US Central Command Gives Major Update On Incident With Missing Navy SEALs

Daily Caller ^ | January 21, 2024 | HAILEY GOMEZ

[where's_the_Outrage?]

I would think they’d be classified MIA presumed dead.

[Alberta's Child]

I’ve assumed that they were casualties in Ukraine or some other place they aren’t supposed to be.

And, no — I’m not a conspiracy theory kind of guy.

[verum ago]

It was also WARM water so no chance of hypothermia and surely they would have a beacon on them so why the need to search 21,000 square miles.

I'm not so sure on the beacon part, but yeah- hypothermia isn't a danger in the Red Sea, even in the coldest winter. I figure this is why they waited 10 days to declare them dead- long enough to pass from dehydration.

What I also don't get is- even if no beacon- what about a simple light? A flashlight, weapon light, or life jacket strobe ought to stand out pretty darn go0d at night, especially to an airborne low-light optics system.

All that said, having been overboard myself in comparable seas- it can be hard enough just to keep your head above water and/or the water out of your windpipe if there's any wind (which there probably is).

[SaveFerris]

After COVID-19⁸⁴ and other stuff, it's hard to believe anything anymore

[Secret Agent Man]

I don’t either

[EEGator]

Thanks for the link.

[packagingguy]

What both of you point out is what people have been saying on Twitter.

Things such as having a flotation device, a rescue signal, etc.

Fishermen I used to know would have these in case of a man overboard.

[logi_cal869]

I know that I’m going to take heat for my comment, but it requires suspension of disbelief to accept that 2 SEALS ‘drowned’ due to a ‘swell’.

Either this is a lie, or this is evidence that SOCOM has dumbed down their SEAL training to the point of endangering operators in the field.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“I know that I’m going to take heat for my comment, but it requires suspension of disbelief to accept that 2 SEALS ‘drowned’ due to a ‘swell’.”

Perhaps in the new woke Navy it’s frowned upon to deny membership in the Seals just because someone is not a strong swimmer.

[The_Media_never_lie]

EPIRB Beacon

Does the Navy use these?

[Alas Babylon!]

Good lord, and watch your mouth. Nobody knows. I showed you a picture of the craft in question. More than two sailors on board.

The story is what it is. Speculate all you want, but don’t be nasty.

[The_Media_never_lie]

How could the Navy board at night and not have EPIRB beacons for its boarding parties?

[packagingguy]

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-1.7;37.2;4&l=swell&t=20240112/0000

This is a map of swell height of the waves. All day on January 11 swell height was less than two meters or about 5 1/2 feet.

So it doesn’t look like it was rough waters.

[verum ago]

I don't know. But if I were in a larger tactical group I probably wouldn't want that thing hanging off my gear or taking up space in my pack.

That said, what about just a damn flashlight or a weapon light or a strobe on a lifejacket? Especially with helicopters with low-light gear flying around... ever seen a flashlight through NVGs? It's not exactly subtle.

[EEGator]

You got uppity, condescending and used all caps.

[Cen-Tejas]

.......I was in Jeddah for two weeks in 1986. I remember looking down at the water from a dock extending several hundred feet out from the beach. The water had a green tint to it and was really clean. You could see the bottom.

I agree with you on the water down the windpipe but also these guys probably had a lot of equipment including guns and ammo and they could have been hurt.

[golux]

5.5 feet can be heavy as heck depending on other factors, but these are conditions that should not really be a surprise to trained, prepped operators on a critical mission. They would have known what was going on. Yes, there is always a huge WTF factor but in essence, I am not buying it. Fudging the mission is one thing but once two buddies of this level of training are in the water with the backup and equipment they have, or should have had, it’s not a brain surgery rescue. There is no way they would not have had MILSPEC EPIRBs, if that is the proper terminology, satellite communication, etc. It just seems insane. These are not poor, drunk, Mexican fishermen who go overboard in the Pacific 50 miles out: these are SEALS. Where was their backup... If any of this story is to be believed?

[Paul R.]

8- 12 ft. seas — it’d be very easy for the next wave to clonk one’s head into a boat and weighed down by gear...

Heck, every year around here (mid-south USA) we get a few drownings where someone hit their head AS they fell off a boat on a lake or river...

:-(

[EEGator]

I’m not a SEAL, but it seems like complete BS to me.
It’s too many things not making sense.