November 2012 3

As I write this article, t he 

 MK V monument is being unveiled in Panama City. My apologies 

for not attending the ceremony, but I am 

pleased that the project is complete. Finally, a monument to symbolize the gratitude owed to all of the diving men and 

women who have served this country. I 

extend my thanks to all those who supported the herculean effort to bring this 

vision to reality. Hoo Yah!

This issue, I wanted to extend my 

thanks to the Divers out there turning 

wrenches on the ships and submarines in the Fleet. I recently had the 

opportunity to meet with Divers from 

the Naval Submarine Support Facility in New London. Many were new 

two chucks in their first diving tour. I 

asked how many of them joined the 

Navy to turn wrenches on submarines 

in Groton – I don’t think a single 

hand went up. This doesn’t surprise 

me at all; in fact, it was the answer 

that I expected. But, let me give 

praise to where praise is due.

Ship repair and underwater ship 

husbandry is not as glamorous as 

launching and recovering SEAL delivery vehicles from a dry deck shelter or pulling a stranded fishing vessel out of the mud and muck in the 

far east (okay, we may have a twisted 

sense of glamour), but it is a critical 

aspect of our everyday business. Conducting repairs while the ship is waterborne can deliver between a seven 

to one and a twenty to one return on 

our efforts – and this assumes that 

a drydock is empty and ready to receive the afflicted vessel immediately 

when the repairs are needed. In 2011, 

we conducted 49 in-water repairs on 

submarines, avoiding 32 emergent 

drydockings. Similarly, for the surface fleet, 59 repairs avoided 41 drydockings. Underwater ship husbandry, while adding to the difficulty of a 

repair, is both faster and cheaper than 

docking a ship or submarine to do the 

work dry. The money saved through 

your efforts is astounding. 

You, the Divers in the repair lockers scattered throughout the globe, are 

a critical enabler for our Fleet. Your 

efforts allow our ships and submarines to remain at sea, ready for tasking, and you do so 

in a very cost-effective manner. Your 

pride in your work 

shows. Hoo Yah!

As a separate 

note,the Saturation FlyAway Diving System (SAT 

FADS) is nearing 

system certification. Significant 

milestones have 

b e e n a c h i e v e d 

since the last Faceplate issue. Under the leadership 

of retired Master 

Diver Paul McMurtrie, the SAT 

FADS team has 

completed manned testing at sea. 

In May, ND1 Graves, ND1 Trevallion, NDCS Chase, ND1 Post, HMC 

Faasen, and NDC Diego opened the 

hatch and dropped down into the deep 

blue, exiting the diving bell at 1,000 

fsw. This is the first time since the 

mid-1970s that we have conducted 

an open ocean saturation dive to that 

depth! Hats off to the Divers and the 

team that got them there!

So, the obvious question is, 

“Now what?” Those of us stuck 

within the beltway instead of being on the waterfront are heavily 

engaged in the budgeting process, 

predicting the requirements of fiscal year 2015 and prioritizing our 

resources ($$) against them. Determining where to field SAT FADS 

and how to work saturation diving 

back into the career progression of 

Navy Divers is one of the key focuses of my budgeting efforts. More to 

follow...

Keep diving!

SAT FADS Dive Bell ascending thru the water Column after 

successful completion of the first 1000 fsw manned dive.
November 2012 4

vessel. The process to gain approval to 

conduct salvage operations took more 

than four years. In December of 2011, 

the Task Order from the United States 

Pacific Command was issued. When the 

TASKORD made its way through the 

chain of command to Commander, Task 

Force 73, USNS SAFEGUARD and 

MDSU ONE Company 1-7 were chosen to conduct the salvage operations.

SAFEGUARD and Company 1-7 

arrived on January 20th and wasted no 

time going to work. Company 1-7, led 

by CWO3 Davin Strang and MDV John 

Stegall, quickly mobilized hydraulic 

pumping systems, patching materials, 

a MK III LWDS, and a myriad of other 

equipment needed to do the job. Given 

the shallow depth of the water around 

the M.V. CECILIA, all of the diving 

was conducted using SAFEGUARD’s 

When the decision to transition our ARS 51 class ships to the 

Military Sealift Command (MSC) was 

made, I must admit that I was a bit of a 

skeptic. After serving on USS BEAUFORT (ATS 2) and USS SALVOR (ARS 

52), I had a hard time believing that a small 

crew of Merchant Mariners and a contingent of Divers from one of the Mobile 

Diving and Salvage Units would be able 

to do the work that a crew of 100+ could. 

After a tour as a Master Diver at 

MDSU ONE, where I was lucky enough 

to deploy on both USNS SALVOR and 

USNS SAFEGUARD, I am now a believer. The salvage triad of MDSU, MSC, 

and NAVSEA doesn’t just work, it works 

very well. A recent example of the salvage triad in action is the salvage of the 

Motor Vessel Cecilia in Colonia, Yap. 

USNS SAFEGUARD and embarked 

MDSU ONE Company 1-7, coupled 

with engineering and mechanic support from NAVSEA and ESSM (GPC), 

teamed up to conduct nine days of salvage operations on the wrecked vessel. 

MV Cecilia ran aground in 1997 and 

was then washed onto the shore adjacent 

to the commercial pier in Colonia, Yap 

during a typhoon. The 167-foot vessel 

had been recently fueled and was suspected of having over 2,000 gallons of 

diesel fuel on board. The potential environmental impact of the remaining fuel 

coupled with the fact that the wreck was 

extremely close to the island’s only commercial pier was cause for great concern. 

Having no local salvage assets and with 

the owners abandoning the vessel, the 

Government of The Federated States of 

Micronesia, Yap State asked the United 

States for help to remove the abandoned 

By: NDCM(DSW/SW) Jon Klukas

M.V. CECILIA SALVAGE OPERATIONS
November 2012

5

35-foot workboat and RHIB. In the 

first three days of diving operations, 

Company 1-7 installed 19 patches 

and 34 plugs or wedges. They also 

ran operational pumping tests of the 

two-and four-inch hydraulic pumps. 

Additional assistance arrived on 

Sunday, January 22nd when Vince Jar-

ecki (NAVSEA), Cecil Harris (GPC), 

and LCDR Chris Williams (SRF Yoko-

suka) hit the ground. Mr. Jarecki and 

LCDR Williams provided engineering 

and POSSE support while Cecil Har-

ris provided his mechanical and sal-

vage expertise to the job. In addition, 

Captain Edward Dickerson, Chief En-

gineer Scotty Robinson and the crew 

of SAFEGUARD played a huge role 

by providing personnel, equipment, 

and expertise 

t h r o u g h o u t 

t h e m i s s i o n . 

By the end 

of day seven, 

the te am had 

i n s t a l l e d 9 4 

plugs and 53 

patches on the 

w r e c k. T h e y 

a l s o c u t o f f 

t h e r ud d e r s , 

propellers, bow 

ramp, and star-

board gunnel. After several test pumps 

to confirm that all of the cofferdams were 

holding, the team waited for low tide to 

commence dewatering the wreck. Pump-

ing operations utilized ESSM’s four-inch 

and two-inch hydraulic pumps as well as 

the three-inch trash pumps. The wreck 

was raised evenly and without incident. 

After raising the wreck, the fuel 

tanks were verified to be free of diesel 

and all patches and plugs were re-checked. 

The wreck was then transferred to local 

tugs and relocated in a position which 

gave local scrap companies working ac-

cess to cut the wreck apart. While 

24 days were allotted for the job, 

Company 1-7 finished in just nine 

days. During the nine days Company 

1-7 completed 21 dives for a total 

bottom time of 15.5 hours and logged 

over 1,624 man-hours on the salvage 

job.

In addition to the salvage op-

erations, Captain Dickerson and his 

crew hosted the Governor of Yap, 

numerous Senators and a myriad of 

other cabinet ministers throughout 

their port visit. SAFEGUARD and 

Company 1-7 also provided tours for 

over 450 Yapese students. The com-

bination of highly successful salvage 

operations and the hosting of local 

officials and students went a long 

way in furthering U.S. and Feder-

ated States of Micronesia relations. 

The success of this operation is 

a testament to the highly effective 

relationship between MSC, MDSU, 

and NAVSEA, once again prov-

ing that the salvage triad not only 

works, but works very well. The sal-

vage of MV CECILIA also proves that 

our new generation of Deep Sea Div-

ers, like all of those before them, still 

have that Hoo Yah, Can-Do attitude. 

MDV Klukas is currently serving at 

COMLOG WESTPAC, Singapore.

Title cover photo: MDSU-ONE, Co 1-7 

installed 94 plugs and 53 patches on the 

wreck; Top left and center: ND2 Smith 

cuts the hinges off the bow ramp of Ce-

celia; Bottom left: CAPT Ed Dickerson, 

CWO3 Davin Strang, and MDV John Ste-

gall host Yapese. Photos by MDV Klukas 
November 2012 6

For the last quarter century, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), in conjunction 

with the University of North CarolinaWilmington (UNCW), have operated the 

Aquarius Undersea Laboratory through 

the National Undersea Research Program 

(NURP). The Aquarius Laboratory, the 

world’s only operational submerged habitat, is located 3.5 miles of the coast of Key 

Largo, FL in the Florida Keys National 

Marine Sanctuary. Aquarius sits at Conch 

Reef, in 66 feet of water, and has been the 

pinnacle of underwater research, allowing scientists to perform marine ecosystem studies and experiments previously 

impossible under regular diving limits. 

