After hearing what sounded like a loud explosion, Petty Officer 1st Class Clifford Martin walked out of his office on the northern side of Misawa Air Base. The scene last week stopped him dead in his tracks.

"I’ve been involved in a lot of drills and exercises," the equipment operator said in a Navy news release, "but I’d never seen anything like this before."

Lying in the concrete parking lot Monday was a motionless man in a flight suit, deployed parachute and life raft still tethered to his body, with what appeared to be a severe leg wound.

And so began another test for Navy and Air Force personnel, who joined forces for assessments during the unit compliance inspection at the northern Japan base.

The weeklong evaluation by Pacific Air Forces ended Friday.

Martin, a Seabee Combat Lifesaving Course graduate, sprung into action at the sight of the "injured" aviator.

He grabbed a first-aid kit and shouted into the office for someone to call emergency services.

After checking the aviator’s vital signs and determining he was still breathing, Martin applied a tourniquet and splint to the man’s leg. He continued to monitor the pilot’s condition as he waited for emergency responders to arrive.

A Misawa Air Base firefighting team was scrambled to the scene.

"When we got there, [Martin] had a good grip on what was going on, and he relayed a lot of information," team leader Staff Sgt. Kyle Scritchfield said. "Instead of going in blind, it gave us a jump-start on the situation."

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