The USPA Board of Directors held its final meeting of the three-year term July 13-15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here are the meeting highlights:
- The board selected the following recipients for the USPA service awards:
- The Lifetime Achievement Award to Pat Thomas, USPA #273081.
- The Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to Greg Windmiller, USPA #110537; Mike Horan, USPA #4375; and jointly to Mary Bauer, USPA #25741, and Bob Stumm, USPA #1443.
- The USPA Regional Achievement Award to Kevin "Ratboy" Carver, USPA #100352; Stephen "Raff" Rafferty, USPA #62851; Brandon Radcliff, USPA #233146; and Marc DeTrano, USPA #119230.
- The board voted for USPA to donate $25,000 per year for the next six years to the International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame, making USPA the official Host Country Affiliate of the Museum.
- To align USPA requirements with those for Fédération Aéronautique Internationale certificates of proficiency, the board changed the requirements for the A, B and C licenses as follows (effective with the release of the 2019-2020 Skydiver’s Information Manual):
- A license requires 25 freefall jumps (instead of 25 jumps)
- B license requires 10 formation skydives or freefly jumps, at least five being 3-way or larger
- C license requires 50 formation skydives or freefly jumps, at least 10 being 4-way or larger
- The board is reviewing the requirements for earning and renewing the PRO Rating and is planning to implement changes to the rating next year.
- The board clarified the Basic Safety Requirements to recognize wind tunnel training as a way for AFF students to demonstrate freefall skills, allowing them to jump with only one AFF instructor on their first jumps.
- The biennial Instructor Examiner Standardization Meetings will be required for Coach Examiners in addition to AFF and Tandem IEs beginning in 2019, with five dates and locations planned.
Look for a complete report on this meeting in the September issue of Parachutist. Following this fall’s election, the board will hold the first meeting of the new term February 1-3 in Dallas, Texas, prior to the Parachute Industry Association Symposium.