Wounded Soldiers Become Scuba Instructors

Our hoods are off to Brad Hughes and Peter Wesley.

Two injured soldiers have gained diving instructor qualifications after enrolling in sub-aqua rehabilitation.

Brad Hughes and Peter Wesley have become the only recipients of the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) open water badge through a pioneering Army scheme.

Mr Hughes, of Llandudno, Conwy, and his friend Mr Wesley, of Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk, have been praised for a "fantastic" achievement.

Both have now been discharged from the Army on medical grounds.

Mary Tetley, chief executive of the BSAC, said: "Gaining your BSAC open water instructor qualification is an achievement in itself, but to do so when battling a crippling injury which has had such a profound effect on your life is remarkable.

"I am so pleased for Brad and Peter and they are a great inspiration to all of our members."

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Flippin' Amazing! The Scuba Diving Soldier who Lost Both Legs, Arm in Afghanistan

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the inspiring Scott Schroeder.

Soldier Scott Schroeder wears two prosthetic legs and a false arm following a devastating roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan – but that hasn’t stopped him enjoying a spot of scuba diving.

The chief warrant officer has had special flippers attached to his legs so that he can explore undersea worlds once again.

He lost his limbs seven months ago when an IED exploded beneath his transport vehicle. The week-long series of dives, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, is part of a recreational therapy program.

He learnt to scuba-dive back in the 1980s, but his injuries mean that he is having to relearn his skills.

His wife Laura and teenage son Zach have joined him this week. They’re both novices, but hope to earn their first scuba-diving certificate.

Laura explained how his passion for the activity whetted her appetite for it, too.

She said: ‘Every time we go on a vacation, one thing he wants to do is go diving, but he won't do it because we're not certified. So now, when we go on vacations, we can certainly go out with him.’

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Be sure to click over to the article to not only read the rest of the story, but see the other amazing photos of Scott.

Our masks off to you, sir.

Congressman Allen West Takes Heat for Scuba Diving with the American Flag

In response to the news that Congressman Allen West led veterans on a patriotic scuba dive, some claimed Representative West desecrated the American flag and in doing so violated federal law.

During his diving session Sunday, Lt. Col. West was photographed holding an American flag underwater, on top of an artificial reef -- which would be a violation of the United States Code.

Let us flip to Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8, Subsection B of the United States Code:

(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

That's from Chapter 1 of the United States Code, also known as the United States Flag Code.

Judging from the existence of pictures of West holding a flag under water, that would seem to qualify as a violation of code.

The Flag Code constitutes federal law, although there is no penalty for breaking this law.

However, the U.S. Armed Forces routinely take the flag beneath the surface to honor in ceremony -- more specifically, reenlistment ceremonies.

As the blogger points out, context must be given. It does matter how the flag is being used when it touches water. Clearly Rep. West was honoring the flag in this instance, even underwater -- and just as the military is known for doing from time to time.

U.S. Army Engineer Divers Conduct Annual Deep Water Diving Exercise

Also known as Deep Blue.

A group of 85 Army engineer divers assigned to the 74th, 86th, 511th, 544th and 569th Engineer Dive Detachments, Special Troops Battalion, 7th Sustainment Brigade made the trek to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to conduct Deep Blue, an annual deep water diving exercise that kicked off mid-May.

This year's event took place at a man-made pond located at Aberdeen Proving Ground's, or APG's, Underwater Explosions and Testing site.

“The training is critical due to the risk factors associated with deep water diving,” said 1st Lt. John Maxwell, 569th Engineer Dive Detachment. “Diving platforms are set up on either side of the pond providing two training iterations for the group. Each diver logged 20-hours of time in the water by the end of the exercise.”

Divers spent three weeks training in self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, or scuba, and surface supply deep water dive scenarios with depths reaching 150 feet. Imagine jumping from a 15-story tall building and that will give you an idea of the depth involved in many of the diver’s missions.

Both diving modes are employed by the Army at a maximum depth of 190 feet.

The primary use for surface supplied diving include; underwater cutting and welding, waterfront facilities maintenance and port construction and rehabilitation. The use for scuba includes; inspections, search and recovery, river crossing operations and reconnaissance.

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Congressman Allen West Leads Veterans on Patriotic Scuba Dive

Left, right, or center, you have to love this.

The congressman and his dive buddies planted an American flag on an artificial reef and highlighted efforts to provide therapy and new skills to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

The shipwreck of the Ancient Mariner, about 60 feet deep off Deerfield Beach, received a patriotic decoration Sunday courtesy of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, and about a dozen military veterans.

