A U.S. Navy sailor was taking part in a Naval training exercise near Jamestown Island, Va., when the 23-foot Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) he was aboard was struck by a 600-foot flotilla of eight barges being pushed up river by a tugboat. The Navy sailor, Freddie Porter Jr., died as a result of the collision. Both the Navy RHIB and the tug operator, Vulcan Materials Company, contributed to the collision.1
FTCA Bars Direct Action
Generally, a serviceman who is injured or killed during active duty is barred from recovering against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for any negligence of his or her fellow serviceman by the well-settled Feres doctrine. Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 146 (1950). The absolute preclusion in Feres rests primarily on the principle that the military should be shielded from the adverse effect on military discipline that would result if lawsuits challenging orders or actions in the course of military duty were permitted.2
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