US Navy Officer Dies After Becoming ‘Unresponsive’ During Amphibious Op Training in Hawaii

The Marine Corps Reconnaissance Leaders Course is an eight-week program designed to develop tactical, technical, and leadership skills of a select group of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and other USMC-affiliated service members. Amphibious team operations, weapons employment, and surveillance techniques are among the program’s concentrations.

Lt. j.g. Aaron Fowler, 29, a junior officer with the US Navy, died on Sunday after he “became unresponsive during” training at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Oahu, the service confirmed in a memo issued on Wednesday.

Fowler, a resident of Oklahoma assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One, was in the third and final phase of the Marine Corps Reconnaissance Leaders Course at the time of his death, the release detailed.

The eight-week course is based in several locations as participants conduct activities focused on amphibious, ground, reconnaissance, and patrolling operations.

Fowler and other participants of the amphibious operations phase were carrying out a USMC “training evolution” at the time, read the memo.

No further details were provided on the situation leading up to the 29-year-old’s unresponsiveness.

Fowler was later pronounced deceased at a nearby hospital. His cause of death was not included in the service release.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to Aaron’s family and friends, and we join them in remembering and mourning this brave warrior,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Diguardo, Jr., commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, in a quoted statement.

Fowler officially reported to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One back in January, nearly four years after graduation from the Naval Academy, and a decade after entering the service.

“His decision to join this elite special operations community was a testament to the dedicated and selfless character he embodied and his legacy will endure in our ranks through those he inspired by his service,” Diguardo said.

Local authorities, as well as the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), are probing the incident. Counseling is being offered to service members close to the late junior officer.