Navy officer dies during training event in Hawaii

A junior officer in the U.S. Navy died over the weekend while training with Marines at a base in Hawaii, the service revealed Wednesday. 

Lt. j.g. Aaron Fowler, 29, “became unresponsive during the training” at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay on Sunday and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to a Navy statement. 

No additional details were released on the incident, which is currently under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and local authorities. 

“Our deepest sympathies go out to Aaron’s family and friends, and we join them in remembering and mourning this brave warrior,” Rear Adm. Joseph Diguardo Jr., head of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, said in the statement.

“His decision to join this elite special operations community was a testament to the dedicated and selfless character he embodied and his legacy will endure in our ranks through those he inspired by his service.”

Since January, Fowler had been assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One, a unit that cleared explosive hazards on land and at sea, and was based in San Diego, Calif. He had entered the Navy in 2012 and commissioned after graduating from the Naval Academy in May 2018, according to the service.