Sailors from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15, Explosive Ordnance Mobile Units (EODMU) 1 and 6 were in the Gulf of Mexico conducting annual Helicopter Advanced Readiness Program (HARP) the morning of Oct. 12, when Sailors were flagged down by a stranded and distressed mariner.

The Sailors, from HM-15 and EODMU1, were transiting the operational area in their rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) when they were flagged down by the civilian craft.

"When they approached the craft, they discovered an injured civilian and that the civilian boat had experienced a mechanical casualty and was without power," said Lt. Cmdr. Troy Kelly, HM-15's officer-in-charge. "The civilian had been troubleshooting the engine when the engine cover fell down on him, causing serious injury."

Two Sailors, Senior Chief Petty Officer Eric Gummersheimer and Petty Officer Second Class Sean McNamara responded to the civilian's injuries by providing immediate medical care to his injuries, which included a broken jaw and severe lacerations on the man's head, as well as cuts to his arms. HM-15 and EODMU1 Sailors then coordinated a ambulatory drop-off location and rapidly navigated to the rendezvous point.

"Upon turning over the civilian to medical authorities, our personnel redeployed to continue on their assigned tasking," said Lt. Aaron Dixon, EODMU1's OIC. "Without the combined efforts of our Sailors and the fortunate intercept, the man would doubtlessly have found himself in a disastrous state."

HARP training is an annual airborne mine countermeasures exercise that brings fleet assets to Panama City Beach, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico to certify the squadron's ability to meet mission requirements.

HM-15 trains annually out of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division as the command provides technical support to equipment used in mine hunting, such as the Q-24A towed sonar used in conjunction with the fleet's MH-53E Sea Dragon aircraft.

For 2016, HM-15 augmented their usual unit level training event by forming a Combined Task Group (CTG) command and control staff that coordinated the simultaneous efforts of air, surface, and underwater mine countermeasures units operating in the same water space. Through exercising their ability to man and run a CTG, HM-15 stepped up the reality of the exercise to better reflect the real-world command and control challenges of combined MCM Triad operations. Units providing support to HM-15 for the exercise included EODMU1, EODMU6, and the San Diego, California-homeported mine countermeasures ship USS Champion (MCM 4).

The ship, however, was not physically in Panama City for the training even; rather it participated in the exercise by hunting for training shapes off the coast of California and then HM-15, in coordination with members from the Helicopter Sea Combat Weapons School Atlantic, geo-translated the ship's efforts to reflect operations in the Gulf of Mexico. EODMU1 conducted Mk-18 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) training while in Panama City's homeported EODMU6 conducted helicopter cast training.

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