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Simpson Rescues Wounded Colombian Marine

From USS Simpson Public Affairs

July 14, 2002, USS Simpson, (NNS) -- Murphy's Law: Right when you think things are quieting down, the volume gets turned up.

A quiet July 14 evening watch was preparing to turn over on board USS Simpson (FFG 56), when a call from the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (JIATF) East, in Key West, Fla., had the ship jumping into action.

JIATF East had been contacted by Colombian authorities asking for medical evacuation assistance on Malpelo Island. Any available naval asset in the vicinity of the island was requested to provide immediate assistance.

Simpson was patrolling the waters south of Malpelo Island, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and responded to the plea for help.

Malpelo Island is located about 200 miles off the West Coast of Colombia and is a barren rock. A marine landing on the east side of the island provides only a primitive pier for servicing the weather station on the island. Simpson would have to close the island and extract a wounded Colombian marine.

Simpson made the approach to Malpelo under less than ideal circumstances. Just as the ship's radar picked up the island, a northeasterly wind began to blow a storm front directly over the island.

The mist and rain produced an even greater challenge to the already daunting approach.

Once 15 miles off Malpelo, Simpson's Spanish interpretor, Chief Boatswain's Mate (SW/AW) Mauricio Rueda, originally from Medellin, Colombia, began to hail the Colombian marine detachment on bridge-to-bridge radio.

With deteriorating visibility and unsure of shoal water, Simpson determined that a RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) extraction was the only option.

Simpson lookouts were able to see the small fire the marines had built along the eastern shoreline. The RHIB was lowered and arrived 45 minutes later at the marine landing.

The advance response team followed their guide up the side of Malpelo, along a 30-degree inclined cliff. After a 30-minute hike up the island, the advance team reached the weather station. The craggy cliff was bounded by sharp slippery rocks and covered with crabs and birds, making the ascent more difficult than expected.

When the team entered the marine post they observed six Colombian nationals; one severely wounded. As the first aid responder (Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Traivs Tettleton) redressed the victim's wounds, he identified three distinct gunshot wounds. The patient had sustained the wounds during an incident while the marines were cleaning their guns.

The advance team began the trek down the side of the precipice. With limited light, the team of marines assisted the advance team in lowering the victim down the slippery slope.

"By the time we made it to the pier, we were all pretty tired," continued Tettleton. "At the edge of the pier there was a sort of dive platform, but the marines said that there were sharks in the water and nobody used it."

"The marines only had these two old ropes. One was a little longer than the other," said Tettleton. "We decided to tie both to the head of the board. We used one as a safety line and the longer one to lower the marine, but we were worried that the RHIB wouldn't have him in hand by the time the rope ran out."

If the straps were to break, then the victim would drop into the shark infested water. The search and rescue swimmer (Operations Specialist 2nd Class Travis Smith) would be standing by in the RHIB, ready to dive into the water to recover the victim.

When the patient was secured in the RHIB, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (FMF/AW) Jesus Jimenez, Simpson's independent duty corpsman (IDC), did an examination to ensure he was stable enough for transport.

"The ride back was a lot longer than the ride there. We tried to keep the marine as comfortable as possible," commented Boatswain's Mate 1st Class(SW) Melvin Paulk, the boat coxwain. "The seas had been about five feet all night."

Once safe on board the Marine was treated and Simpson proceeded to rendezvous with a Colombian Military Medevac.

Air Force Maj. Joe Bonorden, JIATF-EAST command duty officer, reported to Simpson July 17 that the marine's "prognosis is for a full recovery. The government of Colombia is extremely grateful for the outstanding support given by USS Simpson. Without it, they feel the marine would not have lived."


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