PTC recruit still critical after injury during Marine swim qualification

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

A Marine recruit from Peachtree City remained in critical condition Thursday after he was injured while participating in swimming qualification during training Monday at Parris Island, S.C.

Joshua D. Issac, 19, had difficulty swimming to the side of the pool after completing one portion of the qualification, according to a news release from the Marine Corps. Pool staff removed him from the water and began performing CPR, officials said.

Issac was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where he is currently being treated. An investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the incident is still pending, according to the Marine Corps.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with this young man and his family," said Lt. Col. Patrick J. Campbell, commanding officer of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion.

Issac, a volunteer firefighter with the Peachtree City Fire Department, began training June 3 as a member of Fox Company.

Capt. Jennifer Radcliff of the Marine Corps public affairs office Radcliff said Issac was participating in a qualification called Combat Water Survival 4. According to Radcliff, the qualification has four parts, all of which are required to receive the certification including:

A 25-meter shallow water swim.

Jumping off a 10-foot tower into the pool and swimming directly to the side.

Treading water for four minutes (recruits can inflate their blouse or float also to qualify).

A 25-meter deep-water swim without gear or boots. Recruits just wear their camouflage shirts and trousers.

Issac was in the fire department's Explorer program before becoming a volunteer firefighter. He had taken a leave of absence to attend the Marine recruit training, Lohr said.

Sgt. John Dunlap, the leader of the department's Explorer program, said the news of Issac's situation came as a shock, particularly to Explorers in the group who were close to him.

"It definitely came as a shock to everybody," Dunlap said, particularly because Issac is motivated and "knows what he wants to do and how he wants to do it."

If Dunlap needed anything done, he could always count on Issac to do it. Issac "is one of the best mannered kids I've ever met," Dunlap said. "He's calm, very thoughtful and respectful of other people, a very likeable kid."

"If anybody is capable of bouncing back from something like this, it's Josh," Dunlap said.

Swim qualification for recruits takes place during the fifth week of recruit training and it must be completed for a recruit to graduate from training. All Marines must maintain a level of swim qualification as part of their annual training requirements since most Marines will be stationed aboard a Naval vessel at some point in their career.