Undersea equipment testing and coral observations have also been conducted, all 

benefitting NOAA’s research to help assess 

the longevity of coral reefs and their sustainment of sub ocean ecosystems.

In addition to advancing scientific 

research, Aquarius has become a major 

component of training operations for various government agencies, to including the 

United States Navy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

The joint partnership with the U.S. Navy 

begin in early 2003, when the Supervisor 

of Salvage and Supervisor of Diving, approached Aquarius staff to 

explore the possibilities of using the 

Aquarius to provide in-water saturation diving training; a capability 

the Navy no longer supported. By 

the end of 2003, the partnership allowed for the training of one of the 

U.S. Navy’s last saturation diving 

classes, and set the stage for many 

years of joint operations. Between 

2004 and 2009, Aquarius hosted 

over 60 Navy Divers on a dozen 

4-day saturation missions inside 

the seafloor habitat, the first since 

the Navy’s Sealab program in the 

1960’s. In 2006 the Specialized Research Diving Detachment (SRDD) began 

conducting saturation missions utilizing 

Underwater Breathing Apparatus (UBA), 

or rebreathers, to continue saturation analog training and gain valuable Diver experience with emerging technologies. 

During these Navy training missions, 

the integrated use of the Navy’s MK 21 

diving systems were a first for Aquarius, 

allowing Divers to leave the habitat’s wetporch for excursions simulating saturation 

bell procedures. This unique training ability has proven to be irreplaceable, leading 

the way from the now decommissioned Pigeon class submarine rescue vehicles to the 

Navy’s new Saturation Fly-Away Diving 

System (SAT FADS). “Aquarius served as 

an important bridge that allowed the Navy 

to maintain valuable in water saturation 

experience while we developed and certified the SAT FADS system,” says Paul 

McMurtrie, SAT FADS Program Manager 

and retired Navy Master Diver. Aside from 

saturation opportunities, Aquarius has allowed for Divers from Mobile Diving and 

Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 to conduct training and perform basic overhaul and construction during numerous Aquarius missions. After Hurricane Rita in 2005, Divers 

from Underwater Construction Teams 

(UCT) ONE and TWO, along with divers 

from MDSU TWO were instrumental in 

stabilizing Aquarius prior to the arrival of 

Hurricane Wilma. Furthermore, Navy underwater repair techniques have enabled 

numerous valves and components to be replaced in-situ and retain American Bureau 

of Shipping (ABS) certification without being removed from the sea floor.

The U.S. Navy continues to play an active role in Aquarius missions today, providing Diving Medical Officer (DMO) support 

during NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). The Aquarius 

and NEEMO cooperation provides NASA 

with an analog training environment that 

simulates the International Space Station 

(ISS) and moon/Mars exploration missions 

with realism not available in any other training mediums. Astronaut core competencies 

of space walking, surface exploration, and 

tool operation/procedures are practiced 

during these 3-18 day missions.

Unfortunately, the Aquarius is slated 

to be closed as part of the termination of 

NOAA’s Undersea Research Program 

in 2013. Efforts are underway to enable 

the operation to continue under other 

funding support mechanisms. More information regarding the efforts can be 

found at http://aquariusreefbase.org/

http://aquarius.uncw.edu/ 

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/diving/aquarius/aquarius.html

LT Dustin Cunningham is the Assistant for Salvage at NAVSEA 00C

LT Dustin Cunningham (00C2OA) and Aquarius Operations Director, Saul Rosser conduct Aquarius system alignment prior to NASA’s NEEMO 16 training 

evolution. Photo by LCDR Chris Addington (00C2OB).

A U.S. Navy Diver with SRDD uses 

the MK 16 during a saturation excursion. The inclusion of Navy diving with Aquarius operations helped 

introduce surface supplied diving 

to the habitat and provide various UBA/rebreather testing. (Photo 

courtesy of Roger Garcia, UNC-W)

References: Kohanowich, K. and Potts, T. NOAA’s 

AQUARIUS Reef Base: Entering a New Decade

Aquarius Habitat and Navy Diving

By: LT Dustin Cunningham 
November 2012 7

SEABEES from Underwater 

Construction Team Two (UCT 

TWO), based in Port Hueneme, California, deployed to Sattahip, Thailand 

on May 2nd as part of their 2012 deployment cycle in support of the 18th annual 

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Exercise. Other participating units included; USS GERMANTOWN (LSD 42), USS LASSEN (DDG 

82), USCGC WAESCHE (WMSL-751), 

USNS WASHINGTON CHAMBERS 

(T-AKE 11), USNS SAFEGUARD (TARS 50), P-3C Orion and SH-60 Seahawk aircraft, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Forty (NMCB 40), Navy 

Riverine Squadron One, the U.S. 7th 

Fleet band, Marines from Company F, 

2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and 

III Marine Expeditionary Force. Exercise CARAT is a Commander Task Force 

73 sponsored series of bilateral Navy to 

Navy Exercises focusing on improving 

interoperability and increasing regional 

stability in Southeast Asia. 

Arriving via Naval Air Liaison with 

10 tons of equipment, including: SCUBA 

diving gear, underwater hydraulic tools, 

two inflatable zodiac boats, hydrographic 

equipment, side scan sonar, and multiple 

pier inspection tools, the 16 members 

from UCT TWO and Construction Diving Detachment (CDD) Bravo hit the 

Cooperation Abroad

ground running to participate in Exercise 

CARAT. CDD Bravo was tasked to complete a detailed level I and II inspection of 

Thong Prong Pier in Sattahip and to train 

side-by-side with the Royal 

Thai Navy (RTN) Underwater Construction Divers 

on side scan sonar, hydrographic survey, and underwater searching techniques 

to identify navigation hazards during Humanitarian 

Assistance/Disaster Recovery Subject Matter Expert 

Exchange (HA/DR SMEE). 

During t he SMEE, 

UCT TWO personnel provided training on the setup 

and operation of the side 

scan sonar and hydrographic survey equipment. 

Upon completion of the 

training, UCT TWO and RTN Divers worked together to collect data for 

both a side scan and hydrographic survey of Had Yao Beach. The survey was 

conducted one day prior to an amphibious landing on Had Yao Beach by U.S. 

and Tai Marine Expeditionary Forces. 

During another element of the 

SMEE exchange UCT TWO Divers and RTN Divers dove side by 

side to locate a simulated obstruction for removal in a disaster recovery situation. During the dive, Construction 

Electrician Chief (SCW / 

MDV) Terence Juergens 

conducted a diving casualty drill on the dive team. 

A Diver simulated being 

unconscious after surfacing 

from a dive due to Arterial 

Gas Embolism (AGE), an 

extremely dangerous diving 

related illness. UCT TWO 

and RTN Divers worked together 

to recover the casualty into the 

dive boat and safely transport the 

diver to shore. “This is the third 

Mil to Mil exercise we have done this deployment, and each time we work with 

foreign militaries I’m amazed at how 

much we can learn from one another. 

During the drill everyone did what they 

needed to do, it didn’t matter if they were 

UCT or RTN. It is always a great experience working with other countries,” 

said Construction Mechanic First Class 

(SCW/DV) James Richardson. 

UCT TWO’s other tasking was the 

inspection of Thong Prong Pier located 

in Sattahip, Thailand. The pier is very 

important to the local infrastructure and 

is utilized for off-load of ammunition to 

HM1 Eric Ketelsen, CM1(SCW) David Wertz, 

BU2(SCW/DV) Christopher Farmer, CM2(SCW/

DV) Ryan Murphy transporting a patient to shore 

during a diving emergency drill.

SW2 (SCW/DV) Metro Sayre and CM2 (SCW/DV) 

Aaron Heldreth prepare to make a dive with two Royal 

Thailand Navy Seabee Divers. 

CM1 (SCW/DV) James Richardson conducting 

ultrasonic thickness measurements to establish 

remaining thickness of steel caissons.

CEC (SCW/DV) Adam Winters
November 2012 8

support Cobra Gold as well as other Thai 

Military operations. Constructed in 1969 

this 40+ year old pier has stood the test of 

time with little or no maintenance. It has 

been deemed unsafe for offload of ammunition due to severe damage to the fendering system and severe corrosion of steel 

caissons. The amount of effort involved 

in the inspection and data collection was 

immense. Utilizing SCUBA/DP2 and underwater inspection tools, Divers logged 

over 24 hours of bottom time to complete a full and detailed inspection. UCT 

TWO SEABEE Divers spent 3 weeks 

working on the pier. Their work included 

data collection, hydrographic surveys, 

side scan sonar data, and soil penetration 

tests. “The amount of work that we were 

tasked with in a relatively short amount 

of time shows how versatile the UCTs 

are. We came here to get the job done, 

and get it done right” said Chief Terence 

Juergens. “These guys are professionals, 

you couldn’t ask for a better group of SEABEES”.

With a maximum 

depth of 45 feet of sea water, Divers inspected 64 

steel caissons that were 16 

feet in circumference and 

heavily encased in marine 

growth. In perfect conditions this is a daunting 

task. When faced with a 

tidal range of over 20 feet 

and, at times, currents of 

over 3 knots, Divers had 

to use their time wisely 

and work at times of slack 

tide. UCT Divers inspected 

specific locations on the caissons, recording ultrasonic and Bathycorrometer 

measurements. This data is used to detect 

the remaining thickness and corrosion 

potential of the steel caissons. Builder 

Second Class (SCW/DV) Christopher 

Farmer stated, “Overall I 

thought it was a great experience. This was the first time 

I’ve used destructive testing 

techniques to get inspection 

results, it was very challenging. I hope we come back to 

do the repair work.”

