A cadet from the Air Force Academy and his Colorado lifeguard date managed to fall 50' into the ocean from a cruise ship after heavy drinking. After treading water for several hours the cadet, nude ( stating he heard clothing impairs swimming and other physical activity) and his G/F ( still dressed,obviously poorly trained about the no clothing rule) were located by the Coast Guard.

I read several versions of this incident, but none of them seemed to agree. Some said the woman fell and the cadet dived in after her, some say both were drunk as skunks, some say it was just an accident because they were "goofing around". One version said both were retrieved fully clothed. It is funny that only the guy got the jellyfish stings, though, isn't it?

Here's one version: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/11493533/detail.html

They were lucky they were in the Gulf of Mexico, rather than the Gulf of Alaska.

Lesson: Don't get so naked/drunk/stupid that you fall off a cruise ship. And you might want to keep your clothes on, as they might protect you a bit from the jellyfish stings. Also, you're going to be the star in a lot of videos if the Coast Guard has to hoist you out of the water all starkers in daylight.

p.s., Don't they teach Air Force cadets about gravity?

Sue

"...Don't they teach Air Force cadets about gravity?..."

Air Farce cadets will soon become second lts., and we all know that only the best of them can hear thunder and see lightning, let alone find their fanny with either hand. When they become first lts. they learn about gravity...

I'll bet that at least some of the Coasties wished the nudity thing was the other way around. Apparently neither had ever heard about turning your pants into floation devices. You've gotta wonder what the whole story is...

OBG, as an ENS in the Navy, we learned about pants (and shirts) as flotation aids.

However, I too am unable to locate said fanny.

"...I too am unable to locate said fanny...'

Not to worry, with experience you will be able to...

I just read a little tidbit that the Coast Guard's recently deployed Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) software was used to help find them. Sounds like the crazy fictional software that you see used on TV shows like CSI that takes currents, weather patterns, etc., to optimize search grids based on resources available, plus help predict survival time and shows everything in some spiffy visual way. Anyone know anything about this? I wonder how much more effective this is compared to the "old" way? (I'd hate to see millions wasted on software that doesn't really add any value to current operations.)

I was just watching the movie Cast Away last night. Maybe Tom Hanks would've been found a whole lot sooner with this software in use.