Lee Mirecki incident

On January 25, 1990, Mirecki's mother, Elaine Kitowski, as personal representative of her son's estate, filed a wrongful death action under the Federal Tort Claims Act in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The court dismissed the suit and held that the claim was barred under the FTCA. Kitowski appealed; on May 29, 1991, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the lower court's dismissal.

Lee Mirecki was a 19-year-old United States Navy Seaman Recruit who was killed by drowning during a "sharks and daisies" military rescue training exercise on March 2, 1988. His death became a cause célèbre among those campaigning against bullying in military training regimes. As a result of his death a number of procedures and guidelines within the Navy's training programs were changed. He is cited by name in the Navy documentation supporting these changes.

RSS allowed for "drop on request" (DOR), which Mirecki had already done once, in February 1988, following failure to complete the "sharks and daisies" drill. He underwent a series of physical and psychological exams and was placed on "medical hold." It is alleged that pressure from RSS instructors was behind his decision to return to the RSS program when he did. The RSS instructors may have reminded Mirecki that his DOR request would cost him his technical skill training and send him to the naval fleet as an undesignated seaman assigned to the ship's deck force.

Mirecki, from Appleton, Wisconsin, joined the Navy in 1987. At the time of his death he was training to become an Aviation Anti-Submarine Warfare Operator (AW) Rescue Swimmer, despite a childhood fear of being under water. According to reports, at least two of the instructors on duty that day were aware of Mirecki's earlier problem with the drill. Once again, Mirecki had difficulty with the drill and requested that he be dropped from the course and not be forced to re-enter the pool. Instead of honoring his request, the instructors reportedly seized him and forced him back into the water, then began "smurfing" him (holding him under the water) until he lost consciousness. At this time, other recruits were commanded to line up, turn their backs and sing the national anthem.