The detailed underwater inspection of this pier is 

crucial to better determine 

the structural integrity and 

future repair plans that could 

be implemented by NAVFAC. 

This pier is unique in the fact 

that it serves as 

the only location to offload 

ammunition in the area. 

While this is deemed unsafe for use, the Navy will 

be forced to use commercial 

ports in northern Thailand 

that impose logistical constraints that could hinder 

future operations.

Construction Electrici

an Chief (SCW/DV) Adam 

Winters, Assistant Officer In 

charge of CDD Bravo was 

grateful for the hospitality BU2 (SCW/DV) Trevor Buckett provides Side Scan Sonar 

training to Royal Thailand Navy Seabee Divers.

BU2 (SCW/DV) Trevor Buckett provides Bathymetric 

survey training to Royal Thailand Navy Seabee Divers.

UCT-TWO and Royal Thailand Navy Seabee Divers 

setting up for hydraulic drilling operations on Throng 

Prong Pier.

SW2 (SCW/DV) Metro Sayre conducting a level 

one swim by inspection of Throng Prong Pier.

of the RTN Divers and hard work by all 

parties involved, stating “The pier inspection and Mil to Mil training was a great 

success thanks to unparalleled cooperation by everyone involved. There was a 

tremendous amount of knowledge transferred between UCT TWO and the RTN 

Divers. The quality of work presented 

by the detachment was outstanding and 

will help to improve the readiness of the 

Thai Navy, as well as the Pacific Fleet.” 

All photos by: BU2(SCW/DV) Matthew 

Dawson, UCT-2

CEC (SCW/DV) Adam Winters Underwater Construction Team Two, Construction Diving Detachment BRAVO’s 

Assistant Officer in Charge. 
November 2012 9

The U.S. Coast Guard began conducting ice diving in 1957 when 

military vessels started steaming through 

the Northwest Passage. It became clear there were occasions when some poor soul had 

to get in the water for whatever 

reason. This responsibility fell 

on the USCG and U.S. Navy 

Divers that were or might be 

stationed on the ship or an 

Auxiliary/Rescue ship, commonly called an Icebreaker. In 

June and July of 1965 a Revised Memorandum of Agreement, Supplement No. 2 to the 

Commandant’s Bulletin No. 

32-65 was signed by Paul H. 

Nitze (Secretary of the Navy), 

Joseph W. Barr (acting Secretary of the 

Treasury), T. F. Connolly (Assistant 

CNO Fleet Operations and Readiness), 

and W. W. Childress (Rear Admiral U.S. 

Coast Guard Chief, Office of Operations) 

turning the icebreakers and cold water/

ice diving operations over to the USCG. 

I was invited to attend the Coast 

Guard Cold Water Ice Diving (CWID) 

“C” School Course from 23 January to 

4 February as an observer. Having done 

several ice dives in my career while stationed at Mobile Diving and Salvage 

Unit Two (MDSU TWO) and hearing it 

was being hosted by the USCG, I was 

hesitant and curious. Hesitant because, 

quite frankly, I knew it would be cold; 

that usually happens while ice diving 

(at least it was every time I went). I was 

also curious since the general perception of the USCG’s diving proficiency 

wasn’t exactly what you would call stellar. The point being driven home after 

the August 17, 2006 CGC Healy diving 

mishap in which, most regrettably, LT 

Jessica Hill and BM2 Stephen Dubuque 

lost their lives while conducting a seemingly routine planned cold water SCUBA dive for 20 minutes at 20 fsw off 

the port bow of CGC Healy, anchored 

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD 

COLD WATER ICE DIVERS

just off the coast of Alaska. USCG divers pay homage to the lost Diver’s memorial located in USCG Base Support Unit (BSU) Seattle (photo below).

When there is a tragedy in military 

diving there are usually many contributing factors. Without going into the specific details that caused this tragedy I will 

sum it up by saying assumptions were 

made concerning the Diver’s proficiency 

to conduct a safe training cold water dive. 

There was a complacency born from ignorance and a general lack of concern in 

the USCG Diving Program. The mindset 

was essentially, “You’ve been trained at 

school that should be adequate.” Prior 

to the CGC Healy tragedy, USCG divers typically would attend Dive School, 

get stationed as a Diver for one or two 

commands then returned to their designated ratings. In the event diving was 

required they would be thrust arbitrarily 

into a diving billet or operation with the 

expectation the diver was highly trained 

and “good to go”. We all know the 

motto, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” 

After the CGC Healy tragedy it was 

obvious drastic changes were needed in 

the USCG Diving Program. CG Commandant, Admiral Thad Allen and his 

then Chief of Staff, Admiral Bob Papp 

(now Commandant) immediately set 

in motion plans to develop the USCG 

CWID course into a “C” school and more 

importantly (in my humble opinion) develop a USCG Diver career path. 

Tasked by Admiral Papp; 

LT Shawn Deweese , CWO4 

Ken Anderson, DCC Chris 

Keplinger, and MKC Ryan 

McDougald went to work developing the USCG CWID 

“C” school curriculum. They 

spent countless hours poring 

over Army Field Manuals, 

the Seabee Arctic Survival 

Manual, NOAA’s Ice Diving 

Manual, the U.S. Navy Diving 

Manual, numerous tech manuals and the Authorized for 

Military Use (AMU) list for 

any and all cold water techniques and diving equipment. This is a 

tremendous amount of information – so 

only the most reasonable, practical techniques in getting to the site, developing 

the site, conducting the ice diving/cold 

water operation, and proper personal protective dress were gleaned. The administrative side of the “C” school was ready 

to be tested near the end of 2008. The 

first practical application test of all their 

hard work was in early 2009 using only 

highly proficient USCG divers in Whittier, AK before moving on to Hidden 

Lake at Cooper Landing, AK. It needed 

some tweaking, but it was a success.

Picking up where LT Deweese left 

off, LT Keith Wilkins stationed at the 

USCG Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) Liaison Office 

come into the picture. Bringing past cold 

water/ice diving experience from diving 

with the Boston State Police in 2008, he 

slid right in to the roles of Liaison Officer 

and Dive Program Technical Manager. 

LT Wilkins surrounded himself with an 

competent group of USCG Divers “hell 

bent” on making their CWID “C” School 

one of the most “comprehensive and allencompassing diving programs” to date. 

MKC Chuck Sowers, MEC (select) Mike 

By: NDCM (MDV) John Coffelt 
November 2012 10

GLO-TOOB

ABV

West and MK1 Adam Prater made up 

the training team. They came together in 

2009 testing the ice diving curriculum in 

Alaska. There were some tweaks made 

by the team and in 2010 they were ready 

to go again. As before, using only known 

competent USCG Divers, they headed 

back to Alaska. A few more tweaks and 

LT Wilkins was ready to present his “C” 

school curriculum to NDCM(MDV) 

Mark Leet, the NDSTC Command Master Chief and veteran cold water/ice Diver. The goal being to not only receive approval (a Master Diver’s perspective) for 

the course curriculum but being able to 

incorporate all branches of diving military service in this. MDV Leet liked the 

curriculum layout but in his own words 

told LT Wilkins, “Let me see how you 

guys are doing the business.” 

In early 2011, the trained USCG 

Divers and MDV Leet along with Navy, 

Army and fleet USCG Divers met in 

Seattle, WA to initiate the eleven day 

course. Unfortunately, the USCG Divers 

had lost their logistics assets at Air Force 

Base Elmendorf, AK. Upon losing this 

the USCG and NOAA generated an 

MOA allowing the USCG to use the 

facilities at the NOAA Dive Center 

Basin in downtown Seattle.This 

facility provides a 50-foot training water tower, two recompression chambers, a “laydown” room 

for drying/stowing dive equipment 

and a classroom. After three days 

in Seattle conducting CWID introductory curriculum, familiarization 

and practical application diving, 

the group headed to Diamond Lake 

Boy Scout reservation outside 

of Spokane, WA. They found 

ice but the thickness and soundness became questionable after 

a few days, which cut the training short but NDCM(MDV) Leet 

liked what he saw.

That brings us to 2012. Upon 

arrival in Seattle, I’m met by 

LT Wilkins. We head out to meet 

the group of CWID enrollees. I 

meet personnel from the Army 

(SFC(MDV) Weston Cox, SSG 

Chaise Turner, SSG Paolo Cavenaghi) Coast Guard (LT Keith 

Wilkins, LT Jason Prairie, LTJG Keith 

Walton (LT Wilkins’ future relief), DCC 

Christopher Keplinger, MEC (select) 

Mike West, MK1 Adam Prater, YN1 

Lucas Spencer, AET2 Shawn Ketzer, 

MK2 Manny Severino, BM2 Jeff Esser) 

and Navy, (NDCM(MDV) Mark Leet, 

NDC Eric Eberle, NDC Mark Sawyer, 

ND1 Overton Pierce, ND1 Eric Riggenbach, ND1 Bobbie McClain). Day One

takes us to the NOAA Dive Center -

Basin downtown Seattle. MEC(select)

West teaches the 

introductory curriculum. It is an allencompassing, wellrounded, survival 

and practical course)

s h o r t a n d t o t h e 

p o i n t . D a y Tw o 

brings us back to the 

same location with 

MK1 Prater supervising dry-suit familiarization dives 

(practicing uprighting yourself if you 

become inverted) as well as ditching 

the MK 20 and breathing off of the 2nd 

stage octopus regulator in 38 degree water (photo left). In order to conduct these 

dives a waiver is required for the use 

of the Ambient Breathing Valve (ABV) 

(photo bottom left). The ABV is a practical idea because the Diver can don the 

MK-20 hat and not breathe from the regulator reducing the chance of a regulator 

freeze up. I especially liked the CWID 

dive rig (photo above). It consisted of 

two independent first-stage APEX regulators on a dual manifold, a MK 20 hat, a 

TX50 second stage regulator and DIN fittings made the connections. The Buoyancy Compensator (BC) was a HALCYON 

with a full donut bladder modified with 

D-rings and DUI weight pouches. With 

the independent first stage regulators, 

one post on the manifold was used for inflation of the BC and the MK-20 hat. The 

other post was used to provide air to the 

diver’s octopus second-stage regulator 

and the SCUBA console. Communications and tending were provided by OTS 

COMMROPE. Day Three involves practical application dives at the USCG Base 

Support Unit (BSU) Seattle; hull surveys, 

bottom searches and object recoveries. 

