On April 19, 1988 LCol. Brett Cairns, then Major, rescued a fellow officer who had been overcome by one metre waves and a strong undertow while swimming at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Seeing the man in distress, LCol. Cairns swam out to him and, battling the waves and current, brought him to rest on a sand bar. The weakened man was swept from the sand bar and LCol. Cairns again retrieved him, bringing him to another sand bar where a life guard then took over the rescue.