West and his dive companions briefly put up an American flag on the deck of the popular artificial reef, then posed for photos and videos, as several dozen civilian divers — and numerous fish — watched. The flag flapped proudly in the strong southerly current.

The ceremony was part of June’s “Learn to Dive” month established by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau to encourage locals and tourists to take up scuba diving. It was also an opportunity for military veterans — both newly-certified and experienced divers — to have fun underwater.

“I think it’s important wherever we are, that the flag flies,” said West, a 22-year veteran Army officer and experienced scuba diver.

His dive buddies heartily agreed. They are veterans of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some have taken up scuba diving to relieve post-traumatic stress disorder. They received training through Veterans Ocean Adventures based at Shake-A-Leg Miami’s Coconut Grove sea base.

“I try to find the veterans who have gotten out and plug them in,” said Veterans Ocean Adventures president Branson Rector, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Army. “. . . This is the kind of training they’re used to — task-oriented, and it’s peaceful and relaxing underwater.”

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Elite Aussie Scuba Divers Demand Special Forces Status

In fact, they're threatening mutiny if not allowed to join the SpecOp ranks.

The threat has arisen because they are not allowed to fight in the war against terrorism.

The Advertiser has spoken to several navy Clearance Divers who say that many of their comrades are ready to walk away if the top brass does not better use their highly specialised skills, such as in bomb disposal.

About 30 navy divers are seconded to the Sydney-based counter-terrorist Tactical Assault Group (East) as water operators, and a few are posted to the Middle East. But the role of most of the RAN's 150 underwater specialists is in shallow-water mine counter-warfare.

In other countries, elite divers from units including the US Navy SEALs are used in high-end warfare and counter-insurgency operations such as the SEAL Team Six operation against Osama bin Laden.

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Scuba Divers Complete Test of New U.S. Navy Saturation Diving System

From News Herald:

Jad Graves said he had always heard the stories about some of the older Navy saturation divers and their exploits hundreds of feet beneath the sea.

Graves was one of one six Naval Experimental Diving Unit divers that emerged from the Navy’s new Saturation Fly-Away Diving System (SAT FADS) Friday morning at NEDU’s pier.

“I’m glad I’m doing it,” Graves said, minutes after he was greeted by NEDU personnel after his 11 days in the SAT FADS.

The divers went into the diving system April 18, as part of a manned, pier side test of SAT FADS at a pressurized, simulated depth of 1,000 feet. SAT FADS is designed to help Navy saturation divers with salvage and rescue operations.

It can support six divers working on the ocean floor for up to 21 days, according to NEDU, with an additional nine days of decompression to support deep aircraft and ship recovery or salvage operations.

The 40-by-80-foot system includes a main deck decompression chamber, manned dive bell, bell handling system, command and control center, two auxiliary support equipment containers, and bulk helium and oxygen storage racks. Living quarters are located in the deck decompression chamber.

George Goehring, a NEDU technical department head, said the Navy currently has only one of the systems. He said the diving system would be used in situations like submarine rescue and lost airplane salvage.

Divers in teams of three can work up to eight hours a day from the SAT FADS during an operation, Goehring said, with another three-man team aboard the unit able to rotate in and continue work with minimal interruption until a job is completed.

“This is really no different than what the civilian oil drilling community does on a regular basis,” Goehring said.

The system can be mounted aboard a Navy vessel and employed anywhere, Goehring added.

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Secretary Mabus Open to the Idea of Female Navy SEALs

Move over G.I. Jane, the idea of female SEALs may soon be a work of fiction no longer.

In an interview with the Navy Times, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said he believes all Navy jobs should be open to women –- including submarine attack crews, as well as the elite SEALs -– if they qualify.

But although he’s against any gender ban in the service, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of integrating women into every part of the naval special warfare community.

“It’s my notion that women should have the same opportunities as men in the Navy,” Mabus told Navy Times during a March 31 interview. “They should be able to go as far as their talents take them. They should be able to serve in whatever communities.

“The only reason I’m being a little hesitant for the SEALs is some of the physical things you’ve got to go through to be a SEAL. I think women ought to have whatever opportunities men do,” he said.

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USMC Recon Divers Test New Full Facemasks

Here's a little motivation for your day, courtesy of the Corps. Click on the image and enlarge the photo to get a close-up of the new gear.

Combatant divers from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, received hands-on training on recently issued Combat Divers Full Facemask at the dive locker here March 9.

The CDFFM is designed to improve safety and airflow to combatant divers,according to Senior Chief Petty Officer Juan M. Perdomo, the command master diver and dive officer of the unit.