Next phase is to put all of this training to 

work where it really gets cold.

The following morning we pack up 

and head for Lac Des Roches (Lake of 

Rocks) in Lone Butte, Alberta, Canada. 

It’s about 450 miles from Seattle and a 

long way from a lot of things. The Lac Des 

Roches resort is named for the perimeter 

lake it sits next to. It’s a 3,705-foot high, 

thirteen kilometer long, one hundredsixty foot deep lake (at its deepest) surrounded by splendid tree covered rolling 
November 2012 11

Arrow

hills; it is exceptionally beautiful country. 

The first phase of this training was 

for the USCG instructors to demonstrate 

and lead the enrollees through the lessons taught in the classroom, especially 

the safety procedures. Day One of training consisted of locating suitable ice for a 

dive site, getting the primary/emergency 

holes cut, and setting up the tent. We were 

blessed with approximately eight inches 

of nearly blinding snow during this evolution. It was 28 degrees outside without 

the wind-chill. The water was, and remained 34 degrees with about thirty feet 

of visibility throughout. The ice was 16 

inches thick (photo top left); if I would’ve 

been paying attention in class I would be 

able to tell you how much weight that 

can hold. Once 

the site was established (photo bottom left) 

we made ten 

dives with two hours of bottom time at 

a max depth of thirty feet. The divers reported they could see the wagon wheel 

that was painstakingly shoveled out by 

hand (photo top right). The wagon wheel 

is used as a means for lost Divers (detached from the tending line) to find their 

way back to the hole in the ice they started from. Training was also on emergency 

evacuation through the secondary hole 

drilled in the ice and the Divers worked 

on installing the new and greatly improved ice anchor screws (photo bottom 

right). Day Two started out at 22 degrees. 

We made four dives for eighty minutes 

of bottom time at a max depth of thirty 

feet. The Divers who had not completed 

the emergency evacuation and ice anchor 

screw insertion completed those tasks. 

Once that was complete the enrollees 

had to break down camp and establish a 

new site at a totally different location on 

the lake. Yes, they made the site closer 

to the dining facility. The tear down and 

re-establishment of the site was to establish a proof of concept in the training. 

The training must have paid off because 

it was completed before it was too dark 

to work, and the days aren’t very long in 

the winter time up there. Day Three started out at 22 degrees. We completed ten 

dives with a bottom time of three hours 

and twelve minutes and a max depth of 

thirty seven feet. The scenarios for these 

dives were to locate a submerged object 

using a circle-search line. The visibility 

started off at thirty feet and immediately 

went to zero as soon as the silty bottom 

was stirred up by the rookies, making 

the search considerably more difficult. 

Once the project was located, it was dis-
November 2012 12

assembled, sent to the surface, and then 

re-assembled on the bottom. We did have 

an actual casualty. We had a buoyancy 

compensator inflator freeze up due to 

free flow as soon as the diver surfaced. 

We fixed the problem; no other issues. 

Day Four it warmed up to twenty-eight 

degrees! We conducted six dives with a 

bottom time of ninety minutes and a max 

depth of thirty seven feet. We conducted 

circle-searches and disassembly/assembly of the object again. During that time 

we had the fortune of a visit from Bridge 

Lake Elementary School (photo above). 

Some of the children weren’t even wearing coats...all I could think was, “they 

are tougher than me!” The last two dives 

for the day were diving drills. The first 

was a rig malfunction and the other was 

a lost Diver. Both 

dive supervisors

handled them with 

ease. That concluded the training but 

b e f o r e w e b r o k e 

camp, NDC Eberle 

demonstrated drysuit appreciation 

(photo left).

Once camp was 

stowed and ready

for tomorrow morning’s travel we met 

in the dining facility 

and had the customary Moose Milk, which is a concoction 

that will warm you up on a cold winter’s 

night – trust me. The next morning we 

were on the road headed down south to 

Seattle. We took 99 on the way back; this 

is the most scenic and beautiful country you can imagine with the occasional 

front-end loader around the bend plowing 

and clearing snow from the passes as we 

made our way down through the twisting 

mountain roads to Vancouver. From there 

it’s basically a hop, skip and a jump to Seattle and that concluded the trip.

There were several lessons learned 

from this training, the equipment used 

and the location: 

• The nearest chamber was in Vancouver; air rescue was several hours 

away. There was a discussion with 

NDCM(MDV) Leet about an ISU-90 

design that houses a TRC, overheadmounted CAOS racks, two or three 

oxygen “K” bottles, overhead lighting, 

an air-conditioner/heater, two 110-volt 

receptacles and a 50-amp RV connection that can all be run with a 3KW 

generator. As you may know, the bulkheads of the ISU-90 aren’t exactly that 

strong so they were reinforced. This 

particular portable chamber system 

would be ideal for an instance like this; 

highly portable, low profile. Unfortunately, there weren’t any available.

• The MK 20 hats being dived were 

positive-pressure. They should have 

been demand-mode. Positive-pressure 

valves on the hats have a tendency to 

cause the hat to free-flow if bumped, 

jostled, moved, or even looked at 

sometimes. In an extremely cold environment that first-stage regulator 

and hat would be frozen immediately.

• With the dual post manifold design, the 

inflation hoses for the dry suits could 

have been a little longer. The lack of 

length reduced mobility somewhat. 

• The weight “quick” dumps on the 

HALYCON BC were converted to 

DUI. DUI offered a more versatile and 

practical dump process.

• There is a product called GLO-TOOB 

and that should be attached to the Diver.

• The CWID Diver should dive with a 

double carabiner set called “quickdraw”. If the Diver comes off the 

tending line (lost Diver) and inserts 

the required ice anchor screw into the 

ice to secure their position, the quickdraw once clipped in to the ice anchor 

screw offers the Diver the ability to 

hang a little more freely rather than being pressed against the ice.

• Apparently there isn’t a policy allowing for General Service Administration (GSA) vehicles to enter Canada. If 

this policy were developed and implemented it would mitigate the expensive 

costs of rental vehicles, especially ones 

large enough to carry several personnel, their cold weather gear and dive 

gear. It would also eliminate the rental 

agreement requirement of not being 

able to use the rental vehicle as a towing 

vehicle without personal liability insurance. In other words, if government 

vehicles could be used it would save an 

large amount of money and provide a 

major assist in logistics.

 I talked with Army MDV Westin 

Cox about his thoughts on the course. He 

said it was his first time to ice dive. He 

had been cold water diving in Ketchikan 

and Vancouver Island with the Canadians 

in 2007 training in various scenarios. This 

was his first time to dive this rig. “I like 

the steel SCUBA cylinders; it reduces 

the lead weight requirement. I also really 

like the independent manifold separate 

posts. It just makes sense from a freezeup safety aspect. I prefer to dive the MK 

20 in the demand mode,” said Master 

Diver Cox. He went on to say he felt the 

training location was ideal, liked the fact 

the cabins were close to the lake so the 

Divers could get re-warmed quickly, and 

felt the topside training was good. “The 
November 2012 13

only thing the U.S. Coast Guard needs 

is higher up involvement (possibly a site 

visit) to justify cold weather gear purchases, and to keep this program alive.” 

In good old Army fashion, he felt some 

needed changes would be loading organization and labeled kits. We all know 

the Army has that down pat.

When talking with MDV Leet, I 

found out he has approximately fifteen 

to twenty cold water/ice dives under his 

belt dating back to the 1980’s. MDV 

Leet said, “In the two years I’ve seen this 

CWID course, it is the most comprehensive sanctioned course, cradle to grave. 

Everyone at any level will get something 

from this. The location is ideal, the rig is 

the best set-up to date, and with some already identified refinements it will be almost perfect.” He went on to say, “Maintaining proficiency is key in diving and 

more inherent in ice diving. I hope this 

course can be sustained and filled with 

proficient and capable Coast Guard dive 

instructors. We don’t need another accident like the CGC HEALY Divers. Not 

with the developments we’re 

making right now.”

LT Wilkins provided some 

insight as well. “I’ve been working this CWID course for three 

years now. It is the most successful to date. The plan is to expand. 

I want the Coast Guard to be able 

to provide this training to all U. 

S. Military Diving. I feel that 

I’m in charge of a top-notch 

team of Divers at the NDSTC 

Coast Guard Liaison office in 

MKC Sowers, MEC (select) 

West and MK1 Prater, but we 

desperately need more. Unfortunately, there is no consistency 

in the Coast Guard diving program. A USCG diver will be 

tasked with one of two tours as 

a Diver and transferred back to 

their rating. This undoubtedly 

leads to a loss of proficiency, 

safety mindedness and diving related continuity.” 

