FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Sept. 1, 2015) ̶ For some, skydiving is crazy. Who wants to jump out of a perfectly good airplane? For others, like Lt. Col. Frank Hoelzner, it is fun and another way of seeing the United States.

"You have time to see how wide this country is," he said. "You really get an impression (of) how different the landscape looks like from mega-cities to absolutely remote areas. In the USA you can see any kind of terrain in one country. "

Hoelzner, of the German Bundeswehr (armed forces), is stationed at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command as the Special Operation Forces foreign liaison officer. He has made more than a 100 jumps in the U.S.

Three of those jumps resulted in world records. In 2008, he jumped with a group that set the World Record for Big Formation (156 people) in Eloy, Arizona. In 2014, he helped set the World Record Big Formation (214 people - breaking the aforementioned record). He was part of the World Record in Sequential Skydiving (122 skydivers from 18 nations in two formations) in March, 2015, in Zephyr Hills, Florida.

Along with the accolades, Hoelzner uses the sport to meet people outside of the traditional military community.

"Speaking to civilians and military was much easier due to the interesting and exciting story I was able to tell," he said. "Thinking about the world record in Zephyr Hills, how (else) can you meet 122 people from 18 different nations for one week and doing something together, which is special?"

The formation and sequential jumps are a favorite of Hoelzner as the sport gives him a sense of comradery with fellow jumpers.

"(You get) an extreme positive feeling (of) what human beings are able to reach as a team," he said. "When you get the chance to join those special jumps it is a phenomenal experience flying with other people in the air. When a jump with so many people is working out well, it feels like having no tension on the grips. It is not about the records, it is the challenge trying to do it and it's all about being a team member and a part of a great team."

Hoelzner is not the only German officer in the sky. Lt. Col. Wolfgang Beyer, a fellow Bundeswehr foreign liaison offer stationed with the Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida, has joined him in many of his jumps both in the U.S. and Europe. Beyer and Hoelzner participated in a jump in Klatovy, Czech Republic, in August, 2015, where the German Sequential World Record (71 skydivers with four formations in one jump) was broken.

Hoelzner said that both USASOC and SOCOM have supported both him and Beyer in their skydiving. The commands allowed them to take time off from their work to train and go to events. The German Armed Forces Command in Reston, Virginia, recognized their records with a Tagesbefehl ̶ an official announcement of special success.

"Behind every record stands a great team like the staff from USASOC," Hoelzner said. "We received certificates of appreciation for our accomplishments. We received personal letters from Maj. Gen. Werner Weisenburger, head of the German Armed Forces Office, congratulating us for the accomplishment."

Hoelzner is proud of his storied military career and what his service has offered him throughout his life, but he holds his hobby as a part of him that keeps him grounded

"When you have learned to move in the air, there is nothing (that) can give you so much fun," he said. "Beside my mission as a soldier, skydiving was, and still is, the second part of my life."