Water safety ... As summer approaches, area swimmer and boaters are reminded: our waterways are beautiful and inviting places, but never let down your guard against water-related accidents. See page B1 in today’s Gosport’s “Life” for “Swim season: make safety your priority.”
Vol. 77, No. 21
Swim safe reminder NASP PAO
With Memorial Day weekend upon us, base officials wish to remind personnel to exercise caution in all leisure activities, but especially around water. As per “NASP 5500.3J, 27 Nov 2012,” the Fishing and Swimming Policy, swimming onboard the base is authorized in designated areas only. In some areas, the base’s shoreline has a relatively steep slope, potential for strong currents, drop-offs, underwater obstructions and dangerous marine life. Authorized swimming areas are the guarded areas at Barrancas Beach and Blue Angel Park and the roped-off area at Ski Beach. Guarded beaches are only open when the lifeguards are present. Ski Beach has controlled
See Swim on page 2
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May 24, 2013
NASP responds to series of water-related emergencies By Janet Thomas Gosport Staff Writer
Christopher L. Hatch, assistant fire chief of Operations for Fire & Emergency Services Gulf Coast (F&ESGC) aboard NAS Pensacola, is hoping that recent events are not a sign of what this summer might be like. Between May 13 and May 19, F&ESGC personnel were involved in a series of water-related search and rescue operations that left three people dead and one missing.
“It was a busy two weeks,” Hatch said. “We only had one day when we were not out on the water.” Recent incidents include: • May 18-19: F&ESGC personnel, divers and boats responded to a mutual aid request from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office to assist in the search for an 8-year-old autistic boy from Louisiana who was missing on Perdido Key. Hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement agencies combed the area by
See F&ESGC on page 2
Ens. Jordan Riggs is pictured with Ronnie Shumaker’s fifth-grade class from Clarkdale Attendance Center. Riggs, a student pilot with Training Squadron 9 onboard NAS Meridian, served as a tour guide for the Starbase-Atlantis class. Riggs experienced the Starbase program 15 years ago at McConnell Air Force Base. Photo courtesy of NAS Meridian
Starbase alumnus, Navy pilot shares his experience By Penny Randall NAS Meridian PAO
NAVAL AIR STATION MERIDIAN, Miss. – It’s been 15 years since Jordan Riggs was a 10-year-old student at Starbase onboard McConnell Air Force Base, but once he stepped into the Starbase-Atlantis building onboard Naval Air Station Meridian, the memories came flooding back. Riggs, now an ensign in the U.S. Navy and a student pilot with Training Squadron 9, served as a tour guide for a class of Starbase-Atlantis students from Clarkdale Attendance Center recently. “As a kid, I was always fascinated by anything air and space (related), so Starbase was an easy sell for me,” Riggs said. “Among the experiences I remember are meeting active Air Force pilots, learn-
ing about Newton’s Laws of Motion, and touring a KC-135 tanker. “However, one moment I remember vividly happened when our class was given a chance to try out a desktop flight simulator. It was nothing special, just a PC and a joystick. As I was concentrating intently on trying to land the airplane smoothly, one of the teachers tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘You’ve got what it takes’ – that made me feel enormously prideful and confident in my abilities. In school, I was always the smallest kid with the biggest glasses, and was picked on a lot for it, but when the teacher said that to me, I felt 10 times cooler than all the cool kids.” NAS Meridian’s Starbase-Atlantis Director Pam Litton said this is the first
See Starbase on page 2
NAS Pensacola Honor Guard Sailors fire a volley during a Memorial Day observance. Gosport file photo
Memorial Day services scheduled By Janet Thomas Gosport Staff Writer
Memorial Day is a Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 27 in 2013), and it commemorates U.S. service members who died while in military service. Many Americans observe the holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A national moment of remembrance will takes place at 3 p.m. local time. Many people also observe the tradition of flying of the flag of the United States at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Formerly known as Decoration Day, the holiday was originally enacted to
honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War. After World War I, it was extended to honor Americans who have died in all wars. The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed to Memorial Day, and it was declared the official name by Federal law in 1967. The Uniform Holidays Bill, which was passed in by Congress in1968, moved Memorial Day from its traditional date of May 30 to the last Monday in May. Several local events are scheduled to observe the holiday: • The Pensacola Veterans Memorial
See Memorial Day on page 2
NMOTC’s CO throws first pitch at military appreciation Blue Wahoos game Story, photo by NMOTC PAO
The commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s premier training facility for operational medicine and aviation survival training threw the ceremonial first pitch during the Pensacola-based Blue Wahoos May 18 game. Navy Medicine Operational Training Center (NMOTC) Commanding Officer Capt. James Norton, threw out the first pitch in front of more than 4,000 fans at the Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, considered one of the premier facilities in minor league baseball. “Simply being on the
NMOTC Commanding Officer Capt. James Norton speaks with a Pensacola Blue Wahoos announcer prior to throwing out the ceremonial first pitch during the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball game May 18 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
field to represent the Navy – and Navy medicine – as a guest of the Blue Wahoos and the Greater Pensacola Chamber is an honor,” he said. “The city
of Pensacola and the Navy have a storied history and an absolutely incredible partnership,
See NMOTC on page 2
Published by Ballinger Publishing, a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Navy. Opinions contained herein are not official expressions of the Department of the Navy nor do the advertisements constitute Department of the Navy, NAS Pensacola or Ballinger Publishing’s endorsement of products or services advertised.