“If you talk to anybody in WBOR . . . they will tell you it became almost like
A scholarship track sprinter, Eric Templeton admits he was
never the best or fastest swimmer.
After being the last candidate chosen during his first tryout
for ocean rescue, Templeton says his five-season career (2004
to 2008) as a Wrightsville Beach guard prepared him mentally
and physically for what he encounters on a day-to-day basis as
a Senior Airman in the United States Air Force Special Tactics.
Now, Templeton says he is one of the best swimmers in his
division. Within AFST, Templeton is assigned to Combat
Control, the division that acts as air traffic controllers deployed
into a hostile area to either secure a landing zone or direct an
airstrike.
“We deploy with Navy Seals and all of the well-known spe-cial
operations forces,” he says. “Our training is some of the
toughest in the military … day in and day out, having that
mental toughness helps out.”
Templeton’s mettle was put to the test in July 2007, on a
day when the rough ocean conditions dragged two adult broth-ers
down around the pilings of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier.
“Two … brothers went down under the pier and we
searched for them for about 20 minutes and finally found
them,” Templeton recalls. “One of them we saved and … the
other ended up not making it.”
Templeton says Dave Baker had their back the entire time.
“He … gave us words of advice all the time, helping us
through the adversity.”
After 22-year-old Alejandro Perez Marcil was pronounced
dead, Baker and the rest of the team helped him deal with the
gravity of the situation.
Along with the mental and physical conditioning gained as
a member of ocean rescue, Templeton says the camaraderie he
experienced within the squad was one of the main reasons he
chose to continue his service by joining the military.
“If you talk to anybody in WBOR, they will tell you it
became almost like a lifestyle that you live more than a job.
You go on fun training exercises … and you save lives together
and use a lot of teamwork,” he says. “You go work a normal
job and you miss that … that steered me toward special ops.
The military seemed like a good fit.”
Clockwise from top left, Eric Templeton
completes a rescue exercise with a Huey
Helicopter in January 2011 at the United
States Air Force Survival School on Fairchild
Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington.
Templeton, second from left, receives his
graduation certificate from Advanced Skills
Training at Hurlburt Field in Destin, Florida
— the last training before deployment.
Templeton competes in the 2006 Lifeguard
Challenge on Wrightsville Beach.
a lifestyle that you live more than a job.
You go on fun training exercises … and
you save lives together and use a lot of
teamwork.”
{ERIC}
WB OCEAN RESCUE
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ERIC TEMPLETON
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ERIC TEMPLETON
WB OCEAN RESCUE
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WBM august 2012