

“This event provides a unique opportunity; not only is this team set to be world champions at this meet, earning gold, and helping keep the gold in the name ‘Golden Knights’, but it also helps us connect with our legacy.”

Wilson, the 31st commander of the unit, spoke on the unit’s legacy and mission.

“The Golden Knights were founded as a competition team and being able to continue that tradition of competing and winning (with both current and former members the team) really helps us to live that legacy every day.”

Team USA 8-way faced teams from countries as far away as Qatar, Germany, Brazil, and Great Britain.

Over the course of the jumping days, Team USA 8-way maintained a strong lead in all 10 rounds completed. Their overall score of 239 points bested the next closest team, Qatar, by 49 points. Two official records were set at the event, per the FAI. Team USA 8-way earned the 8-way Highest Average for ten rounds, with an average of 23.9 points per round. They also earned the 8-way Longest Sequence, with 37 formations completed. The previous record, set by the Golden Knights 8-way Team in 2015, was 33 formations completed.

Team USA 8-way was one of several teams representing the United States to earn championship titles. The team will receive their medals on 12 Oct.

Soldiers from USAPT will train for their next competition at the Windoor Wind Games, an indoor skydiving competition in 2025 in Empuriabrava, Spain from 30 Jan. through 1 Feb.

Starr had a final thought for his former team: “I couldn’t be more proud to be an alumni than I am today and I could not be more excited to see what the future holds for the Army Parachute Team and their competitive parachutists.”

Please visit the U.S. Army Parachute Team website at www.goarmy.com/events/golden-knights.html to see upcoming events in your area.