My thoughts; it is evident 

a lot of time and effort was put 

in to the CWID course by some 

very knowledgeable operators. 

LT Wilkins and MDV Leet hit 

the nail on the head when they said the 

course is well thought out from cradle to 

grave. It starts slow in the beginning and 

builds the Diver’s confidence along the 

way. You will learn something from this 

course. Does the Coast Guard have a bad 

reputation when it comes to diving? I 

will boldly say yes, but more importantly 

I see that turning around. The USCG is 

integrating their Divers into the Navy 

Diving Program as we speak (their first 

group of Divers are attending class now), 

with plans to increase the number of dive 

students as the year moves on. In addition, they’ve established the CWID “C” 

school course run by experienced CWID 

Divers. LT Wilkins, along with LCDR 

Hare, LT Schreckengost and CWO4 Andersen are focusing on defining a diving career path for Coast Guard Divers 

which will promote diving proficiency 

across the board and will greatly reduce 

the chance of a CGC HEALY incident, 

or any diving incident from happening 

again. The other issue I’ve learned that 

should be corrected, in my humble opinion, is a single effective, accountable 

maintenance system established; preferably a web-based program due to the 

mobility of the USCG units. 

In conclusion, this course is a winwin situation that was appreciated by 

all attendees. Unfortunately, cold-water/

ice diving is one of those genres of diving no one wants to think about until the 

requirement rears its ugly head. Like the 

old saying goes, “in case of emergency, 

break glass” and like MDV Leet said, 

maintaining proficiency in diving is important but even more important when 

it comes to something as imminently dangerous as ice diving.

Lac Des Roches Resort 

www.lacdesroches.com 

For more on USCG and their cold water/ice diving history check this website: 

https://cgportal.uscg.mil/delivery/Satellite/CG7212/HOME

NDCM (MDV) John Coffelt is currently 

serving as Command Master Diver at 

NAVSEA 00C.

Four different manufacturers were used.There were two different versions of 

WHITES:

• FUSION – Excellent mobility, good thermal protection, but minimal durability.

• KODIAK – Large functional cargo pockets but the drysuit inflator was 

inconveniently located on the hip. Also, when ordering you must specify 

to have the hood and gloves integrated. It beats the poly seal method or 

no seal at all.

There were two different versions of the DUI drysuit:

• CLX – Easy integration of the hood and gloves using zipper seals. The 

suit also offers a convenience flap for bodily waste removal and large 

functional cargo pockets. However, it offered minimal abrasion resistance.

• TLS350 – Great form fit, mobility and offered some abrasion resistance.

There were two different versions of the VIKING drysuit:

• HDS 1500 – This is a HAZMAT drysuit so it was durable and would be 

better used for surface-supplied diving than SCUBA. It also seemed to 

restrict the Diver’s legs when finning.

• PRO 1000 – Great durability but shoulder mobility was limited.

USIA drysuits were also used and offered a cross-zip front that makes donning and doffing a lot easier, and it offered some abrasion resistance.

All of the wetsuits seemed to keep the Divers warm, dry, and comfortable. 

Nothing stood out in regard to thermal loss through conduction. 

The Dry-Suits Used and Their Characteristics:
November 2012 14

Site #1; Cutting the triangle

Site #1 Dive Station

left to right: SFC(MDV) Cox, NDCM 

(MDV) Coffelt, NDCM(MDV) Leet

ND1 McClain practices ditch & don; 

MKC (sel.) West stands by

Emergency escape hole training

Up and over

Standing under the ice

Site #2

Site #2 dive station, rectangle vice triangle

LT Wilkins

left to right back row – BM2 Esser, YN1 Spencer, MK2 Severino, NDCM(MDV) Leet, LT Wilkins, 

DCC Keplinger, NDC Sawyer, LTJG Walton, SSG Turner, MK1 Prater, SFC(MDV) Cox Left to 

right front row – LT Prairie, ND1 Riggenbach, SSG Cavenaghi, ND1 Pierce, MKC(sel.) West, 

AET2 Ketzer, NDC Eberle, ND1 McClain, NDCM(MDV) Coffelt\
November 2012 15

Are you up for the most challenging tour of duty you will ever 

experience? If so, contact your detailer. 

Just ask to become a part of the SATFADS Detachment coming in FY-15.

Applicants needed with the following 

prerequisites:

• Diving experience (as much as possible)

• Dedicated to the job

• Able to work long hours with no 

additional pay (just the reward of 

knowing you are doing something 

special)

• Able to work well with others in 

very confined spaces with no signs of 

claustrophobia

• Experienced QA worker

• Experienced in all manners of diving 

support systems and valve maintenance

• Experienced Electricians, Welders, 

Boatswain Mates, or Machinists 

desired.

Apply Today!

The summer of 2006 dealt a decided 

blow to the U.S. Navy saturation diving 

community. Navy Diver became a rate 

and the Saturation Diving NEC 5311 

went away. What was once taught as a 

school curriculum became a prerequisite 

online course before attending First Class 

Dive School, but no online course can 

truly replace hands on training conducted 

by individuals with years of experience 

doing the job. Where did all of those SAT 

Divers go? Many have retired, but a small 

handful remained on active duty with 

some of them playing a recent and significant role in writing Navy Diving history. 

June 2010 helped reverse the course 

of U.S. Navy saturation diving when 

the Saturation Fly Away Diving System (SAT FADS) was delivered to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Panama 

City, and the exciting process of resurrecting the Navy’s deep sea diving capabilities became a reality.

The Navy Experimental Diving Unit 

(NEDU) was tasked with completing the 

monumental evolution of accomplishing all unmanned and manned testing 

required to certify SAT FADS for at-sea 

diving to 1000 feet of seawater (fsw). 

Thousands of man-hours went into mission planning, training system operators, 

developing maintenance/operating procedures and grooming the system before 

actually placing any Divers under pressure. As with all new systems, seemingly 

simple tasks such as ensuring proper 

support system cooling water flow or operating the launch and recovery system 

became complex due to lack of system 

experience, but were swiftly conquered 

through team work and dedication to 

the task at hand. Every individual component that made up SAT FADS had to 

be mastered and proven before placing Divers at maximum system depth. 

NEDU accomplished the pier side 

phase of testing during the spring of 2011, 

after completing dozens of unmanned 

tests, developing countless operational 

procedures, and confining six Divers 

during a 12 day, 1000 fsw saturation dive 

in Panama City, FL. This successful evolution and significant milestone set the 

stage for the next phase of testing: at-sea 

diving to full certification depth. 

The largest problems that faced the 

SAT FADS team while preparing for sea 

based testing were obtaining operational 

funding, identification of a support Vessel of Opportunity (VOO), planning a 

workable schedule, and assembling a 

dive team. A dedicated and committed 

multi-organizational dive team consisting of 13 personnel from NEDU, 8 from 

the Specialized Research Diving Detachment (SRDD), 1 Reservist, 5 NAVSEA 

SAT Divers at their first Bell Excursion depth

U.S. Navy Saturation Diving U.S. Navy Saturation Diving

By: CWO3 John Theriot, NEDU Command Diving Officer
November 2012 16

Mission success would not 

have been possible without 

the following personnel.

civilians, and 2 contractors pushed through these 

challenges to ensure that 

SAT FADS would cast 

off all lines as scheduled. 

While the SATFADS 

crew was hard at work, 

the rest of NEDU felt the 

pressure of completing their mission 

with reduced man power and little help 

from a demanding schedule. For over 

five months, NEDU conducted manned 

and unmanned testing with this reduced 

staffing posture. The increased pressure 

required precise coordination between 

every department within the Command, 

in addition to reaching out for experimental and test Diver support from NDSTC 

and CEODD. Once again, team work 

and the Diver “hooyah” attitude allowed 

NEDU to complete critical unmanned 

and manned MK 16 testing and push 

through physiological testing, for the 

Naval Special Warfare community during this period of high operational tempo.

SAT FADS at-sea phase of testing 

commenced with pier side training in 

January of 2012 and continued through 

March. The team mobilized and tested 

SAT FADS on a leased barge through

-out April and prepared the three additional support vessels that augmented the SAT 

FADS barge 

for moori n g, 

tow i n g, an d 

berthing support. On May 

2, after all 

e q u i p m e n t 

was installed, 

personnel emb a r k e d a n d 

the barge was 

towed ap -

proximately 

6 2 m i l e s 

southwest of Panama City, FL. A single 

point moor was laid in 1,200 fsw to anchor the SAT FADS barge and around 

the clock operations started immediately 

with full operational systems checks, 

unmanned dive bell runs, and the final 

phases of proficiency training. Every 

evolution brought both equipment and 

operational challenges, but team flexibility and the Can Do spirit of Navy Divers allowed issues to be mitigated and 

resolved quickly. After the completion 

of two intermediate dives to 380 and 680 

fsw, on May 11 of 2012, six U.S. Navy 

Divers locked out from the SATFADS 

dive bell at a depth of 1,000 fsw on two 

consecutive excursions marking the first 

time in 37 years that Navy Divers ventured to this depth in the open ocean. 

SAT FADS 1000 fsw at sea test team just prior to getting underway

SAT Divers at 1000 fsw

Divers ND1 Jad Graves and HMC Faasen 

preparing to lock out of the bell at 1000fsw

The hard work and perseverance 

of everyone involved directly resulted 

in the mission success of these critical 

evolutions. The Divers and watch standers overcame huge obstacles throughout 

this certification process and prevailed 

while revalidating the forgotten truth 

that Saturation Diving is not a part time 

job. These successes have paved the way 

for continued deep sea diving within the 

U.S. Navy ranks and marked the first step 

to transition critical knowledge from the 

old guard Saturation Divers, to the next 

generation. With that said, chapter one 

is now written. Who’s up for the challenge of writing the rest of the book? 

