[navy] Digest (03/16/2002 18:01) (#2002-11)
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(#2002-11) - Topics This Issue:
1) Today's NavNews (March 16, 2002)
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Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 12:15:52 -0800
Subject: Today's NavNews (March 16, 2002)
NAVAL MEDIA CENTER NavNews by e-mail:
NavNews (NNS) is the official newsletter of the U.S. Navy,
containing stories recently posted to the Navy NewsStand Web
site at http://www.news.navy.mil. It is a product of the Naval
Media Center, 2713 Mitscher Rd. SW, Anacostia Annex, D.C.,
20373-5819. Reprints should be credited to the Navy News
Service (NNS).
You are encouraged to submit stories via the Navy NewsStand
"submit story" page at http://www.news.navy.mil/submit, or you
may still send stories via mailto:pu...@mediacen.navy.mil.
For further information about NavNews by e-mail or the Navy
NewsStand, contact the NavNews editor, Mr. Jerome Mapp --
mailto:ma...@mediacen.navy.mil, DSN 288-4195, (202)
433-4195; or the deputy chief of publishing, Lt. Brook DeWalt
-- mailto:dew...@mediacen.navy.mil, DSN 288-4380, (202)
433-4380.
For all other Navy information-related questions, call the Navy
News Desk at (703) 697-5342.
For the latest in Navy News, visit the Navy NewsStand at
http://www.news.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-11. U.S. Naval Officer Reported Missing
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1077
NNS020315-10. Crew of Lost Helicopter Declared Deceased
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1078
NNS020315-08. NSWC Indian Head Production Efforts Assist
Air Force; Keep Enduring Freedom Planes in the Fight
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1054
NNS020315-09. Rota Medical Staff Trains to Support Shuttle Missions
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1071
NNS020315-06. Chief Petty Officers Launch Book Club
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1066
NNS020315-05. New Great Lakes Student Barracks Honors Sailors of USS Cole
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1076
NNS020315-04. Jacksonville Unit Awarded Best Reserve Communications Unit in Nation
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1061
NNS020315-03. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Safety visits CNET
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1070
NNS020315-01. Beaufort Holds Memorial for Corpsman Killed in Crash
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1073
NNS020315-07. FEATURE: With a Little Help From Friends -- Little-Known Surgery Saves Officer's Life
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1069
NNS020315-02. Daily News Update for March 15, 2002
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1080
NNS011215-17. This Day in Naval History - March 16
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=397
NNS011215-18. This Day in Naval History - March 17
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=398
NNS011215-19. This Day in Naval History - March 18
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=399
Eye on the Fleet - U.S. Navy Photo of The Day
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/list_single.asp?id=1035
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NNS020315-11. U.S. Naval Officer Reported Missing
From 6th Fleet Public Affairs
GAETA, Italy (NNS) -- A U.S. Navy officer temporarily
assigned aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) is
reported missing.
After being listed as missing from a ship-wide muster March 8,
Roosevelt, which is transiting the Mediterranean Sea on its way
back to Naval Station Norfolk after being relieved by USS John
F. Kennedy (CV 67), lead search-and-rescue efforts that
included two helicopters from the carrier's Helicopter Squadron
11 and one helicopter from Helicopter Squadron Light 42
embarked aboard USS Vella Gulf (CG 72). Twenty-four hours
later, the search was terminated without success.
On the morning of March 13, the Egyptian navy reported finding
a body in the water near Port Sayeed Lighthouse that had
identification matching the missing officer. The Navy is
dispatching an official to Port Sayeed where the body is being
kept.
The officer, temporarily assigned in Theodore Roosevelt, was a
crew member aboard Vella Gulf homeported in Norfolk, Va.
The name of the officer is being withheld pending notification of
next of kin.
For information on the 6th Fleet, go http://www.c6f.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-10. Crew of Lost Helicopter Declared Deceased
From 6th Fleet Public Affairs
GAETA, Italy (NNS) -- All three crew members of the
helicopter that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea March 12
have been declared deceased.
