On a good day, the task from this point is simple: watch how the markers fall and adjust to give the guys a better chance of hitting the target. Unfortunately, today is not turning out to be so cut-and-dry. The Knights stand and huddle to talk about the release. They don't seem to notice the doors are wide open revealing the sky and the ground rushing past far below. To them this is their office, and today is just another day at work.
The Knights have several discussions about the weather while we circle the campus. Photo by: Joshua Nypaver
The results of the drop don't look promising. Ground level gusts are higher than they would like, and for safety reasons, the Knights cancel if wind speed is above 19 knots. But you can see it in their faces, they want to jump. They clearly hate going to the trouble to get suited up and ready and not being able to deliver.
To these guys this is routine. Golden Knights are regular Army soldiers, albeit, the kind that love to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. They serve as ambassadors of the Army. Some have served deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and after their time in the Knights some will undoubtedly return.
SFC JD Berentis explains the training the soldiers go through to become Golden Knights. Click for video.
They serve tours on one of two teams: the Gold Team and Black Team. The Gold team is the one prepped and ready to drift down into the stadium to hit a small target on the JCSU campus today.
When asked what the difference between the two teams is they say there is no difference. The teams work in tandem so they can cover more shows and be in more places.
"The non-political answer though?" jokes Watts. "We're better-looking and we hit the target more often."
Being on-target is a big deal with these guys. Everything is a competition. Not just between the Black and Gold Teams, but within teams. When the guys jump, the object is to hit the target. Zero points are scored for a bulls-eye and they gain more points further out. A fall gets you the max -- five points. Every jump is graded, so they strive for accuracy every time.
Sergeant Steven Robertson stands by the cargo door while we wait to see if conditions will be right for a jump. Photo by: Joshua Nypaver
Two team members pull out cellphones. So far, nothing about this flight has been what one expects from a flight: the doors are open, media are free to run cameras and recording devices, and apparently you can take phone calls. I ask one of the guys if they were expecting a call on the way down and he says this is how they communicate with the ground crew about wind-speed and weather conditions at the landing site.