The U.S. Navy identified the sailor from the USS George Washington who went missing in the Timor Sea earlier this week.
On Friday, Aug. 1, the Navy announced that Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Launch/ Recovery Equipment) Airman Jose Antonio Rivera Lynch IV was declared dead. He went missing during a training exercise on Monday, July 28 and is believed to have gone overboard. He was 19.
The USS George Washington, as part of Carrier Strike Group 5, is currently operating in the Indian Ocean as part of the Talisman Sabre 2025 bilateral exercise with Australia.
The Navy, along with the Australian Defence Force and Australian Border Force, began searching for Rivera Lynch after he was reported missing on Monday. Search and rescue efforts involved several U.S. Navy assets, including the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Robert Smalls, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup and aircraft from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77, HSM 51 and Carrier Air Wing 5, which is attached to the USS George Washington. Search operations covered 22,000 square miles and ended on Wednesday, June 30 after 45 hours.
According to the Navy, Rivera Lynch enlisted in the Navy in June 2024. He began serving on the aircraft carrier in January. and reported to USS George Washington in January.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of our shipmate, Airman Rivera Lynch,” Capt. Tim Waits, the commander of the USS George Washington, said in the Navy’s announcement. “I am sincerely grateful for the support and coordination from all units who assisted in the search effort, including our partners from the Australian Defence Force and Border Force.”
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In a post on Facebook, his father, Jose Rivera, wrote that the family was notified of the sailor’s death on July 30.
“Fair winds and following seas, my son,” Rivera wrote. “You are loved, you are remembered, and you will never be forgotten.”
Rivera told local news outlet 13News Now that his son had been eager to join the military, and that the two spoke a few hours prior to when Rivera Lynch was declared missing, calling it a “great conversation.”
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