The crew members, who were attached to Helicopter Squadron
Light (HSL) 46, home ported in Mayport, Fla., were identified
as Lt. Terri Sue Fussner, 27, of Manchester, Mo.; Lt. Wayne
Francis Roberts, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Aviation Warfare
Systems Operator 2nd Class Jason Edward Lawson, 21, of
Smyrna, Ga.
Embarked aboard USS Hayler (DD 997), the SH-60B
Seahawk was conducting a routine flight when it crashed. Hayler
initiated search-and-rescue efforts immediately after losing radar
contact and communications with the helicopter, which continued
throughout the night before being called off the afternoon of
March 13.
The search, which included Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB)
from both Hayler and USS Ross (DDG 71) and was joined by a
P-3 Orion from Patrol Squadron 10, a nearby British C-130 and
another C-130 from Greece covered an area of 1,000 square
miles.
The Navy is conducting an investigation into the cause of the
accident.
For information on the 6th Fleet, go to http://www.c6f.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-08. NSWC Indian Head Production Efforts Assist
Air Force; Keep Enduring Freedom Planes in the Fight
By Chief Journalist David Nagle, Naval Sea Systems Command
Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- In the event of an aircraft mishap,
pilots must rely on ejection seats to get them safely out of harm's
way. Without them, a plane can be grounded. When the
operational tempo over the skies of Afghanistan increased in
October 2001 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,
having fully mission-capable planes became much more critical.
Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head, Md.,
recently tripled production of a critical component of ejection
seats, a rocket catapult, to keep planes in the air after
discovering a defect that would have grounded the aircraft.
NSWC Indian Head produces the CKU-5B/A rocket catapult,
an essential part of ejection seats for nearly all Air Force combat
aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-117A
Nighthawk, B-1B Lancer, B-2 Spirit and A-10 Thunderbolt.
The Air Force had an urgent need for the rocket catapults, and
NSWC Indian Head was able to deliver in a timely fashion.
When a pilot pulls the ejection handle, a cartridge-actuated
device fires, beginning the ejection sequence. The canopy is
removed and the CKU-5B/A rocket catapult fires. Telescoping
tubes extend to lift the seat out of the cockpit, followed by a
rocket motor propelling the seat and the pilot high enough to
deploy the parachute and land. The CKU-5B/A produces up to
7,000 pounds of thrust and its two phases are completed in
about a second.
NSWC Indian Head engineers discovered that the properties of
the commercially supplied polymer used in the CKU-5B/A
propellant underwent subtle changes that affected the
propellant's ability to withstand temperature fluctuations. This, in
turn, would have affected the rocket motor and would have
caused spinal injuries if a pilot had to eject.
Over the last six months, NSWC Indian Head made changes to
the propellant formula and then increased its production, test and
acceptance efforts to deliver more than 1,350 CKU-5B/A
rocket catapults to the Air Force.
NSWC Indian Head's efforts support the war on terrorism by
keeping Enduring Freedom planes in the air and in the fight.
NSWC Indian Head is part of the Naval Sea Systems
Command corporate team, whose mission is "Keeping
America's Navy #1 in the World," by providing the Navy
operationally superior and affordable ships, systems and
ordnance throughout their life cycle, for today, tomorrow and the
Navy after next. Also, as exampled here, NSWC provides
assistance as needed throughout the Department of Defense.
For more information on NSWC Indian Head, go to
http://www.ih.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-09. Rota Medical Staff Trains to Support Shuttle
Missions
By Kathy Henry, Naval Station Rota Public Affairs
ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- April 4 will be a busy day for some
members of the Space Shuttle Medical Support Team at U.S.
Naval Hospital, Rota; that's when NASA (National Aeronautics
and Space Administration) is planning to launch the space shuttle
Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center for an 11-day mission to
the International Space Station (ISS).