The meek and mild need not apply. 

NEDU

CWO3 Theriot 

NDCM Johnson 

NDCS Dodd 

NDC Monroe

HMC Faasen 

ND1 Mcmanus

ND1 Delapena

ND1 Weber

ND1 Graves 

ND1 Post 

ND1 Trevallion 

LT Algra 

Mr. Chuck Mayberry SRDD

CWO4 Bekeny

NDCM Deflice 

NDCS Chase 

NDC Buijten

NDC Harlander

NDC Coreil

NDC Diego 

ND1 Beaver

NAVSEA

Mr. Paul Mcmurtrie

Mr. Tim Joines

Mr. Wade Bingham

Mr. Steve Smith

Mr. Marty Russell

Contractors

Rob Weaver

Mike Wiser

ESSM

Billy Eubanks

Reservists

CAPT Kowalick

BMCS Curran

HTCS Dejonghe

HTCS Bowers

ND1 Carter

NDC Moreno

ND1 Christofersen

DC1 Martinez
November 2012 17

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard &(PSNS & DMF), Intermediate 

Maintenance Facility Detachments Everett, Bremerton, and Bangor, and Phoenix 

International Divers recently completed 

waterborne replacement of stave bearings on the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

(CVN 72), the fifth Nimitz class super 

carrier. Through a joint leadership effort of military and civilian Divers, both 

groups came together on November 28, 

2011 to begin port and starboard shifts 

to guarantee the USS LINCOLN was 

capable of a homeport shift. This intricate and arduous operation was completed on 3 December, 2011, 3 days before the USS LINCOLN was scheduled 

to begin its worldwide deployment. 

The successful completion prevented 

dry docking, which in turn saved the 

Navy over 10 million dollars in dry 

docking and contractor fees.

Justin Pollack, a NAVSEA 00C5 

engineer, also dove on the project while 

accommodating the Formal Work Procedure. His experience with waterborne 

replacement on stave bearings allowed 

excellent coordination amongst the 

PSNS, IMF, and PHNX dive teams 

during the night dives. Day shift was 

covered by LCDR John Bauer utilizing 

his technical expertise to ensure quality work in a timely manner.

During a scheduled inspection of 

number two and three shaft main strut 

stave bearings on CVN 72, damage was 

discovered by the IMF dive team. The apparent problem was videoed using a U/W 

camera system and borescoped to determine the percentage of wear and tear on 

both stave bearing materials. 

Commander Carrier Strike Group 

Nine decided this complication needed 

immediate response and began the preparation of materials, tools, and personnel 

required for the double waterborne replacement procedure, just 10 days prior 

to the USS LINCOLN’S scheduled deUSS ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Stave Bearing Waterborne Replacement

parture. The first task for the dive teams 

was removal of the fairwaters and rope 

guards followed by successful removal 

of all four stave bearing shells from number two and three main struts. New parts, 

bolts, and other equipment required for 

replacement was delivered by Jeff Lane 

from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. PSNS 

dive team, led by Mr. Rob Miller from 

Code 760 brought a support barge alongside the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

supplying cranes, rigging systems, and 

a work space for Divers on the project. 

Alongside the support barge were IMF’s 

dive boats, which allowed two separate 

dive teams in the water. IMF’s dive team 

leader on day shift was Master Diver 

Josh Dumke, while on night shift NDCS 

Christopher Pederson took charge.

Utilizing NAVSEA heavy rigging 

gear after the removal of the stave bearing shell retaining rings, both upper stave 

shells from number two and three were 

removed in succession. Four 50-ton hydraulic chain falls were rigged into the 

ship’s propeller lifting tunnels allowing 

a successful and safe lift of number two 

and number three 35-ton propeller and 

shaft systems from the main strut barrel housings. This procedure alleviated 

the lower stave shells and provided the 

divers a capability to install rigging to 

rotate the lower staves into the position 

that once housed the upper stave shells. 

On the completion of this process, the 

lower stave shells were removed.

After removal of all four stave 

shells, new bearings were installed 

and the course of action turned to replacement of the upper and lower stave 

shells. On the surface, workers using 

grinding tools removed any debris 

located on the new stave shells to accommodate a snug fit. The stave shells 

were then placed into the main strut 

barrel housings. After achieving this 

goal, the remaining dives consisted 

of reinstallation of the retaining ring, 

fasteners, lock wiring, and removal of 

the multiple 50-ton hydraulic chain 

falls. The next steps involved replacement of rope guards and fairwaters for 

the strut barrel housing.

The job was finished during the 

day crew’s shift. All PSNS, IMF, 

PHNX, and Bremerton Divers felt a 

sense of pride upon the realization 

that a job of this magnitude could be 

accomplished swiftly, precisely, and before the scheduled completion date. Both 

civilian and military personnel came together, providing a rapid response, calculated agenda and mission critical mentality, which gave the USS ABRAHAM 

LINCOLN the capability to deploy on 

its required departure date. PSNS, IMF, 

PHNX, and Bremerton Divers completed 

over three days of incident free bottom 

time. These efforts and accomplishments are truly a job well done.

Dive Side Work. Photo by: ND2 Ellis

ND2 Coe has served over 3 years in the U.S. 

Navy as a Diver after completing Dive school 

in November, 2008. Currenty serving second 

duty station in Everett, Washington.

By: ND2 (DSW) Adam Coe
November 2012 18

The U.S. Navy achieved successful open water validation dives July 2012 on MK 16 MOD 

1 Underwater Breathing Apparatus’ 

(UBA) electronic circuitry to extend 

service life into the next decade for a 

world class unique diving rig capable 

of extreme depths in open sea water.

Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Diving 

and Life Support Functional Area Manager Wes Hughson credited NAVSEA’s 

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and 

Naval Special Warfare (NSW) sponsors 

for having the foresight to stand up the 

Diving and Life Support Depot (DLSD) 

at Panama City in 2009. NSWC PCD is 

a field activity for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the largest single business activity in the Navy 

and one of the largest business establishments in the federal government.

“For example, from June 2011 

through June 2012, with the Navy’s centralization and stand up of the DLSD 

at NSWC PCD, the repair and cleaning improvements helped achieve significant savings. It was equivalent to 

approximately two and one quarter 

Man Year’s worth of savings for the 

U.S. Navy,” Hughson said.

NSWC PCD Commanding Officer, CAPT. Scott Pratt, explained 

the diving rig’s mission and safety requirements are what make this such a 

significant accomplishment.

“Particularly its mission safety requirements,” Pratt said. “When we’re putting a diver at depth, there is absolutely no 

room for mechanical or electrical failures 

in the rig’s architecture. To date, the Navy’s Tradeoff Analysis has not found any 

manufacturer able to replicate the MK 16 

MOD 1 UBA as safely as our DLSD can. 

Nor has industry been able to demonstrate the cost savings we’re achieving.”

“NAVSEA Supervisor of Salvage 

and Diving also realizes significant toNavy Reduces Costs While 

Refurbishing Deep-Dive Rigs

tal ownership cost savings 

for the EOD and NSW 

program sponsors,” said 

NSWC PCD Equipment 

Specialist Dave Junker.

Project Engineer Terry Adams said 

this upgrade marked the completion of 

two and a half years of development, 

testing and fabrication of the new electronic control suite for the UBA.

“This electronic upgrade will allow 

continued use of the MK 16 MOD 1 UBA 

for an additional 10 years,” Adams said. 

“Not only does this provide a service life 

extension, but it also ensures sufficient 

spares to fabricate additional UBA platforms. Had this program not been successful, the Navy would have been forced 

to outsource for an alternate UBA at great 

expense in time and dollars.”

According to Hughson, by establishing NSWC PCD as the current MK 16 and 

Viper Depot several economies are realized by co-locating engineering, acquisition, and depot level functions.

“EOD’s and NSW’s organizational 

analysis, which utilized an objective 

third party, determined that co-locating 

a depot with its associated in-service 

engineering activities would capitalize on in-house expertise, streamline 

business processes and help protect the 

MK 16 MOD 1 UBA from obsolescence issues,” Hughson said.

 “For example, having these functional facilities centralized empowers 

NSWC PCD with the ability to rebuild 

or repair a depot item, which prevents us 

from having to purchase a new item. Also, 

locating the depot with NSWC PCD’s 

inventory minimizes expenses with the 

logistics delay when materials are located elsewhere, Hughson said.

Pratt added by partnering with neighboring tenant command, Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU), the DLSD 

is able to achieve cost avoidances as well.

“Our DLSD’s partnership with 

NEDU adds to our ability to repair and oxygen clean items in one central location. 

This helps us avoid sending parts off base 

for cleaning, reducing logistics delay time 

and man hours spent,” Pratt said.

“This type of direct Fleet support 

shortens the repair and cleaning process 

to less than two weeks, which significantly increases Fleet readiness and system availability,” Hughson added, “a significant saving to the taxpayer.”