Perdomo taught a class on the new mask. Following the class, the reconnaissance Marines tested the new gear at the Camp Schwab Aquatic Center.

“There are many major advantages the new mask has over the previous mask,” said Perdomo. “If a diver goes unconscious while submerged, he will not drown because air will continue to flow into the mask.”

During the test run of the CDFFM, divers paired into buddy teams and conducted several exercises while submerged in the pool. One of the main features the new mask is underwater voice communication via radio.

This recent implementation is being conducted across the Marine Corps and all combatant divers will receive this training, said Perdomo.

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U.S. Soldier Based in Okinawa Re-Enlists Underwater

Not a bad spot for a re-enlistment ceremony, 30-feet down.

Sgt. Juanita Tompkins, a paralegal specialist with Staff Judge Advocate, 10th Support Group at Torii Station, rededicated herself to the service Wednesday during an underwater ceremony, according to an Army news release.

Col. Lance. R. Koenig, commander of the 10th Support Group and the U.S. Army on Okinawa, presided over the ceremony.

“This represents a very important milestone in my life and I wanted the ceremony to be unique,” Tompkins was quoted in the release. “What better way to highlight my experience as a soldier living and working on Okinawa then to re-enlist at a depth of 30 feet.”

Indian Navy Divers Set National Deep Diving Record

From Sify News:

Five Indian Navy Divers on board INS Nireekshak of Southern Naval Command have set a new national record for deep diving earlier this month.

Lieutenant Commander Abhijeet Sangle, Chief Petty Officer KK Singh, Chief Petty Officer Shriom Singh, Leading Seaman MK Prusty, and Leading Seaman Narender Kumar dived to a depth of 233 metres in the seas off Kochi, breaking an earlier record set by Indian Navy divers.

Such deep dives called saturation diving in professional circles, involve complex support systems from the Diving Support Vessel (INS Nireekshak) to enable the divers to explore the final frontiers in physical and mental endurance.

Water pressure increases by 1 kg/cm2 every 10 meters as the depth increases. Other complications of deep dives include physiological problems of bubbles formed by gas throughout the body causing "decompression sickness" as the divers come up to surface.

The complex science of saturation diving circumvented these problems with the aid of devices like decompression chambers.

The saturation Divers are pressurised to the required depth in the deck decompression chamber (DDC) on board the Ship, till their bodies are saturated with specially prepared breathing gas.

A diving capsule pressurised to the same pressure is thereafter connected to the DDC and the Divers move into that capsule. The capsule or bell is then lowered into water to the set depth and one or more divers swim out to accomplish the task.

The Divers use an umbilical chord that provides breathing gas, communication and hot water to keep them warm at that depth.

On completion of task, the divers re enter the bell, close the hatch and return to the support ship under the same pressure. This procedure could be repeated till the task is completed.

Once the task is completed, the DDC is gradually brought back to normal pressure over several days based on calculations, as the Divers continue to remain inside.

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Wreck diving, adaptive diving, river diving, oh my!

A terrific episode from the folks over at Talking Scuba this week.


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Scuba Divers Rescue 30-Ton Humpback Whale Trapped in Fishing Nets

Dramatic video off the beach resort of Los Cabos, as three Mexican Navy divers teamed up with three local divers to free a tangled humpback whale.


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"The whale had a net attached to its tail. We went to provide support and discovered civilians were also helping out," said naval officer Santos Guzman.

The navy cordoned off the area and a team of six divers - three locals and three navy divers - used ropes and hooks attached to three buoys to hold the whale in place while they tried to unravel and cut the netting.

After about 30 minutes, during which time one of the divers also became entangled in the net, the whale was freed.

"She (the whale) was stressed. She was throwing her tail about and was moving quite a lot. You could tell she was asking for help," said diver Marco Morales.

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Surviving the Cut: Special Forces Combat Diver (Part III)

Finally, here's part three of Discovery Network's intense three-part video series on becoming a U.S. Army Special Forces Combat Diver.


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In case you missed the previous videos, you can view part one here and view part two here.

Surviving the Cut: Special Forces Combat Diver (Part II)

Part two of the Discovery Network's three-part video series on becoming a U.S. Army Special Forces Combat Diver.


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If you missed part one you can view it here.

Surviving the Cut: Special Forces Combat Diver (Part I)

This week we've decided to post Discovery Network's intense three-part video series on becoming a U.S. Army Special Forces Combat Diver.

Prepare to have your mind blown.


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Army Officer Dies After 'Pre-SCUBA' Training Accident

Tragedy out of North Carolina, as U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Juan E. Lightfoot has died several days after a pre-scuba training accident.