Should astronauts run into trouble immediately after take-off and
need to execute an emergency landing, they will land at Moron
Air Base, a joint U.S. and Spanish base southeast of Seville that
also serves as a transoceanic abort landing site (TAL). Naval
Hospital Rota staff and medical technicians from Moron will be
standing by to provide any immediate medical care needed.
To prepare for such a responsibility, the medical support team
receives annual training from the Space Operations Medical
Support Training Team, comprised of representatives from the
Department of Defense, NASA and organizations contracted to
NASA. This year's training, for more than 60 physicians, nurses,
medical regulators and emergency medical technicians, was held
March 5-8 at the Rota hospital.
"The training consists of some general orientations about the
cooperative relationship between the Department of Defense and
NASA," said Air Force Col. Sandy Zelnick, head of the DoD
Manned Space Flight Support Office's medical division, based at
Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. "Then we get into issues of teaching
space physiology, space toxicology and some of the exposures
that can happen if indeed the shuttle were to suffer a catastrophic
breakup or landing. We then teach students how to get
astronauts out of their space suits."
That portion of the training, removing the Advanced Crew
Escape Suit, was led by George Brittingham, an insertion
technician with United Space Alliance.
Brittingham stressed the importance of familiarity with the suits,
which include a liquid cooling garment, pressure gloves, pressure
helmet, communications carrier assembly, parachute harness,
personal parachute assembly and survival gear.
"Removing the helmet is particularly important, in order to get
access to the airway," he said. "Students only get to see the suit
once a year, so we just want them to be familiar with how to
remove it or cut it away if necessary. Of course, we hope they'll
be able to remove it; this particular suit costs $85,000, but they
can be as much as $125,000."
In addition to the annual training, refresher classes are held
monthly, according to Lt. Cmdr. Dale P. Barrette, the hospital's
Space Shuttle Medical Support Team coordinator. Barrette also
developed a Web-based training program on the hospital's
intranet site, complete with PowerPoint presentations and
streaming videos of several of the team's training topics.
While all of this training is medical-specific, Barrette was quick
to point out that other commands and personnel from Rota and
Moron comprise the rest of the overall support team.
"NEMOC (Naval European Meteorology and Oceanography
Center) sends weather forecasters to provide constant updates
on local conditions to verify that the TAL site is viable for
landing," Barrette explained. "There's also support from the
C-12 squadron here to allow the on-site astronaut at Moron to
fly prior to and during launch operations to get the perspective as
to the feasibility of using the TAL site in a contingency response."
There is also specific training for DoD personnel who are in
charge of the mission locally at Moron and training for military
and Spanish support for the fire, crash, rescue and safety
personnel who assess orbiter hazards upon landing and are
responsible for extracting the astronauts in a contingency mode,
Barrette said.
As one of four TAL sites, -- the other three are Zaragoza, Spain;
Ben Guerir, Morocco, and Banjul, The Gambia -- Moron is
"stood up" 99.9 percent of the time during a manned shuttle
launch, according to Barrette. It is only due to rare,
low-inclination launches, like the March 1 launch of the shuttle
Columbia, that personnel from Rota and Moron would not
support a mission.
The Columbia launch was only the second time in almost four
years that a medical team was not sent to Moron, he added.
"Three of the four TAL sites are set up during a launch -- one as
the primary site, two as back-ups, depending on the inclination
of the launch," Zelnick said. "Moron is important because
whether inclination is high or low, they're usually stood up to
support. It would only take the shuttle about 25 minutes after
launch to actually land here at Moron, so the folks here have to
be ready, prepared and knowledgeable."
While the shuttle has never had to use one of the TAL sites,
Barrette said that every member of the shuttle support team
trains that it is not a matter of if they are needed, but really a
matter of when they are needed.
"The current thinking is that the shuttle has a one in 125 chance
of going to TAL, and we just launched the 108th mission last
month," Barrette said. "We currently have an operational tempo
of six to eight missions per year, and that should continue with
the ISS project expected to take about 45 missions to complete;
we have only completed 12 so far."
