An admiral has called for the court-martial of a Navy swimming instructor accused of holding a recruit's head under water and literally scaring him to death, a Navy spokesman said. Four other enlisted men and an officer accused in the death have until Monday to decide whether to accept more lenient disciplinary action or pursue a court-martial, Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Hessler said Friday. Rear Adm. David R. Morris of Corpus Christi, Texas, chief of naval air training, also dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against the enlisted men, except for Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael W. Combe, for whom he has recommended the court-martial, Hessler said. The Navy accused Combe of holding Airman Recruit Lee Mirecki, 19, of Appleton, Wis., under water after Combe and other instructors pushed or tossed the trainee into a pool when he panicked and tried to quit the course. Morris recommended the court-martial to Vice Adm. N.R. Thunman, chief of naval education and training, the ranking officer in Pensacola, said Hessler, Thunman's public affairs officer. ``It seems like he felt possibly that Combe was the most culpable, and I have to respect his decision because we are not part of the military process,'' Lynn Johansen, Mirecki's sister, said in Appleton. The decisions show all six defendants share the blame, she said. ``These men lacked professional judgment, and that's obvious,'' she said. ``Everyone's saying that the system failed, but these men were part of it.'' At a five-day investigative hearing two weeks ago, defense attorneys argued the system was at fault because Mirecki was allowed to return to training through a series of mix-ups after a flight surgeon declared him unfit and because use of force was a common practice condoned by authorities to keep scared, tired or malingering trainees in the pool. Mirecki had been described at the hearing as having died from ``sheer terror.'' A pathologist testified Mirecki had a phobia about being dragged under water, which triggered heart failure followed by drowning, although there was no determination of which factor killed him. Combe and the four other instructors had been charged with conspiracy to commit battery and involuntary manslaughter. Lt. Thomas A. Torchia, the officer in charge of the school, was accused of dereliction of duty and transferred. Morris offered to resolve the cases of Torchia, Petty Officers 1st Class Richard E. Blevins and David J. Smith and Petty Officers 2nd Class Frankie D. Deaton and John W. Zelenock with non-judicial punishment, Hessler said. If they decide to accept the offer, the extent of punishment would be determined at a proceeding known as an admiral's nest. They could face a pay cut, reduction in rank, restriction to the base or other penalties. A court-martial would enable a defendant to be cleared if acquitted but carries the risk of penalities that include prison time and removal from the service for a conviction.