By Dan Broadstreet, NSWC PCD Public Affairs

Above: Senior Chief Randolph Lawson of 

EODMU Six Detachment Panama City 

(left) and NEDU Diver Chief Landry stand 

poised and ready on the Naval Diving and 

Salvage Training Center’s YDT 18 diving stage preparing to enter the Gulf of 

Mexico’s waters for MK 16 Re-breather 

certification dives. Left: Navy Diver exiting 

NDSTC’S PVA-1 Igloo after completing 

a test dive using the MK 16 Re-breather. (Photos by Wes Hughson/Released)

NSWC PCD is a Leader in Littoral Warfare and Coastal Defense.
November 2012 19

September 1, 2012, marks the end of an era. Vic Marolda, 

a mechanical engineer and U.S. Navy 

diver from Code 1534 retires on that 

date. In his 37-year career that began 

at the Naval Underwater Systems 

Center (NUSC) in New London, 

Conn., he worked on nearly 300 U.S. 

Navy ships. He undoubtedly saved 

the Navy millions of dollars, averted 

countless dry dockings, and allowed 

the fleet to get back to sea at full capability without extended delays.

The magnitude of his impact 

may be truly known only by his fellow Divers. He has no equal. He will 

not be replaced. He cared less about 

personal accolades, and more about 

making significant contributions and 

doing his job efficiently and effectively. An amazing number of sea 

stories have chronicled his career as he 

has traveled all over the world—from under arctic ice to the warm Pacific Ocean—

solving technical problems on land and in 

the water. He will be particularly missed 

when it comes to NUWC’s emergent waterborne response to Fleet Towed Array 

Handling Systems problems. 

In 1979, Marolda was a young mechanical engineer working at NUSC New 

London when he was selected to attend 

U.S. Navy Dive School in Groton, Conn. 

Upon completion, he became a member 

of the Scientific Diving Team working 

on various technical problems that required waterborne solutions.

Throughout the 1980’s he came to 

work with a bag packed as the nature of his 

work had him traveling abroad on short notice. He and his fellow NUSC New London 

Divers utilized their technical expertise and 

U.S. Navy Diving qualifications to respond 

to the in-water troubleshooting and repair 

of surface ship sonar domes. They met 

ships at ports all over the world. The team’s 

work in this area led them to the development of the in-water repair procedure that 

is currently utilized by NAVSEA 00C5—

the Underwater Ship Husbandry Division 

of the Office of Ocean Engineering.

In the mid-1990s he began working 

on submarine Towed Array Handling Systems (TAHS). His engineering background 

coupled with his Navy Diving qualification 

were a good fit for the waterborne troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair of these 

systems. That work kept him on the road 

and living out of a suitcase for weeks at a 

time. He often would travel from one location to the next “fixing” things so that Navy 

assets could remain at full capability and 

head back out to sea on schedule. 

Much of this work was done in very 

challenging conditions. The inside of submarine ballast tanks are dark, cold or hot, 

and littered with obstacles and obstructions 

not conducive to a comfortable work environment. In addition to the physical challenges of working inside ballast tanks, the 

mental stability required to focus on the 

work and ignore the conditions is nearly 

impossible for most. At times, work is 

done inside the ballast tank for six hours or 

more per shift, day after day.

This expertise and work evolved into 

the development of a TAHS course taught 

by Marolda, along with colleague Mike 

Peirson, and lead instructor Don Smith. 

The course is very well attended by engineers, technicians, shipyard workers, and 

divers who all consistently provide high ratings for the training. In addition, the number of TAHS casualties out in the fleet has 

decreased significantly over the last several 

years which is directly tied to the effectiveness of the course and the ability of the 

instructors to teach and share information. 

Marolda’s mechanical engineering 

abilities, coupled with his mechanical 

skills, creativity, Can-Do attitude 

and easy going personality make 

him a truly unique individual who 

has made significant contributions 

to the Navy and to NUWC. You 

cannot travel to a U.S. Navy dive 

locker anywhere in the world where 

they do not know him. He has made 

a significant impact on the fleet and 

the people he has worked with. He 

has logged more than 5,000 hours 

of time in the water. His approach to 

solving problems is based on teamwork and teaching. He always takes 

the time and opportunity to teach the 

younger Divers here at Newport and 

throughout the fleet how to recognize, approach, and solve technical 

problems. One of his favorite sayings is “Fast is Slow.” Meaning if 

you rush what you are doing just 

to get it done, you may find yourself doing it over again. Not to mention that when 

you are working on multi-million dollar 

assets, making sure you do things properly is incredibly important.

Marolda has the ability to show up at 

locations worldwide with a spotlight on him 

as “the guy who came to fix it.” The work 

itself is challenging enough, but the difficulty exponentially increases when you add 

the pressures of success resting solely on 

your ability to get it done right. Another of 

his favorite sayings is “Well, we are either 

going to be Heroes or Zeros.” While his 

casual and laid back personality allow him 

to keep things in perspective, his professionalism and abilities have always made 

sure he never left a job as a “Zero.”

He is an Engineer with the insights of 

a technician, and the imagination of an artist. He is a Rigger, a U.S. Navy Diver, a 

colleague, and a friend to many. Marolda 

the person will be missed by the many 

people he has worked with over the years. 

Marolda the Mechanical Engineer and 

U.S. Navy Diver will be missed by his colleagues, his fellow Divers, and the fleet. 

Hoo Yah Vic Marolda! 

Retiring Navy Diver Vic Marolda

Problem Solver and Teacher, Saved U.S. Navy Millions

Jack Hughes, TPM/Diving Officer, Engineering & Diving Support Unit

Jack Hughes is a Technical Project Manager 

and the Command Diving Officer for the Engineering & Diving Support Unit (EDSU) at 

the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division 

Newport (NUWCDIVNPT) in Newport, RI.

Vic Marolda (top) and a Navy diver from USS Proteus (AS 19) are working on repairs to the sonar on 

USS Preble off the coast of Oman in 1984.
November 2012 20

Crossword Puzzle

Crossword answers on pg.30

ACROSS

3. For Levels I and II, __ approval is required to use a non-Navy chamber.

6. The diver’s _______ status affects the rate of inert gas uptake and elimination.

8. Use of a _________,can increase available bottom time by giving credit for 

time spent shallower than the maximum depth of the dive.

10. _______ diving is the preferred method for dives deeper than 300 fsw or for 

shallow dives where extensive in-water times are required.

11. Personnel conducting O2

 DLSS maintenance shall be qualified, in writing, as 

an ______ and DLSS maintenance Technician or O2

/mixed-gas UBA Technician for the UBA they are conducting maintenance on.

12. No ______ training may be conducted unless fully qualified instructors are 

present, recompression chamber is available within 5 minutes, Diving Medical 

Technician is on station, and a Diving Medical Officer is able to provide immediate response to an accident.

13. The minimum positive clearance of the keel to the bottom at mean low water 

of six feet must be established when diving below __________ on surface 

ships or below the maximum beam on submarines.

14. Diver tag-out procedures must be completed in accordance with the TUMS 

and SORM to ensure ASW and MSW pumps are not operated in ____mode.

15. A _________ Vessel is defined as a vessel actively using its propulsion system to maintain position and heading.

16. The new air tables are designed to provide safe _______ even for divers who 

work hard on the bottom or are exceptionally cold during decompression.

DOWN

1. The ____ has a single lock and allows a patient to be 

administered oxygen at 60 feet while in transport to a 

recompression chamber.

2. Divers who are ____ on the bottom will absorb more 

inert gas than divers who are cold.

3. Given identical exposures on the bottom, divers who 

are warm during decompression stops will lose more 

inert gas and have a lower risk of DCS than divers who 

are ____.

4. If DCS symptoms appear while the diver is undergoing decompression at 50, 40 or 30 fsw in the chamber, 

treat the symptoms as a ____________ in accordance 

with Figure 20-3.

5. Navy Recompression Chamber Support _________ is 

defined as a U.S. Navy certified recompression chamber accessible within one hour of the casualty. 

7. An Automated External _____________ shall be available on the dive station for every diving operation.

9. Use of the ___________________ is mandatory when 

diving the MK 16 MOD 1 in Non-EOD diving operations.

U.S. Navy Diving Manual Revision 6, Change A
November 2012 21

Once again winter arrives in 

Sasebo, Japan and the divers of 

SRF-JRMC Det Sasebo find themselves 

with an extraordinary ship husbandry opportunity. On December 30, 2011 SEAWAY Systems was diving on the USS 

DENVER (LPD 9), conducting a routine 

intermediate hull cleaning. During the 

dive they discovered that the port side 

main strut fairwater was loose. Several 

bolts were hanging out with lock wire 

attached and appeared ready to fall off. 

On 3 Jan 2012 SRF Sasebo Divers removed the fairwater and fairwater retaining ring. Of the 8 studs that hold the fairwater on to the Stave Bearing retaining 

ring, only 1 was still intact. Upon closer 

inspection 13 of the 14 studs that hold 

the stave bearing retaining ring on the 

main strut were stripped out hanging 

by lock wire or missing. With just 14 

days before the ship was scheduled 

to get underway, SRF Engineer Mr. 

Able Paule and MDV Pierick began 

planning and designing new studs 

and an elaborate drill jig that would 

facilitate drilling larger holes for tapping and a permanent repair.

A drill jig that would act like an 

underwater drill press was needed to 

facilitate straight and accurate drilling. 

The holes were originally drilled for a 

STAVE BEARING RETAINING RING AND FAIRWATER REPAIR

7/8” threaded stud; Most of them were 

stripped to approximately 1”. SRF Divers 

would enlarge all 14 holes to facilitate a 1 

1⁄4” 3A Class fit thread that would only be 

threaded 1 3/8” into the strut. The ESSM 

Drill Press would not work for this application so work began to make a drill 

jig that would clamp to the shaft journal 

to facilitate accurate drilling. 

