Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Honored for Saving 3 Imperiled Sailors in Alaska

The video doesn't do justice to the heroic rescue of three mariners Jan. 9 off Khaz Point, Alaska, in 15-foot seas, 35-degree water temperatures and a capsized boat heading dangerously toward shore.

Into the maelstrom jumped Aviation Survival Technician 2nd Class Aaron Mulkey, a veteran Coast Guard rescue swimmer facing a series of critical decisions to ensure that everyone would make it out alive.

For his actions that evening, Mulkey has been named the Armed Services YMCA Angels of the Battlefield Award recipient for 2024 for the Coast Guard and will be nominated for the Department of Homeland Security's Lifesaving Award.

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According to his nomination for the Angels of the Battlefield Award by Cmdr. Rand Semke, commander of Air Station Sitka, so much could have gone wrong with the rescue.

On that night, the Coast Guard received an SOS alert from an iPhone on a capsized catamaran with three people aboard, including one who was critically injured. The distress signal was faint but urgent, and air response was dispatched within 17 minutes.

When the boat was finally spotted, it was drifting toward an inhospitable coastline, requiring immediate rescue. Mulkey was put in the water, where he swam toward the vessel, timing the waves and maneuvering through currents to reach the boat. The plan was to retrieve the three using a rescue basket, and Mulkey swam to it with the most injured victim.

But the conditions were too violent for that method of extraction. Mulkey then swam the injured sailor back to the overturned hull and used a sling to hoist them to the helicopter above, holding the sailor's bleeding head gently during the ride up. Once the survivor was put into the helicopter, he performed the maneuver two more times, plucking the remaining two victims from the roiling ocean to safety.

His job wasn't over, however. Once he was in the helicopter, he administered medical aid to the boaters, treating them for hypothermia and the severe head injuries.

According to the award write-up, Mulkey's actions epitomize "the utmost ideals of courage and selfless service," Semke wrote.

"AST2 Mulkey's steadfast commitment to duty and unmatched skill in the face of adversity served as a beacon of hope and assurance to the three survivors that fateful evening," Semke said.

The Angels of the Battlefield honor is given each year to an enlisted medical professional in each of the armed services' medical branches.

The recipients for the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Defense Health Agency, will be announced in the coming weeks, according to an Armed Forces YMCA spokeswoman.

But the Coast Guard proudly issued a servicewide message about Mulkey's award nearly as soon as the service found out on July 2.

"AST2 Mulkey's actions were extraordinarily heroic, brought great credit upon the Coast Guard, and highly merit this year's recognition as the Coast Guard's 2024 Armed Services YMCA Angel
of the Battlefield. Bravo zulu for a job very well done," wrote U.S. Public Health Service Rear Adm. Shane Steiner, executive director of health services for the Coast Guard.

An event to bestow the honors is scheduled for October.

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