After the training here at Rota, the Space Operations Medical
Support Training Team left for Ramstein, Germany, where they
are currently training the medical personnel there who are
responsible for manning the TAL sites in Zaragoza, Morocco
and Gambia.
For information on Naval Station Rota, go to
http://www.rota.navy.mil/navsta.
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NNS020315-06. Chief Petty Officers Launch Book Club
By Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Many books have been
given their due by the New York Times Bestseller List or Oprah
Winfrey's Book Club, but few books have found their way onto
the short list of greatest relevance to today's Sailors: the Master
Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Reading List.
Recently, the Southeast Region Chief Petty Officers Mess
launched its own book club to study entries on the leadership,
management and personal growth portion of the reading list.
Beginning with "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Dr. Spencer
Johnson, the book and a short film were presented and
discussed during a luncheon among staff CPO's with the
commander of Navy Region Southeast, Rear Adm. Jan Gaudio.
"This goes along with the CNO's concept of leadership, and his
belief in the continual development between the wardroom and
chiefs mess to educate ourselves," Gaudio said. "This expands
our minds to what corporate managers are doing to deal with
change. I realize that the Navy is not a corporation, but as I read
these books, I always find a few nuggets of information that I
didn't know before."
Gaudio explained that "Who Moved My Cheese?" was handed
to him while traveling on a plane one year ago; he read it in about
an hour. He said it had great relevance to the ongoing process of
"regionalization," as Southeast Region is undergoing change in
organization and mission focus. The book has subsequently been
read and discussed by both his family and the entire staff.
Books on the MCPON list, such as this one, are shared from
personal libraries of leaders on the staff, and play a prominent
role in Southeast Region's training and professional development
programs.
Master Chief Navy Counselor (SW) Sha'Reff Rashad
spearheaded the book club, which will meet and discuss a new
book each month. He said his intent is to develop leaders, and
that senior petty officers on the staff would also be invited to
attend.
"If you are to be a professional in any field, you must be aware
and open to new concepts and ideas," said Rashad. "That is why
doctors, lawyers, teachers and administrators form associations
and keep up with their particular literature."
"Chiefs are professional leaders, and to become better leaders,
we also form associations and stay informed," Rashad added.
"The book club allows us to examine those things that others are
doing to be successful, and allows us to take them one step
further: to discuss and apply some of them, and to improve our
skills and our organization."
For more information about MCPON and the reading lists, go to
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/mcpon/mcponpg.html.
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NNS020315-05. New Great Lakes Student Barracks Honors
Sailors of USS Cole
By Judy R. Lazarus, Great Lakes Public Affairs
GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- A new $27 million barracks is
now home to 660 students at Service School Command, Great
Lakes. Offering the best in quality-of-life features, the barracks
also pays tribute to the spirit of the American Sailor.
Dedicated to the Sailors of USS Cole (DDG-67), the barracks
is named "Determined Warrior," after Cole's call sign. The
guided-missile destroyer was ripped by an explosion in Aden,
Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000, killing 17 Sailors, many of who
trained at Great Lakes. Five former members of the ship's crew,
who are now stationed at Great Lakes, were honored during a
dedication ceremony March 8.
"When the young Sailors come through here they will appreciate
what they have, that somebody else put their life on the line for
them," said Torpedoman's Mate 1st Class David Rueckert, who
was in the galley on Cole when the blast occurred.
"When they walk through the front doors and see Determined
Warrior on the front, it should be a constant reminder to why
they're here, the reason they're doing their job and the reason
they're being trained," said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Paris
Henry, Ruckert's shipmate on Cole. "I wish my friends were here
to see it -- the guys that passed away," he added. "They're
probably seeing it anyway, upstairs."
The guests at the dedication ceremony lauded the five Cole crew
members for their service.
"Determined Warrior is the latest in a line of facilities and
initiatives that will show our Sailors that we are committed to
them, that we place great emphasis on their quality of service,"
said Capt. Jerry Hart, commanding officer of Naval Station
Great Lakes, speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"This barracks also has a training value. Facilities like this create
an environment that is conducive to the learning process. It
enhances and enables the training programs here, and that's what
Great Lakes is all about," he said.
