Posted on 07/12/2006 7:12:14 PM PDT by PerConPat
USS KITTY HAWK, At Sea (NNS) -- The search for Airman Jason J. Doyle, a Sailor assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136, was concluded at midnight, July 11, after search efforts failed to locate him and exceeded any reasonable expectation that he would be found...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.navy.mil ...
And, yes....my husband and I are VERY proud of him.
Thanks :-)
Served on an AD many years ago. My first WESTPAC tour, some young ETSN jumped overboard just before Quarters. Circle around, lower the lifeboat and the Rescue Crew pulled him out after fighting em off. He spent the next few days in the brig and was the first one off the ship under SP escort when we moored in Sasebo.
A few days later, a shipmate & I were headed over to another ship to check on a job order. We heard someone yelling and looked over at the hospital. This guy's hollering, "I'm goin' home. See ya suckers!"
Other than OSCAR drills, this was the only incident in 3 1/2 years.
I've looked down to the sea from the flight deck of four aircraft carriers and it is about 60 feet give or take a few. Furthermore, if the ship is underway at a fairly decent rate of speed, the fall would be like hitting concrete.
To be on the flight deck, this airman should have been wearing a cranial (helmet) and a float-coat. A float-coat is like a life-preserver that self-inflates when it contacts salt water. It is equipped with a bright green die-pack that dissolves in the water and is impossible to miss during daylight. The float-coat is also equipped with a whistle and a strobe light. If he was wearing a float-coat, he would have been located instantly.
I hate to say this but there is a little thought in the back of my head that this might not have been an accident -that he might have removed his float-coat and jumped overboard. He wouldn't be the first person to do so. It happens all the time.
Yep! If you fall overboard during Night-Ops, you're done for. There isn't a chance in hell.
My first boat. I loved that boat. I have many, many fond memories of my days aboard good ol' CVN-73. I met my wife while deployed overseas on the "Gee-Dub."
It should be between 75 and 90 feet. Depending on where he went over, he could have been caught in the screws or one of the condenser intakes.
We had a guy do the very same thing. He even took off his boots! He did it right during the lunch hour so when they called "Man Overboard" a few thousand hungry people had to leave their trays full of food in the galley and go muster. The FSAs had a lot of food to throw away. By the time muster was complete, lunch was over.
Thanks for your service. I have an especially warm place in my heart for USN - I worked as a contractor and travelled around the world for the US Navy.
Go Navy!
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