U.S. Navy SEAL killed during training exercises in El Salvador

SFGate.com ^ | August 28, 2002

[Black Powder]

A U.S. Navy SEAL commander died Tuesday when he fell while fast roping down from an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during training exercises in southern El Salvador.

Cmdr. Peter G. Oswald, head of the navy's Puerto Rico-based Special Warfare Unit Four, was killed during a training exercise outside Comalapa, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital, San Salvador, said a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command in Miami, Florida, responsible for U.S. military operations and training in South and Central America and the Caribbean.

[nevergore]

God Bless!
NeverGore

[Fred Mertz]

41 years young? Hmmmmmmmmm.

[Cindy]

May God bless Mr. Oswald's family.

[Chemnitz]

That's sad. The SEALs are awesome. This story is another reminder of what families go through to keep us safe from the likes of Bin Laden. I always think of the wives and kids at home waiting for the mission to be over, always worried.

God bless them all.

[dodger]

One imagines this is a cover story for operations in Iraq. Whatever the case may be, G*d bless this fine soldier & his loved ones.

[krb]

Well, here's his brother:

And here's the link...

I wish I could point to the guy, but I guess it's better that I cannot find our Seals on the web...

[hchutch]

Dear God...

Why did he have to die?

[88keys]

...the navy said officials had not determined why Oswald fell, but said a team of investigators had traveled to the accident site and had begun a full investigation...

This is very tragic, but things like this happen for no apparent reason...even "young" folks have heart attacks, for example (remember Jim Fixx?!)...if it happened solely because of this type of event, that would be at least some sort of extremely small consolation...

If there was a flaw in the planning, execution, or equipment used for this "training exercise", that would be truly horrible, and expect there to be consequences (rightly so)...

[krb]

Why did he have to die?

Sometimes, it's just the statistics...

[Travis McGee]

When fast roping you are hanging onto a fat hawser type braided ship's cable about 3" in diameter but very "knobby" from the braids.

The rope is attached to the rescue hoist and tossed out in a kit bag, it goes to the ground. The fast ropers are not attached to the rope, they just grab it with thick rappeling gloves on, get a grip, and slide down. To slow or stop, you just grip the rope harder. Your hands get hot, but it's not too bad.

If you hop out of the helo before you have a good grip, you are going straight to the ground. This is what happened to the newly arrived private on "Blackhawk Down".

41 year old Commanders (O-5, = Army LTCOL) in NAVSPECWAR are not "operators", they are not in platoons constantly training. They do a few dives and jumps and toss a few blocks of C-4 around every month just to maintain hazardous duty pay quals, but they are NOT operators.

I would be very interested in seeing the records on when this CDR last fast roped. Too much hoo-ya spirit and wanting to hang with the operators may have done him in. It's a shame, but it happens.

[Michael.SF.]

I would be very interested in seeing the records on when this CDR last fast roped. Too much hoo-ya spirit and wanting to hang with the operators may have done him in. It's a shame, but it happens.

Don't take this in any way that it is not intended, but F.Y.

The MAN died under circumstances that you know a little about, but obviously not enough.

Try and show a little respect and a little dignity for the family and for the man.

I have read some cold hearted comments, but to say that he was at fault, when he was risking his life to help us?

You sir are a sad son of a bitch. F.Y.

[Travis McGee]

Please tell us about your fast roping experience, and I will tell you about mine.

"FY" is not much of a comment, mainly it goes to your intelligence. I have known folks who died in CQB drills, parachuting, and diving mishaps. Usually somebody screwed up. Your saccarine nonqual tears won't disguise the reality.

[Steely Tom]

Listen, Travis, it was you who dirtied up this thread with a post that assumed facts not in evidence about a tragic event that happened far away. There was no information in your post, other than implied facts about yourself and your glorious experiences, none of which can be verified and which may be entirely bogus.

This thread is about a Seal Hero, not about you. You brought criticism upon yourself, IMO.

(steely)

[PatrioticAmerican]

When you become a SEAL, or any other operator, you can tell us all about how an O-5 is a fit operator and not someone who died perhaps doing something he was not slotted to do. Travis made the point that O-5's usually do not participate in such drills and, as such, may have been a victim of his own lack of recent experience. As far as F.Y., you can kiss Travis's SEAL butt, but that doesn't excuse your FY for making an real-life observation as Travis did.

[Michael.SF.]

My experience or lack there of is not the issue. Nor is the fact that the man may have participated in something that he was not fully prepared or ready for.

The point I made was that he was showing, as are you, a tremendous lack of respect for somebody who just died.

I was always under the impression that Seals, Rangers, Delta and all other special forces had more respect for their comrades then the two of you are showing. Apparently, I am mistaken.

My use of F.Y. was not reflective of my level of intelligence, but was reflective of the utter contempt I have for someone who could make the cold hearted statement that was made.

[Travis McGee]

So tell us about your fastroping experience you nonqual.

If anyone else has experience at it on this forum, let them jump right in.

If someone dies in the specops community on a fairly dangerous training evolution during a one week meet-and-greet dog-and-pony-show, (which is what the trip to ES was from the details given), and he's a 41 year old 0-5 and not an operator, I immediately wonder when the last time he grabbed a fast rope was. Sorry, that's called a "reality check".

The fact is, being a SEAL operator is a young man's game, 80% of operators are in their 20s, and 19.9% of the rest (the platoon chiefs and some E-6s) are in their early to mid 30s. Officers are only platoon operators through their 0-3 time (Navy LT) which is late 20s.

LCDRs and CDRs and above are staff officers, Ops bosses, team XOs, etc. They are NOT OPERATORS, and do not go through the massive ongoing training that the young studs on the platoons do.

Despite what that nonqual fatboy Tom Clancy might have written (made up entirely from a fertile imagination and zero % from experience or first hand knowledge) CDRs and LTCOLs do NOT run around the jungles with machineguns. "Reality check please".

So if one of these older staff officers goes on a one week dog and pony show and falls out of a Blackhawk, I'm very sorry it happened, but it makes me wonder when the last time he fastroped was.

(Notice that none of the active platoon OPERATORS fell.)

[Travis McGee]

Have you ever jumped out of any military aircraft of any type from any altitude?

Trust me, the type of comments I am making are being made by team OPERATORS as we speak. They will go to the funeral, but they will want to know what REALLY killed the CDR, because their a$$es are on the line if there was a gear failure or riging issue or pilot error or whatever. They have to fastrope all the time, day and night, through trees or onto moving boats with full gear. More than ANYONE the OPERATORS will want to find out EXACTLY why this (non-operator) 41 year old CDR died doing something they do all the time. If it was not his mistake, the problem could kill THEM next.

[Poohbah]

Travis--I have to agree with your summation. The young lads can come back from a knee injury or a dislocated shoulder--events that are NOT uncommon in Special Ops training--a lot easier than a 41-year-old. My work does put me in touch with NAVSPECWAR folks, and one Senior Chief described hitting your 35th birthday as Mother Nature's way of saying "Slow down, buddy."

Very sad that this officer didn't maturely face his readiness to do this sort of thing before trying it.

[toddst]

More than ANYONE the OPERATORS will want to find out EXACTLY why this (non-operator) 41 year old CDR died doing something they do all the time. If it was not his mistake, the problem could kill THEM next.

10-4. I have learned a great deal from this thread. Our thoughts and prayers to this CDR, has family and all SEALS involved.