Airman sets 17 Guinness World Records

Published Feb. 11, 2026
By Richard Blumenstein
DAF PAE C3BM Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Whirling flames as fast as possible inches from your face, while balancing on a moving board, may seem like a dubious past time, but for one Airman, it was just one achievement in a series of quirky broken world records.

Maj. Jonathan Buckingham has set 17 Guinness World Records and leads a nonprofit organization, “World Record Breakers Club,” whose members have collectively broken 27 records. Moreover, the Airman has three more records pending and continues to seek opportunities to break more.

Buckingham’s current records include:

Maj. Jonathan Buckingham poses in front of a wall of Guinness World Records he achieved here, Feb. 4, 2026. Buckingham has set 17 Guinness World Records and has three submissions pending review. Buckingham is a program manager with the Department of the Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management’s Kessel Run division. (Official Air Force Photo by Richard Blumenstein).

Fastest time to travel to all seven continents.
Fastest circumnavigation by scheduled flights, visiting six continents.
Fastest towed asphalt skiing.
Most fire knife spins on a balance board in one minute.
Fastest time to travel to all New York City ferry stations.
Most catches of a medicine ball wearing boxing gloves in one minute.
Most balloons burst with boxing gloves in one minute.
Most balloons burst with feet in one minute.
Fastest time to burst 200 balloons with a nail.
Most alternating tennis ball catches in the plank position in one minute.
Fastest time to put on 10 socks.
Fastest time to set up and topple 10 books.
Fastest time to set up and topple Guinness World Record books.
Fastest time to break open five pinatas.
Most museums visited in 24 hours.
Most basketball bounces on a balance board in one minute.
Most basketball bounces on a balance board in one minute with two balls.

“Some of them are pure athleticism, and others are completely skills based,” he said. “A cool one we did was fastest time to burst 200 balloons with a nail. That was interesting because we had to line up 100 rows of balloons, one on top of the other, and then run all the way down and pop them with a nail. The preparation time of blowing up 200 balloons took us about six hours.”

Maj. Jonathan Buckingham sets the Guinness World Record for most balloons burst with boxing gloves in one minute, her, July 12, 2025. Buckingham has set a total of 17 Guinness World Records and has three currently pending. Buckingham is a program manager for Kessel Run, a division that is part of the Department of the Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Command, Control, Communication and Battle Management. (Courtesy image).

Outside of his record breaking and philanthropic pursuits, the Honolulu native has an impressive Air Force career. He attended the Air Force Academy on a tennis scholarship from 2007 to 2011. He began his Air Force career as a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot and held that role from 2012 to 2017 before transitioning to acquisitions.

“I flew five deployments to Al Udeid and then one to Kandahar,” he said. “I’ve got over 120 combat missions, flying over in the Middle East.”

Today, he works as a program manager for the Kessel Run division, part of the Department of the Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management. KR delivers resilient command and control and targeting software capabilities that provide warfighters with decision advantage.

“It's a lot of communication between all the different stakeholders and customers,” he said. “We focus on getting the warfighters what they need as fast as we can get it to them.”

Capt. Adam Farah, left, throws a medicine ball to Maj. Jonathan Buckingham, to set the Guinness World Record for most catches of a medicine ball wearing boxing gloves in one minute, here Dec. 6, 2025. Buckingham has set a total of 17 Guinness World Records and has three currently pending. Buckingham is a program manager for Kessel Run, a division that is part of the Department of the Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Command, Control, Communication and Battle Management. Farah is a product manager with Kessel Run. (Courtesy image).

Some of the Airmen who serve with Buckingham have also broken records alongside him in support of his nonprofit. Buckingham’s nonprofit combines the spectacle of record-breaking with philanthropy, raising funds to provide sports equipment to underfunded youth programs.

“What he’s been doing is really, really cool,” said Capt. Adam Farah, a product manager with Kessel Run, who assisted Buckingham in the record for most catches of a medicine ball wearing boxing gloves in one minute, while deployed to Korea.

“It’s a very niche record. As the days go on, he's trying to break more records and his reasoning behind it is awesome.”

To date, the nonprofit has donated approximately $2,000 worth of equipment and books to organizations from New Haven, Conn., to South Africa.

"We're doing something fun and something cool with these world records," Buckingham said. "Hopefully, we garner some inspiration for the children, but then also raise funds to buy sports equipment."