Chief Petty Officer Paul Foran says the greatest lesson a submariner can learn is tolerance.
Chief Petty Officer David McCoy jumped to safety between decks as Donovan approached him "squeezing the trigger".
But retired naval Chief Petty Officer Stets says much more is at stake.
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The son of a retired naval chief petty officer, he experienced real poverty when, aged nine, his father died.
Mark, a master chief petty officer and the ranking noncommissioned officer on the operation, crouched on one knee beside the open door of the lead helicopter.
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Chief Petty Officer Simon Johnson says it's often very simple.
The victims were identified Friday as Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins, an electronics technician, and Richard Belisle, a civilian, who was a retired Coast Guard chief petty officer.
Chief Petty Officer Andy Horsburgh, whose job is utilising the submarine's sophisticated sonar, says that when at sea other submarines need to worry because "we'll find them before they find us".
He left the Navy as a chief petty officer in 2009 with a chest full of medals, including two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars, according to his service record released by the Pentagon.
Donovan pleaded guilty to murder and to the attempted murder of Lt Cdr Christopher Hodge, 45, who he shot in the stomach, Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, and Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37.
The plane went down about about 120 miles west of Tampa, Florida, at 12:08 p.m. after circling the eastern Gulf for more than two hours, said Chief Petty Officer John Edwards, a Coast Guard spokesman.
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