Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Noah Tobin was killed Tuesday, July 1, 2025, during parachute training exercise in Porterville, Calif. (U.S. Navy)

A special warfare sailor was killed Tuesday during a parachute training exercise in Porterville, Calif., according to the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Noah Tobin, who is from California, had arrived at his first assignment with Special Boat Team 20 in Virginia in May 2024, the Navy said in a statement. He was qualified at a special warfare boat operator. Navy officials said they would not release his age or hometown.

Tobin was taking part in the parachute course at the Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training Command at the time of his death.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation. The Navy has paused all parachute training at the command and is conducting a safety review.

Tobin’s death was the first special warfare parachute training fatality since February 2023, when Michael Ernst, a chief special warfare operator, was killed in a freefall during training in Marana, northwest of Tucson, Ariz.

The Navy has not released the findings of its investigation of that incident.

Tobin joined the Navy in 2021. After boot camp, he earned the enlisted special warfare combatant crewman designation in 2023.

Special Boat Team 20 operates fast, small watercraft to insert and extract Navy SEALS and other special warfare troops.

The Porterville airport in Tulare County in central California is frequently used for Navy parachute training, according to a report on Fresno television station Fox 26 News.

Eyewitnesses to the incident told the television station that several parachutes deployed from a small plane, but one jumper’s chute did not open and fell rapidly to the ground.

Naval Special Warfare Command is assisting personnel with counseling and other support, as well as aiding Tobin’s family, the Navy said.