Hart added that the barracks represents more than just brick and
mortar.
"It represents a spirit, it represents bravery, and it represents
honor, courage and commitment. Specifically, it represents the
heroism, selfless sacrifice and the fighting spirit of the men and
women of the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole," he said.
The new six-story 158,500 square-foot barracks is a
design-build project between Walsh Construction Company of
Illinois and architect VOA Associates, and is overseen by the
Great Lakes resident officer in charge of construction.
Each floor, from the second through the sixth, has 33 residential
units. Each unit contains two sleeping rooms, with two Sailors in
each room, and a service area containing a bathroom and
kitchenette.
The building's first floor includes a learning center, an exercise
facility, a recreation room, administrative offices, a mailroom and
housekeeping and maintenance areas.
Students attending Electricians Mate and Interior
Communications "A" School will use the barracks. Both schools
are typically attended by Sailors following boot camp.
For more information on NTC Great Lakes, go to
http://www.ntcgl.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-04. Jacksonville Unit Awarded Best Reserve
Communications Unit in Nation
By Command Master Chief (AW) Donald R. Justus, Navy and
Marine Corps Reserve Center Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Reserve Naval
Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Europe
Central Command, Detachment 308 (NR NCTAMS
EURCENT DET 308), recently received the Spectrum Award.
The award, which was presented to the command by Capt. R.
Whitcoff, commander of the Naval Network Operations
Command, is given each year to the best NCTAMS unit for
outstanding support to the gaining command.
Detachment 308 provided more than 800 manpower days of
peacetime contributory support to Naval Computer and
Telecommunications Station (NAVCOMTELSTA) Jacksonville;
NCTAMS EURCENT Naples, Italy; NAVCOMTELSTA
Bahrain; Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; NCTAMS
Pacific Detachment Ohau, Hawaii; and Navy and Marine Corps
Reserve Center Jacksonville.
"These contributions are so important because they keep the
fleet communicating," said Whitcoff.
Detachment 308 also volunteered assistance for more than 25
organizations, including the United Way, American Red Cross
and Habitat for Humanity-Habijax.
Lt. Cmdr. Steven Harris, the outgoing commanding officer, and
Lt. Cmdr. Ariel Nagales, the incoming commanding officer, were
there to receive the award.
For information on the Naval Network Operations Command,
go to http://www.nctc.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-03. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for
Safety visits CNET
By Ensign Vivian Ball, Chief of Naval Education and Training
Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) - "I firmly believe that integrating
operational risk management into all our training and education
will serve our Navy and Marine Corps extremely well in
preventing future mishaps. CNET (Chief of Naval Education and
Training) is the key to accomplishing that objective," said Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Safety Connie DeWitte,
after a recent trip to Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola.
DeWitte, who toured NAS Pensacola after attending a Navy
Explosives Safety Officer Conference, had a chance to meet
with the CNET, Vice Adm. Alfred G. Harms Jr., and the staff of
the CNET safety office.
"She was impressed by what she saw and appreciative of all the
effort that went into making her visit a memorable one," said,
Chris Chaffin, CNET's safety director. "She was energized with
the Chief of Naval Operation's (CNO) move to revitalize
training, and excited about her discussions with Vice Adm.
Harms."
This was the first meeting between DeWitte and Harms since her
tenure as deputy assistant secretary of the navy for safety began
in September 2001.
While here, DeWitte observed a rescue swimmers school class,
toured the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), and
viewed the current and nearly completed aviation water
physiology buildings.
"Education and training are such important aspects of a solid
safety program. I was privileged to meet the leaders and other
people who make it happen, and to visit the CNET facilities,"
said DeWitte, who went on to praise the training she witnessed.
