The Strategic Army Corps Sport Parachute Team (STRAC) was originally conceived by Brigadier General Joseph Stilwell.

At the end of their tenure, soldiers then either rotate back to U.S. Army line units or they may request to stay with the team for an additional period in one of several specialty positions.

For those wishing to become one of the few, the Golden Knights hold an annual tryout and selection program by which qualified U.S. Army men and women are invited to attend a grueling and mentally challenging 6-week course, while temporarily assigned to the team at Ft. Liberty.

When they are not jumping, these nascent Golden Knights learn the team's history, memorize over 13 pages of show narration verbatim, and receive public-affairs and public-speaking orientations.

At the culmination of this process, the remaining applicants who are not released from the program are "knighted" during an induction ceremony and are then put on a probationary status for a one-year period.

Those soldiers who successfully complete their probationary period are then officially deemed Golden Knights and then serve their remaining three seasons as full-fledged members of the team.

This program was designed to allow celebrities and VIPs the opportunity to experience the freefall with the Knights while in a safe, carefully controlled setting and to showcase the skills and qualities of U.S. Army soldiers to these special individuals.

The Golden Knights headquarters section consists of the team's leadership and administrative, operational planning, safety, and parachute maintenance personnel.

The U.S. Army pilots (with the exception of the Team 6 commander) are all chief warrant officers in the ranks of CW3 to CW4 and most have typically 4,000–5,000 flight hours in fixed-wing aircraft.

The enlisted personnel (with the exception of the operations NCO) are all UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crewchiefs in the ranks of SGT to SFC and most have 500–2,000 flight hours.

The Golden Knights use three Viking Air UV-18 Twin Otter Series 400s and two De Havilland Dash 8's designated C-147A as their jump planes.