MOBILE, Ala. — The Coast Guard and the Make-A-Wish Foundation teamed up to make the dream of an 11-year-old boy come true at Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Tuesday.
Coast Guard crewmembers from ATC Mobile brought Luke Wiedeman into their ranks to teach him what it takes to be a Coast Guard aviation survival technician.
Wiedeman was trained in the proper way to signal search and rescue aircraft and enter and exit rescue baskets by the professional rescue swimmers of the training center.
Wiedeman was also allowed to pilot the high-tech flight simulators used to teach Coast Guard pilots all over the U.S.
As part of a training exercise, Wiedeman was taken to the site of a simulated search and rescue case by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew where he became an active participant in the exercise.
“I performed a rescue. Not many people get to do that,” said Wiedeman. “I’d like to thank the Coast Guard, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the friendly people of Mobile.”
