[AxeMan]

When SFC McCloskey came down to go through the Combat Diver Qualification Course he had a pretty decent initial performance level comapared to his peers in the class. At some point (and I can't remember what event caused it) Shawn became one of the many that end up getting hurt while going through the training. Somehow, he had hurt his hip and we (the Instructors) could see both a change in his performance and a noticeable limp coming from "Mr. McCloskey". As each day went by, we could see his injury get worse and worse and you could see the level of pain that he was enduring above and beyond what pain you are normally feeling during CDQC training. When he was in the water, his performance level was well within the standards that we had set for each training event. It was his performance during the out of the water events that became a problem. What stood out to all of us was "Mr. McCloskey's" unbelievable positive attitude, personal motivation, and intestinal fortitude which definately motivated and inspired the entire SFUWO Committee. It got to the point where we would have instructor meetings after every event to discuss "Mr. McCloskey's" performance and also his level of injury. We wanted to let this guy continue (there was no way he was ever going to quit!) but we were very worried that he was going to cause some permanent damage to himself and ruin his body. Shawn was at the point where he could barely walk when we pulled him out kicking and screaming. He was literally dragging his leg behind him just to get around. When we (Doc Rob Price) finally dropped him for medical reasons, Shawn was upset but totally understood our reasoning for pulling him out. The class had just started introduction to the DRAEGER LAR V UBA. SFC McCloskey was told that he was to go home and heal up and then come back to finish the course. He was the first CDQC student to qualify for a new change in policy where we had decided that if a student was dropped for admin or medical reasons, the SFUWO Commander could give the student a letter inviting him to come back and pick up with the phase that he left off at. This meant that Shawn did not have to go back through the pool training and could come back and join a class starting with open circuit training. When he came back, Shawn was still sporting a slight limp. He came back and displayed the same personal motivation and intestinal fortitude that inspired us all before. We were all very proud to punch that bubble into his chest on graduation day. Later, he came back and became a Dive Supervisor.
I saw him just a couple of months ago at Womack when we were both waiting at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions and had the chance to hang out and talk with him for about 30 minutes. He still had a slight limp.
Shawn was the best kind of Green Beret, the real deal and a great person as well. I just wanted all of you out there to know how he inspired and emotionally moved the entire SFUWO Committee at one point because of his unbeliveable attitude.
Rest in Peace Brother! You are one of the best!