MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- U.S. Air Force
Senior Airman Garrett Stevens, 6th Security Forces Squadron marine patrolman,
operates a jet ski in Tampa Bay, Florida, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida,
March. 7, 2022. Marine patrol Airmen utilize boats, jet skis, and all-terrain
vehicles to patrol and enforce all of MacDill’s coastal restricted area. (U.S.
Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Hiram Martinez)
By Mike Hudson
On a typical, nondescript summer morning, a fire department
water rescue team mulled through their morning preventative maintenance and
checklists for its personal watercraft (PWC), which includes confirmation of
hull integrity, including the insertion of the bilge’s hull plugs. After the
checklist was completed, the rookie on the team was ordered to wash and rinse
the inside and outside of the primary PWC, which requires the removal of the
bilge plugs. Later that day, the team was dispatched to a water rescue “job”
for multiple children caught in a rip current at a neighboring beach. Normally,
the unwritten rule is to check the plugs before launching the PWC, but the crew
deviated from that step and the craft was hastily launched into the four-foot
surf; soon after, the engine compartment flooded, rendering the craft
inoperable. Read More
K38 and Shawn Alladio-Lead Instructor conducting military
training working on our offshore echelon operations with a full load of
personnel in rough water.
Although there’s nothing official coming from either camps,
being the OEMs or any branch of the United States Armed Forces, we know that
the American military is 1) the most well-funded peace-keeping mechanism to
have ever existed on this spinning ball we call home and 2) is not against
using any form of technology that would provide them the best tactical upper
hand.
That being said, high speed insertion/extraction vehicles
have been in regular use for decades. According to a report on a special operations page, “One
example of these activities occurred during the early 80’s, when Maritime
Branch personnel trained Nicaraguan Contras to use of high speed boats for
attacks against Sandinista shipping. They also stood by to launch underwater
sabotage attacks against ships docked in Managua’s harbor. Another example
occurred in early 1991. This time Maritime Branch operators instructed US
military SOF in the use of modified jet skis for a possible hostage rescue
mission during Operation Desert Storm.”
Read more; The Watercraft Journal
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. WAVY- On Sunday down at the 1st Street Jetty at Rudee Inlet, crews fought back against fierce rip currents and 15-to-20 ...
