Lifetime of Legacy and Leadership—Jay Stokes Earns the USPA Lifetime Achievement Award

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Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Above: Jay Stokes and his wife pose with his USPA Lifetime Achievement Award. Photo by Zachary Carroll.

For more than five decades—and over the span of 28,000 jumps, and counting—Willard “Jay” Stokes, D-6528, has been a driving force in the skydiving world—an athlete, mentor and leader whose passion has shaped the sport and inspired generations that followed. On October 11 at Skydive Elsinore in California, USPA honored that legacy when Western Regional Director Josh Hall and award nominator Scott Smith presented Stokes with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors extraordinary sportsmanship, skill and personal contribution to the sport.

If you skydive, you’ve likely heard of Stokes. His name is synonymous with excellence, endurance and a drive to test human limits. Stokes first made headlines in 1995 when he set a Guinness World Record for the Most Parachute Jumps In 24 Hours: 331. He went on to break his own record several times: with 384 in 1997, 476 in 1999 and once more in 2003 with 534 jumps in a single day. Then, in 2006, he shattered expectations entirely by completing 640 jumps in 24 hours over Greensburg, Indiana. The achievement was about more than numbers. With the help of friends and fellow skydivers, Stokes turned the record attempt into a fundraiser that generated more than $20,000 for charity. The donations supported the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college scholarships and financial assistance to families of fallen special operations personnel, and the Special Olympics, which empowers athletes with intellectual disabilities through year-round sports training and competition. Stokes did attempt to break the record again in 2014, aiming for 700 jumps in a day, but violent thunderstorms thwarted the effort after 292 skydives. Even so, the event was a success, raising thousands of dollars for the National Skydiving Museum, Peyton Manning’s Children’s Hospital, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Special Olympics. His 2006 record of 640 jumps in one day still stands nearly two decades later.

In 2016, Stokes helped set another record by participating in the largest night formation skydive: a 40-way over Skydive Arizona in Eloy. The following year he joined in and helped break that record with a 64-way night formation. This record has yet to be broken.

While those records are astonishing, Stokes’ greatest legacy lies in the generations of instructors he has trained and inspired. The coaches, instructors and examiners he has trained—more than 15,000 to date—have themselves trained students who continue to multiply his influence across drop zones worldwide. Stokes is an examiner in every method: coach, accelerated freefall, tandem (for every U.S.-made system), static line and instructor-assisted deployment. As he once said, “That’s my zenith, so to speak — the ability to work with other people at all levels, including that highest level.” He is also an FAA Master Rigger, Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner and private pilot. His mastery across disciplines is matched only by his devotion to improving instruction standards and safety. He played an instrumental role in developing USPA’s instructor training program and continues to advocate for education that builds not only technical skill but also sound judgment and leadership in the air and on the ground.

Stokes’ teaching philosophy was forged during his 24 years in the U.S. Army, where he served as a special forces soldier and warrant officer. He spent part of that time leading the Military Freefall School in Yuma, Arizona, where he trained some of the nation’s most elite jumpers and helped shape the Army’s tandem training team. That program has since introduced many public figures, including President George H.W. Bush, to the sky.

His innovations have also extended to accessibility. Stokes noted that people with disabilities often express interest in skydiving, their courage and sense of adventure is well known and inspiring. Whether they’re an amputee, have a spinal cord injury, suffer from multiple sclerosis or a number of other disabilities, the desire to skydive was there, but the industry wasn’t always ready to meet that desire. In response, Stokes designed a special-needs tandem harness that makes it accessible for a lot more people to experience skydiving safely.

Between 2007 and 2018, Stokes served on the USPA Board of Directors, including terms as president and chairman of the board. During his tenure he sat on the Safety & Training Committee, where he continued to share his wealth of knowledge and advocate for higher standards in instruction and operations. He was instrumental in advocating for continuing canopy education, which resulted in the B License Canopy Proficiency Card. In 2017, Stokes helped create virtual-reality malfunction videos for student training. For this project, Stokes would simulate an emergency, including horseshoe malfunctions and dual deployment scenarios, then enact the necessary emergency procedures.

Stokes also represents the sport by performing demonstration jumps as a member of Team Fastrax, bringing skydiving to public events nationwide.

Stokes was inducted into The International Skydiving Hall of Fame in 2018. This year, while accepting the USPA Lifetime Achievement Award with his wife by his side, Stokes said he was humbled and “happy to receive this at my skydiving home with my skydiving family. I appreciate the USPA Board of Directors for this honor.” He added that this was the second-best thing to happen this year—the best, he said, was his wife overcoming cancer.

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