Parachute team brings patriotism to VMI football game

Retired Army Master Sgt. Chris Malone and two other jumpers are 5,000 feet in the air. It’s a Saturday afternoon and the Keydets are getting ready to play their first football game of the season.  

Malone’s entrance to the game is far from ordinary. That’s because he is preparing to jump from a small plane into Foster Stadium.  

Is he nervous? No. He’s focused

“What we’re doing, we have to be focused on where we’re jumping in because if we miss our exit at the proper location right above the field or just in the area, then we’re not going to land where we are supposed to land and that kind of botches the whole situation,” he said.  

Malone, along with Retired Chief Warrant Officer Chris Wilkerson and Retired Sgt. 1st Class Roy Shaw, is part of the All Veterans Group (AVG), which performs parachute demonstrations, leads tandem parachute experiences, and assists with brand ambassador programs, sponsorships, and special events. AVG was started in 2011, by Mike Elliot, a former Golden Knight with the U.S. Army.  

Jumping into the stadium for home games has been happening at VMI for three seasons now with AVG. 

Malone said Elliot developed the team in 2009 to showcase and support veteran initiatives throughout the country. Now, the team has grown to more than 60 members.  

“It has become a place for people like me, and people who I used to work with, in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Black Daggers Parachute Team. And now that I’ve since retired, this has given me an outlet to be able to continue jumping in and showcasing what our military capabilities are,” he said. “For me personally, to be able to continue to go out and do really neat jumps like this, it’s just an awesome opportunity.” 

Those part of AVG are able to pick their jumps — or at least sign up on a roster for preferred jumps. They utilize either their own planes or reach out to friends or supporters to find aircraft to aid in jumps. This time, the plane was their own and they flew out of Roanoke.  

“For this event, specifically, it was kind of unique because we had three Black Daggers jumping into the event. Normally we have a Golden Knight, a Black Dagger, and a Silver Wing or something like that going to these different backgrounds.” 

What are the different types of parachute teams? 

The Army has a number of parachute and jumping teams including the Golden Knights, Black Daggers, and Silver Wings — all of which are highly skilled members.  

The Army Parachute team is known as the Golden Knights. They are made up of parachute teams, aircraft pilots, and jump logistics. The Golden Knights have several teams that compete, perform demonstrations, and also do base jumping and skydiving maneuvers.  

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command Parachute Demonstration Team — the Black Daggers — is made up of volunteers from the Army special operations community. The team is a group of highly-trained soldiers who are dropped behind enemy lines to disrupt the movement of enemy troops and supplies to the front lines by using parachutes to go undetected. They are able to jump with more than 100 pounds of additional equipment and withstand high winds, cold temperatures, and low oxygen levels.  

The U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence Command Exhibition Parachute Team are known as the Silver Wings. They are the official demonstration parachute team of Fort Benning, Georgia. This team is made up of U.S. Army Paratroopers and their mission is to perform live aerial demonstrations in support of the Army. 

Tradition and prestige 

Doing these jumps at VMI is something special — showcasing life after military service to cadets at a military college.  

“Being able to jump into the home opener and get everybody excited, but also show them the kind of a lineage of where people who have served past or at are now and where our capability is … it’s nice to be able to showcase those capabilities and show our future military members our capabilities are continuing to progress,” he said.  

Jumping out of an airplane — while displaying an American flag — is a form of patriotism that defines the mission of AVG. For some, life after military service can be uncertain. But, this group aims to empower service members and veterans, while boasting a spirit of Americanism.  

“It’s something that they can kind of look forward to in the military … whether that’s airborne training or air assault training. It’s all about pushing yourself to high-intensity situations and being able to stay calm, cool, and execute at a high level.” 
 
The act of parachuting serves as a form of entertainment for spectators, but for AVG members, its all skill. AVG members aren’t always doing this for fun – but to display the expertise they obtained in their military careers.  

He says a lot of people ask him if it’s scary to jump out of a plane, but for him, it’s exhilarating.  

“We’re very focused and we’re kind of having fun in the aircraft, kind of messing around and talking. But once we get to about two minutes out, that’s when the interfaces turn on,” he said.  

Before jumping, they return to the mindsets that they used in the military.  

“Everybody gives a high five to each other. And then as we look outside the aircraft to our landing location, our target, that’s really where that focus gets in. So we have nerves, but we’re not nervous. We just want to make sure that we’re doing everything we’re supposed to be doing — to make sure we’re on time and on target.”