The Army is investigating the death of a Special Forces captain who died Sunday after an accident during unit pre-scuba training Dec. 8 on Fort Bragg.

Capt. Juan E. Lightfoot, 34, died at Womack Army Medical Center four days after the accident. Lightfoot, of Elmont, N.Y., commanded a Special Forces detachment in Company C of the 2nd Battalion of Fort Bragg's 7th Special Forces Group. The former Marine had arrived at the battalion in November.

As the article mentions, details about the accident are unavailable due to the investigation. But Maj. Jimmy Brownlee, a spokesman for 7th Group, did mention that the training in which Lightfoot was partaking is designed to prepare soldiers for a combat diver's course.

The training was intended to prepare soldiers to attend the Combat Divers Qualification Course at Key West, Fla., Brownlee said. The Combat Divers Qualification Course is held at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School in Key West, part of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg.

Special Forces soldiers train to infiltrate by land, sea and air. Combat divers might be dropped off in water and have to swim to their objective and cope with obstacles in between. The underwater mission is extremely rigorous, Brownlee said.

"Not every Special Forces soldier is a combat diver," Brownlee said. "When you get under that water, you could be 20 or 30 feet down, you could be tethered to a buddy, not see your compass, waiting for the silt to settle down. If they resurface, they are bringing their buddy with them."

Our thoughts and prayers are with Capt. Lightfoot's family and friends, especially this Christmas season.

Experts Work to Remove Ammo Found Under NY Bridge

In a follow-up to the story we reported last week about divers discovering 1500 live ammunition shells under a NY bridge, experts are now working to remove the ammo.

It's not exactly buried treasure.

The Coast Guard said Friday experts are trying to figure out the best plan to recover unexploded ammunition found last weekend in the waters underneath New York City's Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

The material has been there for some time, based on the corrosion, spokesman Charles Rowe said, anywhere from "a few years to a few decades."

Rowe declined to pinpoint the location, but said it's not in a shipping channel or common fishing area. He said the agencies involved - which also include the police, Navy and Army Corps of Engineers - are assessing what needs to be done to retrieve the material and how best to go about it.

It wasn't clear what the source of the ammunition was. The commercial diver who discovered the cache last weekend believes it comes from a 1954 barge accident, but Rowe couldn't confirm that. The bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island, opened in 1964.

After seeing the munitions under water, diver Gene Ritter got in touch with Ken Hayes, president of Aqua Survey. The Flemington, N.J., company conducted a sonar survey of the area on Sunday.

Hayes said a sonar survey of the area was a safer way to go than diving near the ammunition, which mostly likely would not go off but was still dangerous.

"You've got to be real careful," he said.

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Scuba Divers Discover 1500 Live Ammunition Shells Under NY Bridge

Yikes!

COMMERCIAL divers were confident Sunday that they uncovered what the Navy missed more than 50 years ago during a frantic search that made national headlines in the US: roughly 1500 live shells that went overboard into New York's Verrazano Narrows and Gravesend Bay.

A four-person crew was last week searching for artifacts in the murky waters off New York Harbour's former Fort Lafayette - an island near Bay Ridge destroyed in 1960 to pave the way for the Verrazano Bridge.

Initially, the team planned to photograph a few small shells they found last year. But this time around, diver Gene Ritter was blown away by what he saw on the sea floor.

Scattered under only six meters of water were eight WWII-era copper artillery shells - including one five feet long - designed to shoot down airplanes and about 1500 large calibre machine gun shells designed to explode on contact.

"What a find," Mr Ritter said as he climbed aboard the vessel.

"They're all over the place. Hundreds of them."

He believes the ammunition came from the stockpile of 14,470 live rounds that splashed into the bay during a military accident March 4, 1954. The aircraft carrier USS Bennington, moored off the fort, had unloaded the firepower onto a barge that broke free during a storm, overturned and drifted six miles to the Rockaways, littering the muddy sea floor with live ammunition along the way.

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Deadliest Scuba Job in the World

That title would have to belong to suspected terrorist divers of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

The Israeli navy fatally shot at least four Palestinian divers on Monday off the coast of the Gaza Strip who military officials allege were en route to attack Israel.

Two divers were reported to have survived the attack, and another was reported missing.

The divers were members of a violent affiliate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, known as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a spokesman for one of the brigade divisions said. The spokesman for the group's Palestine division said the divers were on a training mission, unarmed and operating in shallow waters 250 meters from the Gaza coastline.

The Israeli military, in a brief statement, said its forces had fired upon "a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits on their way to execute a terror attack." The statement did not provide specifics of what was planned or say whether the divers had weapons.

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