She said, "I saw many impressive programs that are making a
difference. For example, in one water survival scenario,
helicopter crew members are now routinely taught how to
escape if the helicopter crashes and goes underwater. Twenty
years ago the crew members almost surely died when that
happened. It was gratifying to see the connection that people at
that facility had made regarding what they do and how it saves
lives."
Dewitte began her Defense Department safety career in 1975,
building a solid technical foundation as an Army safety and
occupational health intern, then specialist, during a decade with
the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Carlson, Colo.
Her awards include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and
two Commander's Awards for Civilian Service.
For more information on CNET, go to http://www.cnet.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-01. Beaufort Holds Memorial for Corpsman
Killed in Crash
By Lisa M. Voorhies, Naval Hospital Beaufort Public Affairs
BEAUFORT, S.C. (NNS) -- A memorial service was held this
week at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort chapel for
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Kevin J. Frank. Frank was killed
in a helicopter crash that occurred while helping the U.S. Coast
Guard search for survivors of an earlier civilian crash.
Four other Navy crew members were rescued shortly after the
crash.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Petty Officer Frank,"
said Capt. Gary Zuckerman, Medical Service Corps,
commanding officer of Naval Hospital Beaufort. "Frank loved
being a SAR (sea-air-rescue) corpsman. Our thoughts and
prayers are with the family and we share in their grief."
He leaves a wife and three children.
For information on Naval Hospital Beaufort, go to
http://nhbeaufort.med.navy.mil.
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NNS020315-07. FEATURE: With a Little Help From Friends
-- Little-Known Surgery Saves Officer's Life
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Kathleen T. Rhem, American Forces
Press Service
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- In June 2001 Navy Capt. John
Pasko was dying. A disabling disease was robbing his lungs of
their ability to expand with each breath. He didn't know a
little-known surgery and a couple of selfless naval officers were
to save his life.
Pulmonary fibrosis causes lungs to lose their elasticity. Most
people diagnosed with this disease slowly lose their lung function
over four to five years. Pasko was diagnosed with the disease in
January 2001 and in desperate need of a transplant by June.
Doctors couldn't explain his rapid descent.
At the time, Pasko was a battalion officer at the U.S. Naval
Academy in Annapolis, Md. He was a career submariner who
commanded USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) a year earlier at Naval
Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga.
He was put on the waiting list for a donor lung in the end of May.
By June 26, his condition had deteriorated to the point where his
doctors at Bethesda (Md.) Naval Medical Center hospitalized
him and wanted to put him on a ventilator, a machine that would
breathe for him.
Pasko knew once he went on the vent, he wasn't likely to ever
get off unless he got a donor lung. He wouldn't allow it. He had
something he had to do first. On June 29, he left the hospital and
went back to Annapolis to swear in his son, Joey, as a member
of the Annapolis Class of 2005.
The captain attended the ceremony in a wheelchair with an
oxygen bottle, but stood and administered the oath when the
time came to swear in his son. Early the next morning, his wife,
Sherry, called 911 because Pasko could hardly breathe, even
with supplemental oxygen.
He was placed on a ventilator, and his family began the painful
vigil of waiting for a donor lung to be available in time. The call
came in early July. A donor had been found, and Pasko was
moved to the local transplant center of Inova Fairfax in suburban
northern Virginia.
False start. The family soon learned that the lungs weren't
acceptable for transplant. It was then that the Inova Fairfax
lung-transplant coordinator suggested an experimental procedure
available in America only in California.
The University of Southern California runs a hospital that is one
of only three in the world that performs living-donor,
double-lobe lung transplants.
While Pasko was in a drug-induced coma with a machine
breathing for him, his wife set a chain of events in motion that
would end on the West Coast with Pasko receiving pieces of
two other officers' lungs.
A call went out through the entire close-knit submarine force:
John Pasko was dying and needed volunteer donors. Within
days, 18 men volunteered, most from Pasko's Navy family.
The two volunteers doctors eventually picked were Capt. Don
Boland, Pasko's brother-in-law, and Lt. Cmdr. Scott Fever,
who'd been Pasko's navigator aboard Wyoming. Fever was also
stationed in Annapolis and Boland, at the Pentagon.
