Avast, matey: S-GI graduate participates in mission to rescue Iranians from pirates

When Leo and Ann McCarthy saw the USS Kidd on television as part of a mission to rescue Iranian fishermen from pirates, their first instinct was to worry. The McCarthys’ son, Aviation Boatswain Mate Kyle McCarthy, is stationed on a vessel that assisted with the mission: the Aircraft Carrier John C. Stennis.

“We were surprised and a little bit concerned,” said Leo McCarthy. “We saw it on the evening news and were kind of thinking he didn’t have a lot to do with it, but, as it turns out, he was right there on the flight deck when everything started going on.”

According to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs Office, at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, an SH-605 Seahawk from the Stennis detected a suspected pirate skiff alongside the Iranian fishing dhow Al Molai. As the seahawk went to investigate, the master of the Al Molai sent a distress call claiming that pirates were holding him and his crew captive. Upon receiving the call, a visit, board, search and seizure team from the USS Kidd entered the Al Molai and detained 15 suspected pirates, who surrendered without a fight.

In a statement, Josh Schminky, a Navy criminal investigative service agent aboard the Kidd, said, “The Al Molai had been taken over by pirates for roughly the last 40-45 days. They were held hostage with limited rations and, we believe, were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations.”

The Al Molai had been pirated and used as a base for pirate operations throughout the Persian Gulf, according to a spokesperson from the 13-person Iranian crew, which had been held hostage under the threat of violence with limited access to food, medical care and other amenities.

“The captain of the Al Molai expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them. He was afraid that, without our help, they could have been there for months,” said Schminky.

Kyle McCarthy, a 2009 graduate of Springville-Griffith Institute High School, was on the flight deck as the rescue was taking place, according to his father, Leo McCarthy.

“I know he didn’t think nothing of it,” McCarthy said of his son’s involvement in the mission. “He was just doing his job, like he’s trained to do.”

McCarthy said his son’s unit was toward the end of its mission in the Persian Gulf, getting ready to ship out, when the pirate attack came to light.

“They were focusing on wrapping things up, concentrating on getting out of there, when this happened,” said McCarthy. “But they did what they had to do, just like they always do.”

He added that he and his family are looking forward to having their son home at the end of February, just in time for their annual St. Patrick’s Day party at St. Aloysius.

Kyle McCarthy’s unit is stationed in Seattle, which Leo McCarthy called “a long way away, but still not as far as the Strait of Hormuz.

“It’ll be nice having him home,” he added. “We’re very proud of all that he’s doing.”