December 20, 2024

#149: AIRBORNE - US Army Golden Knights Lieutenant Colonel Andy Moffit & Command Sergeant Major Adam Breeding (D-Day 80th Anniversary Series)

32 minutes

Airborne operations were an essential component of the Allied invasion. And since D-Day, the US Army has stood ready to drop airborne forces anywhere in the world at any time.

The US Army Golden Knights are America’s most proficient parachutists. Led at the time of this recording by Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel Andy Moffit and Command Sergeant Major Adam Breeding, the Golden Knights set the example for airborne insertion onto any drop zone.

LTC Moffit and CSM Breeding joined Fran Racioppi from atop the Normandy Resistance Monument in Saint Marie Dumont to discuss just what it means to be Airborne, both in 1944 and today. They shared what it takes to join the Golden Knights, how they maintain standards and why they are always competing for the perfect jump; especially when the eyes of the world are watching.

Check out our conversation from the birthplace of modern Special Forces and home to one of the largest airborne drops in history; then head over to our YouTube channel or your favorite podcast platform to catch all our coverage from the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.

Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media and make sure to tune into our first documentary, Unknown Heroes: Behind Enemy Lines at D-Day, the story of Operation Jedburgh available now only on YouTube.

HIGHLIGHTS

0:00 Introduction
2:12 Welcome to Normandy
5:03 Golden Knights’ mission
7:00 Why become a Golden Knight
9:05 What is a Golden Knight?
12:56 Building A Great Team
15:31 Maintaining a High Operational Tempo
17:14 Best part of being a Golden Knight
18:04 The meaning of Normandy
22:20 Future of the Golden Knights
27:29 Daily Foundations of Success

QUOTES

“Our mission is to connect America’s people to her Army.”
“I really had to check my ego at the door.”
“Culture is king. Culture is everything.”
“It really comes down to how teachable are you.”
“It’s that healthy level of fear though. That’s what keeps them focused.”
“We jump from thousands of feet. A good portion of the team is afraid of heights.”

The opinions presented on the The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are the opinions of our guests and creator and host Fran Racioppi. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Beret Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation assumes no liability for their accuracy; nor does Green Beret Foundation endorse any political candidate or any political party.

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By Fran Racioppi

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