Matthew Teetshorn, an engineer and former Green Beret, made his first skydive—a gift from his parents—in Las Vegas at age 18. Fifteen years later, he went through the AFF program at Jumptown in Orange, Massachusetts and has been jumping there ever since. On March 25, Teetshorn became the 40,000th USPA member to earn the D license, a little more than 52 years after Lew Sanborn earned D-1 on March 1, 1959. Randy Thurston earned D-10000 on April 1, 1983; President George H.W. Bush received honorary D-20000 on September 11, 1997; and Josh Schellenberg earned D-30000 on July 23, 2009.
Teetshorn recently earned his AFF rating and says that his favorite part of skydiving is helping students become proficient skydivers and watching them master the skills being taught. He’s currently going through the Tandem Instructor Rating Course at SkydiveRatings in Zephyrhills, which he’s particularly excited to complete because both of his parents have agreed to make a jump with him once he becomes a TI. Outside of skydiving, his hobbies include playing video games, watching movies and eating sushi as often as possible.