Army Pfc. Nathan Currie, an explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 756th Explosive Ordnance Detachment, recently helped save a woman's life after her car went into an alligator- and snake-infested pond on Fort Stewart, Ga.

FORT STEWART, Ga. — When Nathan Currie decided to go fishing last weekend, he was probably hoping to hook a catfish or trout in the Georgia waters. Instead, the Oklahoma native ended up saving a life.

Currie, a private first class in the 756th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, was fishing on the south dock of Fort Stewart’s Holbrook Pond when he heard the splash from a sedan driving into the pond.

Currie dropped his fishing rod and sprung into action. He drove his car to where he saw the sedan drive into the water. By the time he got there, the car was flipped over with only the driver’s side tires visible above the murky water.

After bolting form his own vehicle, Currie immediately dove into the alligator-infested water to see if someone was in the car. He felt a body in the back seat and came back up for air. He then swam back into the car and pulled a woman from the submerged vehicle.

Currie’s heroics weren’t done there. The woman, whose name was withheld, had been under the water close to five minutes and was turning blue by the time Currie was able to get her on shore. He revived her with CPR and stayed with her until paramedics arrived on the scene.

“My Army training helped by preparing me to respond quickly and take action with courage and confidence under adverse conditions,” Currie said.

While Currie was performing CPR on the unidentified woman, Command Sgt. Maj. Wylie Hutchison jumped in the pond and checked the vehicle three more times to ensure no one else was inside. There wasn’t.

An avid fisherman from Norman, 28-year-old Currie was on his first fishing trip to the large pond on Fort Stewart, which known to be full of alligators and snakes.

Saving lives seems to be part of Currie’s nature. The two-year veteran volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army’s life-saving Explosive Ordnance Disposal profession.

“I wanted to be an EOD tech because the job was challenging and very rewarding,” said Currie.

According to 20th CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives) Command Sgt. Maj. Harold E. Dunn IV, Currie’s actions were not surprising for a soldier trained to go into harm’s way and dismantle explosive devices.

“Pfc. Currie is a direct representation of each and every trooper in the 20th CBRNE Command,” Dunn said. “He is part of a team that lives each moment of every day in service to others, a team of Soldiers that continually prepare themselves through tough realistic training and then they execute with little or no thought regarding their own safety.”

Details for this story were reported by Walter Ham, U.S. Army 20th CRBNE Command.