VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WTKR) – The Navy will hold an Article 32 hearing Wednesday to determine if two sailors should face charges in the training deaths of two divers in February.
A chief warrant officer 3 and a senior chief petty officer assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 could face Dereliction of Duty and Involuntary Manslaughter charges as a result of the June 18th hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding.
Navy Diver 1st Class James Reyher, 28, of Caldwell, Ohio, and Navy Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris, 23, of Gladstone, Mo. died while conducting dive operations at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Md.
MDSU 2 is located at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft. Story and has conducted salvage operations to support TWA Flight 800, Swiss Air Flight 111, the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in Minnesota, the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor and recovery of a downed F-16 Fighting Falcon off the coast of Italy.