During the operation, doctors would take one lobe from one lung
of each donor and transplant the two into Pasko. Lungs are
elastic, so the men's remaining lobe would expand to fill the
space left after the surgery.
Pasko explained that doctors removed both his lungs and
transplanted one lobe in each side. X-rays today show him with
complete lungs, he said.
The Navy had few concerns about allowing the men to be living
donors, because their lung capacity was expected to return to
normal with no lasting effects from the surgery. The Naval
Academy superintendent did call Fever in to make sure he didn't
feel pressured because Pasko is a senior officer. Fever told him
that was never part of the equation.
Fever said his mother, a nurse, assured him a lobectomy didn't
generally entail serious complications. That was good enough for
him. "It was like a five-minute call with my mom, and so then I
called and said, 'Yes, I'm going to do it,'" he said.
An Air Force medical evacuation crew flew the three men to Los
Angeles July 5. Even the flight wasn't lacking in drama. The
medical equipment keeping Pasko alive didn't work as efficiently
at high altitude. The crew made an emergency landing at Scott
Air Force Base, Ill., to make adjustments.
Sherry Pasko said she couldn't describe the relief she felt when
the plane landed safely in Los Angeles and her husband was still
alive.
"When we landed, even the pilot had tears," she said in a
Discovery Health Channel documentary about the surgery. "We
were just so grateful to have made it."
The five-hour surgery took place at the University of Southern
California Hospital July 9. The doctors said it was in the nick of
time.
Pasko was kept unconscious for a week after the operation to
allow his body more time to recover. When he woke up, he
knew he felt better but had no idea what had happened to him.
Today, he describes his reaction as "a little bit teary" when
USC's transplant coordinator and his wife told him what had
happened.
"I was just kind of emotional," he said. "I couldn't verbalize how
I really felt."
Fever said he was just relieved to see his old commanding officer
breathing on his own. "He was up and talking, and that was
something we didn't think we were ever going to see again," he
said. "It was a great feeling talking to him and seeing that he was
OK."
Boland recovered from his surgery without a hitch, but not so
Fever. After returning to Maryland, he suffered a collapsed lung
and was rehospitalized for a time. Today, he said, he finds
himself out of breath a little more easily but suffers no other ill
effects.
Recovery has been a long road for Pasko. His body began
rejecting his new lungs while he was still in the hospital in
California, and drugs did little to stem the effects. The answer
came in the form of monthly photophoresis treatments. The
experimental procedure bathes his white blood cells in ultraviolet
light and helps keep the white cells from attacking and damaging
his new lungs.
The long months of inactivity and hospitalization also caused
Pasko's muscles to atrophy. He recalled being too weak to even
spoon an ice chip into his mouth when he woke up from surgery.
For a man who ran marathons before he got sick, this has been
hard to take. But, Pasko said, he's coming back bit-by-bit. "As I
get stronger, things get easier," he said. "Now I can take the
stairs three at a time."
He's still not running as much as he'd like. "I thought I'd be
running by the end of December," he said. "It's been hard to
accept that it's taking longer than I thought I would. But still, I
see progress week to week."
He said the ordeal has made him "more understanding of other
people, less critical." When he first realized he might die, he said
he began figuring God had two possible plans for him.
"Plan A is to die with dignity," Pasko said. "Plan B is to play the
back nine better than you play the front nine. I kept praying He
wanted me to do Plan B."
That's where he sees himself today, trying to play the back nine
better.
He has become a vocal supporter of organ donation. When
Sherry and John Pasko were first married, her younger brother
died at 20 of a brain aneurysm. Her family decided to donate his
organs and that, Pasko said, helped them deal with the loss.
"You never get over the loss of a loved one," he said. "But as an
organ donor, I think on the anniversary every year you can at
least know that there was something good that occurred out of
that tragedy you endured.
"I don't think people think that way at the critical moment,"
Pasko said.
