Brent Johnson is a Board Member of the Wings of Blue Association and a former team member. While on the Wings of Blue, Brent was a demonstration team member, a member of the National Championship team and took 2nd place at Nationals as part of the demonstration 4-way relative work team.

A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (1991), Brent served as a U.S. Air Force officer from 1991-1996. While on active duty, Brent served as Deputy Director of Operations & Systems Integration at Peterson AFB, a Modeling & Simulation Analyst at Offutt AFB and a Test & Evaluation Analyst also at Offutt AFB.

In addition to his military credentials, Brent also holds an MBA from the University of Nebraska and a JD from the University of Colorado School of Law, where he served as the Managing Editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. Currently a practicing attorney, Brent’s emphasis is in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, entrepreneurial law and finance, and intellectual property.

In addition to spending more than a decade working as a corporate lawyer, Brent is now the co-owner and counsel of Grosh Guitars in Broomfield, Colorado. He is responsible for all legal, financial, operational, human resources, compliance, information technology and administrative aspects of the company.

Glenn Paluch may not have the traditional background commonly associated with the finest skydiving/parachute team in the world, but he does have what it takes to make a difference. Glenn serves the Wings of Blue Association as the only board member that was not a PTWOB, did not attend the Air Force Academy (it was Texas A&M) and was not a member of the U.S. Air Force. He has zero free-fall jumps and two tandem jumps (a long time ago). Born and raised an Air Force brat, the Paluch family currently supports ten cadets through the Academy’s Cadet Sponsor program.

With all of the recent budget constraints and military spending cuts, Glenn identified a need to support the Wings of Blue team, which runs the Air Force basic free-fall course, AM490. With help from Lt. Col. Matt Rytting and Cadet Ryan Fantasia, Glenn was able to create this 501(c)(3) to support its mission.

As co-founder and president of the Wings of Blue Association, he has been instrumental in establishing, developing and overseeing the day-to-day operations, management and overall direction of the Association.

In addition to his work for the Association, Glenn is president of Summit Mercantile, a sales, marketing and consulting organization serving the home furnishings industry in the retail, interior design and contract distribution channels.

In his free time, he serves as Pack Committee Chair for Cub Scout Pack 17 – a 52-year-old Pack with over 110 active boys and 38 adult volunteers – in Monument, CO.

Glenn and his wife Regan have two sons, Zach (9) and Henry (7).

A former Wings of Blue Cadet, Matt graduated the Academy in 1992 and went on to lead a Special Tactics Combat Control Team (CCT) specializing in parachute insertion into austere and non-permissive environments.  In 1996, he attended Air Force pilot training followed by two assignments in the F-15C (Okinawa and Anchorage) and an instructional tour teaching German Luftwaffe F-4 Phantom pilots.

Captivated by Alaska, Matt moved north to Fairbanks to lead a team establishing Advanced Programs capabilities at RED FLAG-Alaska, a realistic 10-day air combat training exercise. As a volunteer Civil Air Patrol squadron commander, he integrated CAP aircraft into RED FLAG scenarios, providing low and slow intercept targets to fighter aircrews. In 2009, Big Brothers Big Sisters honored him as a Fairbanks Big Brother of the Year.

Matt recently served as Director of Operations for the Wings of Blue and currently performs duties as an Air Force One Advance Agent.

Jim Hayhurst, director of the Wings of Blue Association, has a longstanding affiliation with the Air Force and its various training programs. In 1974, Jim graduated with honors, from the United States Air Force Academy, where he was named Captain of the Cadet Parachute Team as well as Outstanding Cadet in Parachuting. While working as an instructor pilot at the Columbus Air Force Base, Jim received the Gold and Silver medals in the World Parachuting Championships in Rome. He then went on to serve as an F-15 Eagle fighter pilot and flight leader at Holloman Air Force Base until he was honorably discharged in 1983. From 1985-2005, Jim worked as a pilot for various commercial airlines. Jim has 2,500 military USAF jet fighter/training flying hours and over 16,500 commercial flying hours under his belt.

During the last 30 years, he has been a member and competitor of the United States Parachuting Association (USPA), making over 10,200 jumps. He is a twenty-time USA competitor on the United States Parachuting Team, a World Champion and twice silver medalist at the FAI World Championships, and has earned multiple international titles including twice CISM World Parachuting Champion. He was the Overall U.S. Style & Accuracy Champion in 1977, 1988, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

After spending the last few years working with Performance Designs, Inc. to design/test jump/develop and market the first new competition accuracy canopy since 1994, Jim is serving as the 2011USPA’s Director of Competition.

Ryan C. Fantasia of San Diego, California is the Parachute Team Wings of Blue Cadet Advisor to the Board. A graduate of Poway High School in 2008, he was acting captain of the Men’s Swim team, and played Water Polo throughout his tenure. Upon entering the United States Air Force Academy on June 26, 2008 he has been a member of Cadet Squadrons’ 24 and 13. Throughout his time in the “Fightin’ Bulldawgs” of CS-13 he has been an avid mentor to Colorado Scouts and acted in multiple positions of leadership within the squadron including the fall 2011 Squadron Commander. He is currently majoring in Materials Chemistry, with an emphasis in energetic materials. He is also a member of the 98th FTS, USAF Parachute Team, Wings of Blue Demonstration Team, having acted in multiple air shows, and demonstrations throughout the United States. He has led over 500 future Air Force leaders to “stand in the door” and continues to teach as a USAF Academy Jumpmaster and instructor.