Starflights

Starflights U.S. Navy Trampoline Team The United States Navy created a trampoline team called the Starflights which were stationed at NAS Pensacola.The team was active from 1955-1965. In 1955, fitness coach Joe Lowder organized a trampoline demonstration team composed of students at the Naval Air Basic Training Command on NAS Pensacola called the Starflights. The student volunteers that made the Starflights trained during their off-duty time on the golf course and later an old aviator hangar. They performed over 500 demonstrations across the United States and once in Greenland. In 1961, they had a busy schedule with 34 demonstrations in 31 cities over the course of 9 days. The team featured Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and, at one point, a Royal Candian Navy member. The team displayed the teamwork, leadership, physical fitness, coordination, and timing required to be a Naval Aviator. Coach Lowder said that their purpose was to leave the public with “a good feeling about the Navy.” Former Starflight, Richard Hurst 1964-1965, said that the team wanted to eliminate the stigma many people had toward military members because of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The team disbanded in 1965 when a Starflight member broke his neck during practice. Over the team’s ten years, they and their members won over 300 gymnastic awards. The Starflights performed at multiple bases, ceremonies, Pensacola Beach football games, and a World’s Fair. The team also performed on the national variety show, “The Hollywood Palace” in 1964.