When he was in a coma clinging to life before his surgery, the
Navy medically retired him. Now he's trying to get a medical
board to reverse that ruling and reinstate him to full active duty.
"I think I still have things I can contribute," he said. "I think just
for that experience in the last year it's worth sharing with people."
He said he likes working with the midshipmen at the Academy
and wants to leave the Navy on his own terms. "I guess I could
just take medical retirement and get another job, but I feel like I
still have something to offer for the Navy."
The captain said he needs to still do something for the Navy,
because he believes being in the Navy saved his life. He received
first-rate care at Bethesda and he credits the treatment he
received from doctors there with enabling him to survive long
enough to get the transplant.
"I've been in the military 22 years, and I've done my share of
griping when your child's got a sore throat and can't be seen," he
said. "There's probably some truth to that; there are more people
that want to be seen that there are doctors. But when you get in
trouble, real trouble, military medicine is really phenomenal. I
don't think they get the credit they deserve."
Pasko also said he doesn't believe he would have lived to make
it to California without heroic efforts by the Air Force flight crew
that delivered him there. "The Air Force and Navy kind of
worked hand in hand," he said.
The close-knit nature of the military community allowed Sherry
Pasko to reach out and touch so many people willing to give up
part of a lung to save her husband's life. In all, 18 men
volunteered. "That's kind of overwhelming," Pasko said, "to think
that that many people would be willing to sacrifice for you."
The Discovery Health Channel program "Super Surgery" will
take an in-depth look at Capt. John Pasko's surgery and
recovery March 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
For more information about Navy Medicine, go to
http://navymedicine.med.navy.mil.
-USN-
-USN-
-USN-
NNS020315-02. Daily News Update for March 15, 2002
From the Navy News Service
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The following stories are airing on
TV Direct-to-Sailor (TV-DTS), a satellite television service
available aboard 157 ships of the fleet:
Two-minute newscast-
- Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge announced Tuesday the
new color-coded homeland security advisory system.
- Sailors aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) are trying
out a new program to help Sailors study for advancement exams.
One-minute newscast-
- Today, in honor of Women's History Month, we recognize
Capt. Mildred McAfee.
Navy News Service Headlines-
- Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark appeared before
the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, praising the
Congress and American people for their support.
- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14, Detachment 6,
recently completed a military skills training weekend to test unit
readiness.
Daily News Update features three newscasts each day -- one
two-minute cast, a one-minute cast and a one-minute Navy
News Service Headlines cast.
Daily News Update can be seen broadcast throughout the day
and evening on the Direct-to-Sailor satellite network. Check
your local DTS program schedule for airtime.
-USN-
-USN-
-USN-
NNS011215-17. This Day in Naval History - March 16
By the Navy News Service
1911 - The hulk of the battleship USS Maine is sunk at sea in
deep water with full military honors.
1945 - The island of Iwo Jima is declared secure.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 8. Former naval aviator Neil
Armstrong flew on this mission, which completed seven orbits in
10 hours and 41 minutes at an altitude of 161.3 nautical miles.
Recovery was by USS Leonard F. Mason (DD 852).
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval
Historical Center Web site at http://www.history.navy.mil.
-USN-
-USN-
-USN-
NNS011215-18. This Day in Naval History - March 17
By the Navy News Service
1898 - USS Holland, the first practical submarine, is launched.
1942 - U.S. Naval Forces Europe is established to plan joint
operations with the British.
1958 - A Navy Vanguard rocket launches 3.25 pound sphere
from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1959 - USS Skate (SSN 578) surfaces at the North Pole.
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval
Historical Center Web site at http://www.history.navy.mil.
-USN-
-USN-
-USN-
NNS011215-19. This Day in Naval History - March 18
By the Navy News Service
1945 - Carriers begin a three-month Okinawa campaign by
destroying aircraft on Kyushu, Japan.
1974 - The Navy is sent to sweep mines from the Suez Canal.
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval
Historical Center Web site at http://www.history.navy.mil.
-USN-
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