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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Being at the right place at the right time is certainly a lifelong motto for Lt. Cmdr. Gary Lane, who was first on the scene after a vehicle roll-over in Newport News, Jan. 16.
Lane relied on instinct when he came upon the scene of the accident, calming a driver whose vehicle had rolled multiple times until Newport News Fire Department arrived on the scene.
"You got to react in these types of situations, my whole naval career has been fire and rescue, that is what I know," said Lane, who has served in the U.S. Navy just shy of 24 years is the aircraft handling officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lane has spent the majority of his career at sea.
"I have three live rescues as a crash and salvage flight deck officer and assisting immediately after this incident didn't affect me because here was someone who needed assistance," said Lane. "I would certainly want someone to do the same for me if I needed assistance."
The vehicle, according to Lane, had landed upright on its left side blocking immediate access to the driver. Lane and other drivers, who later arrived on the scene, helped move the tools and equipment that landed around the driver and calmed him until authorities arrived on the scene.
Chris Blake, technical rescue lieutenant with the Newport News Fire department reflected on Lane's assistance after the incident.
"It was nice that he was there to stabilize the incident before we arrived on scene," said Blake.
Lane, who previously served aboard Lincoln in 1993 as a third class petty officer has held numerous jobs on previous carrier flight decks to include moving planes back and forth across the flight deck to coordinating launching of aircraft to crash and salvage.
Lane is assigned to Lincoln's Air Department and coincidentally is the third Sailor to provide rescue to citizens living or transiting through Newport News. On July 1, 2014, Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Devon Bishop and Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Jessica Jusino, rescued an elderly woman from her Newport News residence.
While both Sailors had recently completed general shipboard firefighting training at Naval Station Norfolk's Firefighting Training School prior to assisting in the rescue that ultimately saved a woman's life, Sailors like Lane have compiled a history of quick thinking that saves lives and ships.
"In my experience, the worst situations can happen instantaneously due to landing and recovering aircraft, which requires quick reaction skills and years of on-the-job training," said Lane.
Lincoln is currently undergoing a refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Lincoln is the fifth ship of the Nimitz-class to undergo a RCOH, a major life-cycle milestone. Once RCOH is complete, Lincoln will be one of the most modern and technologically advanced Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the fleet and will continue to be a vital part of the nation's defense.
| Date Taken: | 02.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2015 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 167548 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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