At the July USPA Board meeting in Seattle, Washington, the Safety and Training Committee spent most of its meeting time discussing the instructional rating process. The results were multiple changes, some of which went into effect immediately and others of which will come into play at a later date.

Effective immediately, all examiner proficiency cards received at USPA Headquarters for processing will require vetting by the Safety and Training Committee before USPA issues the rating. When a candidate submits a card for processing, they will also now need to submit documentation of meeting the required number of total and student jumps, evaluation jumps and solo first-jump courses taught. 

Beginning with the release of the next Instructional Rating Manual, all examiner candidates must teach two full courses under the direct supervision of a supervising examiner, instead of the one course currently required. USPA recommends that the examiner candidate teach under two different supervising examiners whenever possible to gain exposure to different processes. Also, the minimum number of candidate evaluation jumps for a coach examiner applicant will increase from 15 to 25. Additionally, a digital download of the new IRM will be available from the USPA website when the hard copy is available for purchase.

With the release of the next Skydiver’s Information Manual, the Basic Safety Requirements will include the following addition: “USPA membership is required of any skydiver cleared for self-supervision at a USPA Group Member drop zone except for non-resident foreign nationals that are a member of their own national aeroclub.”

The Safety and Training Committee discussed whether tandem instructors could use the new Federal Aviation Administration BasicMed program in place of the FAA Third-Class Medical to receive their ratings. The committee felt that the program did not meet the requirements of the Third-Class Medical, so USPA would not allow its use for the USPA Tandem Instructor rating.

USPA plans to release the next version of the SIM and IRM by the end of the year. Be sure to stay on top of all the changes. To help make it easier to see the additions and deletions, USPA will make change documents available for download on the USPA website once the new manuals are available for purchase.

Jim Crouch | D-16979
USPA Director of Safety & Training