'Dusty Dogs' perform another rescue at sea

The second rescue mission occurred Feb. 22 after a five-day port call in the Arabian Gulf. As the Dusty Dogs started their day conducting a joint exercise with the 1F4 Platoon from the U.S. Marine Corps Security Force Company Bahrain, a distress call was intercepted and HS-7 personnel were tasked to investigate.

The Dusty team unloaded the Marines and seamlessly refitted their HH60-H helicopter to prepare for the upcoming rescue. Dusty 617 piloted by Cmdr. Kevin Lenox and copiloted by Lt. j.g. Jonathan Dorsey, headed towards the distressed vessel about 50 nautical miles away. The crew chief was AW1 Shad Hernandez and the rescue swimmer was AW2 Brenton Graham. The ship assembled a medical team consisting of Flight Surgeon Lt. April Matiasek and two corpsmen, HM1 AnnMarie Lawrence and HM1 Francis Nielsen to assess the distraught crew of the vessel and aid with any medical needs.

Dusty 617 quickly arrived on scene and began to access the situation. Also on scene was USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2), a supply ship. The aircrew determined that they would have to first drop off the medical team on the Sacagawea and then bring the rescued crewmembers back to the Sacagawea for medical examinations.

While waiting for flight quarters to be manned on the Sacagawea, Dusty 617 flew by the distressed vessel, Nadi, several times to determine the best course of action for rescuing the crew since the helicopter would not be able to land on the ship. The Nadi was a small 200-foot merchant vessel sailing under a Kuwaiti flag. Its super structure was situated on the aft part of the ship.

The ship has two masts, one positioned a third of the way from the bow and the other a third from the stern of the ship. Each mast had a thick wire connected to bow and stern respectively, but no wire between them. Nadi, which had 10 crewmembers, had been dead in the water for about a week, but they were still able to produce electrical power through their diesel generators on board.

After several days of being at the mercy of the seas, their ship started to take on water. They had full operation of their bilge pumps, but the ship was taking on water at a faster rate than they were able to expel. The captain determined the ship could not be saved and made a plea for assistance from any ship or aircraft within range. Dusty 617 answered the call.

As soon as flight quarters were manned on the Sacagawea, Dorsey made the approach to land and drop off the medical team. The medical team headed inside and made preparations for the survivors.