U.S. Navy Releases Identity of Carrier Crewmember Missing in Timor Sea

 

The U.S. Navy has identified the sailor who is believed to have gone overboard from the carrier USS George Washington during an exercise last week. 

On July 28, while USS George Washington was participating in an exercise in the Timor Sea, a sailor was reported missing and potentially overboard. The carrier and her escorts - USS Robert Smalls and USS Shoup - began a search effort, aided by the Australian Border Force and Australian Defense Force. Air and surface search assets combed the area for nearly two days. 

The effort was unsuccessful, and was called off on the afternoon of the 30th. 

The sailor's name was initially withheld pending notification of next of kin. This weekend, the Navy identified the sailor as Airman Jose Antonio Rivera Lynch IV, a resident of Florida. Rivera Lynch, 19, had joined the Navy last June and had been a crewmember aboard USS George Washington since January. 

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of our shipmate, Airman Rivera Lynch," Capt. Tim Waits, CO of USS George Washington, in a statement. "I am sincerely grateful for the support and coordination from all units who assisted in the search effort, including our partners from the Australian Defence Force and Border Force."

The cause of the incident has not been released. 

Rivera Lynch's father, Jose Rivera III, told local media in Florida that he was grateful to the Navy for conducting an extensive search. He commemorated his son as a "likeable, very humble" young man. 

"No matter where I went with him, people just loved being around him," Rivera said. 

Separately, Rivera told USNI News that his son "truly loved the Navy, he truly loved what he did."