United States Army Parachute Team

The United States Army Parachute Team, nicknamed and commonly known as the Golden Knights, is a demonstration and competition parachute team of the United States Army. It consists of demonstration and competition Parachutist teams, drawn from all branches of the Army. Members must demonstrate excellence in parachuting.

The Strategic Army Corps Sport Parachute Team (STRAC) was originally conceived by Brigadier General Joseph Stilwell. The first STRAC team consisted of 19 military parachutists. This unofficial unit competed successfully in parachute competitions, provided assistance to the military in the development of modern parachuting techniques and equipment, and provided support for Army public relations and recruiting. In 1959, the team was formally organized and later redesignated as the Army's official aerial demonstration unit on June 1, 1961.

The STRAC is part of the Army Marketing and Research Group, Accessions Support Brigade, headquartered at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. The parachute team is garrisoned at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and has several dedicated facilities in the area. These facilities include an aviation support facility, a team headquarters facility, and a dedicated team drop zone. The team itself is composed of about 95 men and women and divided into several smaller task-oriented subunits, also called teams or sections. The support elements include an aviation section, a headquarters section, a media-relations section, and a supply section. The administrative and support personnel make up about half of the unit's end strength, and provide invaluable logistical support for the demonstrators and competitors as they perform their duties in the US and abroad. The team's operational elements include two demonstration teams, a four-way relative work team, a style and accuracy team, a tandem section, and most recently, a canopy swoop team.

The two Golden Knight demonstration teams travel the United States(and occasionally overseas), performing for public audiences at venues ranging from relatively small civic events to nationally and internationally televised events (such as Monday Night Football games, NASCAR races, and large international airshows). The two, 12-member teams travel around 240 days per year, and use the team's two Fokker C-31A Troopship jump aircraft as their primary means of transportation, and sometimes the UV-18C Twin Otter Series 400 made by Viking.

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