\u201cI took the injured woman first,\u201d said Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Thigpen, an aviation survival technician at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina. \u201cWe were doing fast-basket recoveries to the helicopter, but I had drifted 40 yards from the vessel. After each hoist I had to swim this distance, if not further. I had the second survivor carry the small dog\u2014again an easy hoist, but long swim back. The last survivor held a cat in its carrier while I towed him. Upon entering the water from the sailing vessel I immediately lost my left fin and couldn\u2019t recover it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coast Guard ASTs like Thigpen, more commonly known to the public as rescue swimmers, are responsible for some of the most dangerous components of search-and-rescue missions. This often puts them on the deck of vessels in distress or in the water with survivors in life-threatening situations. The Coast Guard equivalent to boots on the ground, ASTs are fins in the water.<\/p>\n
Despite losing one fin, Thigpen saved three people, a dog, and a cat from the disabled sailboat off Cape Charles, Virginia, Oct. 22, 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cTowing survivors is physically strenuous in calm seas with two fins,\u201d said Petty Officer 1st Class Roderick Ansley, one of Thigpen\u2019s supervisor\u2019s in the rescue swimmer shop at ASEC. \u201cAccomplishing this with one fin, in large, breaking seas is nothing less than a miraculous feat of dedication, courage, and self discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thigpen is known among his leaders and peers for his superior performance under pressure during search and rescue missions, but to truly explore his reputation, one needs to dive a bit deeper than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a true quiet professional,\u201d said Petty Officer 1st Class Claude Morrissey, Thigpen\u2019s shift supervisor at ASEC. \u201cHe\u2019s always willing to work late and take extra duty. He\u2019s always willing to support the air station in any way that he can. He is truly just a great all-around guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was first stationed in Seattle aboard the Coast Guard cutter Midgett, a 378-foot ship,\u201d explained Thigpen. \u201cThat\u2019s when I first met an aircrew, deployed to our ship from Kodiak, Alaska. I admired them for being humble and professional. I wanted to become an AST, because of what we stand for. We\u2019re all in the job to help people. We\u2019re a tight brotherhood that puts trust and faith in one another. It doesn\u2019t matter who gets a big SAR case or who is getting a lot of recognition. Every day is just another duty day and it\u2019s our job. I know that anyone in my shop, or any swimmer in the Coast Guard, would never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Nov. 27, 2014, 100 miles off Cape Hatteras North Carolina, Thigpen was called upon again when a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded to an injured man aboard a sailboat after midnight. Thigpen was lowered to the boat and swam the injured man in 12-foot swells to the helicopter cable where the survivor was hoisted, by sling, to safety.<\/p>\n
Since then, he\u2019s performed three medevac cases, the most recent of which occurred 200 miles off the North Carolina coast on July 6.<\/p>\n
Originally from Vero Beach, Florida, Thigpen grew up surfing, swimming, and watching the Coast Guard drive by in boats and fly by in helicopters and planes. \u201cI joined the Coast Guard to help people in need and hopefully make an impact,\u201d said Thigpen. \u201cI have always especially admired the Coast Guard\u2019s search and rescue mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though rescue swimmers arguably receive more recognition than any other Coast Guard profession, Thigpen doesn\u2019t let that go to his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only been in the rate two years and there is so much to learn in this job field,\u201d said Thigpen. \u201cThe best thing a new person can do is soak up knowledge. We have very experienced ASTs in our rate who have a lot to offer. I have yet to meet one who hasn\u2019t made an impact on me. My senior ASTs are mentors for how to make me a better AST. I\u2019ll learn more from them about real life situations than I can learn from any manual or course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief Petty Officer Shannon Brugh, lead AST in ASEC\u2019s swimmer shop, said Thigpen was recently nominated by ASEC command to represent the Coast Guard at the 2015 North Carolina United Service Organization\u2019s 10th Annual Salute to Freedom Gala for his life-saving actions in October and November in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvan was chosen for his heroic actions on a pair of search and rescue cases,\u201d said Brugh. \u201cApart from that, he is the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back and bend over backward to accommodate personal requests. He always has a smile on his face and never anything negative to say. He\u2019s a very positive person who I can tell enjoys coming to work on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I mention how proud I am of something Evan has done at work, he tells me it\u2019s no big deal, it\u2019s his job,\u201d said Hunter James, Thigpen\u2019s girlfriend of about two years. \u201cHe\u2019s so selfless, driven, caring and determined, and does the best he can no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs swimmers, we get a lot of attention,\u201d said Thigpen. \u201cWhat people don\u2019t always think about is the entire Coast Guard behind us, doing their jobs so we can do ours. Without the pilots flying us out there, the flight mechanics lowering us from the helicopter, without the support personnel making sure we have fuel and gear, we couldn\u2019t do what we do. We\u2019re all part of the same Coast Guard team.\u201d (Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn, U.S. Coast Guard)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI took the injured woman first,\u201d said Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Thigpen, an aviation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6197,6198,6199,67],"class_list":["post-206240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-asec","tag-cape-charles","tag-class-evan-thigpen","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}