Sailor’s quick action prevents potential disaster aboard carrier
Abraham Lincoln
BY JO2 RYAN HICKS
A potential disaster was averted
recently at sea aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham
Lincoln when a Carrier Air Wing 14 sailor quickly acted as an aircraft
flare dispenser ignited near the bomb farm on the flight deck.
Within 30 seconds of the handler’s fire call, AOCS(AW) Randy Horner,
ordnance division’s leading chief petty officer, grabbed the burning
cylinder and ran 20 yards to the edge of the flight deck and threw it
overboard.
“When I saw the smoke, I assessed the situation and figured the
quickest way to deal with it was to throw it overboard,” said Horner.
“Ever since I was an airman, I’ve followed the advice — if it’s smokin’
and you can get rid of it, get rid of it.”
The flare, used with F-14 Tomcats as a decoy for heat seeking missiles,
contains 80 internal units called BOIS-IRs, each of which burn at 1,600
degrees.
“By the time I reached it, about 20 or 30 of the internal units were
burning,” said Horner. “When I grabbed the handle (of the dispenser), it
burned my hands a little, like grabbing a hot pan with the water boiling
over.”
In addition to Horner’s actions, several other sailors raced to the
scene with firefighting equipment, ready to battle the potential
blaze.
For his action, Horner received a Navy-Marine Corps Achievement
Medal from the Carrier Air Group commander, Capt. Kevin Albright, just 2
1/2 hours later. It is Horner’s sixth NAM during his 25 years of service.