The clock was ticking for the divers 

in Sasebo as the USS DENVER wanted 

to get underway to support scheduled bilateral training operations. The total repair consisted of drilling and tapping all 

fourteen holes to a larger bore, installing 

new studs, new zincs and reinstalling the 

fairwater. SRF wasted no time in ordering additional hydraulic drills, taps, drill 

bits, new fairwater 

bolts, bar stock to 

create new studs, 

and zinc stock to 

manufacture zincs 

that would bolt to 

the retaining ring. 

 Requests 

went out to MDV 

Miller, SRFJRMC Yokosuka 

and CWO2 Potts, 

SWRMC San Diego for divers to 

h e a d t o S a s e b o 

for additional manning to support shift 

work on the USS Denver and provide 

a third team to cover other dives on the 

waterfront, as all home ported ships were 

just concluding their winter maintenance 

availabilities. Shortly after the New Year 

additional manning arrived in the form of 

six divers from Yokosuka and four divers from San Diego, providing twentyfour divers to repair the USS DENVER, 

and provide support to the seven other 

7th Fleet ships home ported in Sasebo. 

This was a great opportunity for SRF 

and SWRMC to exercise Battle Damage Repair (BDR) Training by deploying divers to the 7th Fleet AOR in support of real world operations. 

Starting on January 3rd, SRF Divers 

removed the old fairwater, fairwater retaining ring and last remaining bolt holding it in place. Measurements were taken 

on the 3rd and 4th for the creation of a drill 

jig that would hold the hydraulic drill assembly. On Jan 6th, divers measured the 

stave bearings on the port propeller strut 

to ensure they were still within specifications. The 7th and 8th passed with more 

waiting for parts and continued planning 

and design of the drill jig and new studs. 

On the 9th, the portion of the jig that 

would clamp onto the shaft was finished 

and Divers successfully fit tested it on the 

port shaft journal. Work continued the 

next day and Divers rigged 

scaffolding to the port strut 

as a working stage and removed the zinc retaining 

bolts. The zincs were completely gone and new zincs 

would have to be made for 

the replacement.

On 10 Jan, the dive station was set up 30 ft aft of 

the stern gate with two barges moored between the pier 

and the dive boat. Auxiliary 

equipment including two 

Bauer Capitano compressors, hydraulic power unit, 

USS DENVER

By: HM2 Schneider

Jig set on shaft for drilling. 

Photo by: HM2 Matthew Schneider

A glance at the dive side setup. 

Photo by: HM2 Matthew Schneider
November 2012 22

hydraulic hose reels, and two Shindaiwa 

light towers were staged for shift work. 

On 11 Jan, all TAD divers were now 

on station and MDV conducted an extensive mission and safety briefing. The 

procedure was as follows:

1. Attach the drill jig to the port shaft 

journal and line it up for drilling 

at the 12 o’clock position. During 

drilling, Red Diver will advance the 

hydraulic drill and Green Diver will 

watch the drill progress and notify 

Red when the appropriate depth has 

been reached. This process would 

continue with a total of five stepup drill bits in each of the fourteen 

holes until they were completely 

drilled out. This is a total of 70 drill 

bit change outs. 

2. All of the holes will have new 

threads tapped to 1 1⁄4”. 

3. Install 14 newly manufactured studs 

into strut body with Loctite 268. 

4. Reinstall fairwater retaining ring, 

lock wire all the nuts. 

5. Reinstall fairwater with 60 new 

bolts and stake them. 

6. Final check on all completed work 

and de-rig all equipment, traveling 

lines and staging equipment from 

shaft. Utilizing two eight man crews 

working nine hour shifts, the estimated time of completion is Thursday, January 19th. 

After an initial wait on materials 

and parts, diving commenced at 1900 on 

January 12th. Utilizing the MK 21 and 

working in 40 degree water, divers successfully set up the hydraulic drill jig and 

completed drilling and tapping the hole 

at the 12 o’clock position in four hours. 

The next day diving was delayed to wait 

on the 4 hour engine/propeller test of an 

oil tanker, inconveniently located at the 

pier adjacent to the dive site. With the 

test completed and visibility completely 

degraded to less than 6 inches divers began work again at 1200. At the end of the 

second shift, divers had completed drilling nine holes averaging an hour and a 

half to two hours for each. On the 15th of 

January, the first shift of divers finished 

drilling the remaining four holes and 

the second shift tapped the remaining 

thirteen holes. The 16th was a rest day 

for the divers and the 17th dive crews 

worked other jobs in the harbor as they 

waited for the bar stock to arrive.

Behind the scenes of the ever progressing dive job was the production shop 

of SRF-JRMC Detachment Sasebo. They 

worked 16-hour days to create the drill 

jig and modify any and all materials that 

were needed to complete the task including cutting two 1⁄2” half moon zinc’s out 

of 24”x24”x1” zinc plate and manufacturing 14 new studs. By 0900 on the 18th 

of January the production shop delivered all of the studs, 50 custom made 

washers, and the refurbished fairwater 

components to the divers. With determination to complete the job, divers 

entered the water again. Due to the 

need for an exact fit and tightness, it 

was a slow process to install all of the 

studs as they were machined to a class 

3A fit (zero tolerance and thread gap). 

With several modifications and patience, the first crew finished installing the studs. At 2100 the second shift 

relieved the first crew and divers proceeded to reinstall the fairwater, retaining ring, fairwater and all associated bolts, nuts and washers. Work was 

completed and the dive site completely de-rigged by 0645 on the morning 

of the 19th of January. 

Between 3 - 20 January, Sasebo 

had logged 95 dives totaling 10,632 

minutes of bottom time. This job 

was planned, coordinated by NDCS 

(MDV) Anthony Pierick and SRF Engineer Mr. Able Paule. Dives were supervised by NDC Timothy Canup, and ND1 

Spencer Puett. Technical and material 

assistance from NAVSEA, Justin Pollack, and ESSM, Paul Kristiansen. Material production and planning assistance 

provided by SRF Production shop, and 

Denver Maintenance Team. The following dive Team Members were essential to 

completing this task: SRF Yokosuka Divers, Mr. Chihiro Yamazaki, Mr. Shuuhei 

Komatsu, Mr. Hitoshi Tashiro, ND1 Vincent Cunningham, ND2 Daniel Bradley, 

and ND3 David Close. SWRMC Divers ND1 Spencer Puett, ND1 Kristoffer 

Ilagan, ND2 Dietrick Zacher, and ND2 

Charles Anderson. SRF Sasebo Divers ND1 Andy Strause, ND1 Brandon 

Persinger, ND1 Devin Wilhelms, HM2 

Matthew Schneider, ND2 Michael Laux, 

ND2 Richard Maness, ND3 Mark Barnes, 

ND3 Daniel Burch, ND3 Sean Dargie, 

ND3 Zachary Hulbert, ND3 Patrick Halliday, and ND3 Jeremiah Kuipers.

SRF drill jig has been sent to ESSM 

for slight modifications and placement in 

ESSM Ready for Issue (RFI) Inventory. 

Dive Team photo above by: ND1 Kristoffer Ilagan 

HM2 Schneider is the Dive Medical Techincian 

(DMT) for SRF Sasebo.
November 2012 23

For over 100 years there has been a U.S. Coast Guard station in 

the town of Charleston, Oregon, at the 

mouth of Coos Bay. USCG Motor Life 

Boat Station Coos Bay resides there today. The “International Port of Coos 

Bay” is the seventh largest port on the 

West coast, accommodating both large 

bulk carriers and an active commercial 

fishing fleet. In the summer months it is 

also home to a seasonal detachment of 

USCG Motor Life Boats (MLB). MLB’s 

are 47-foot crafts capable of self righting 

and reaching speeds of 23 knots.

On June 11th, 2012 eleven SEABEES 

in Construction Dive Detachment Bravo 

(CDD/B) from Underwater Construction 

Team TWO (UCT TWO) arrived in Coos 

Bay for a 13 day stop during their PACOM deployment. They partnered with 

USCG members to locate and document 

the geographic position and condition of 

a sounding cable from its termination to 

a depth of 100 feet of sea water, a distance of 2.9 nautical miles from shore. 

During the month of June Coos Bay, 

Oregon experienced 8-foot tidal shifts, 

1 to 3 knot currents, 4 to 5-foot swells, 

and an average water temp of 55 degrees. 

Diving in these conditions required 

flawless execution of diving operations 

with safety always in mind.

UCT TWO SEABEE Divers utilized 

the USCG MLBs to transport personnel 

and equipment to and from the dive site. 

In addition to the superb water transport 

in heavy swells the USCG MLB crew 

was a critical part of the emergency evacuation plan for diving or other casualties. 

According to SEABEE Builder Second 

Class Charles Runyon “It was an honor 

to work alongside such highly skilled 

members of the USCG. Their expertise in 

seamanship made mission accomplishment possible during inclement weather. 

I couldn’t imagine transiting in and out of 

the port without their support.”

During the first phase of the project, 

Divers utilized side scan sonar and Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) to locate 

the cable. After locating the cable, its 

GPS coordinates were recorded and used 

to conduct diving operations. Depending on sea state and GPS issues, some 

days it was easier to locate the cable with 

the ROV and have divers following the 

ROV’s umbilical all the way to the cable. 

This was the case during the last two diving days when divers conducted 13 dives, 

to depths of 100 feet of sea water, totaling 130 minutes of bottom time.

The partnership between the SEABEES and the USCG MLB crew was essential for mission accomplishment and 

provided a great opportunity for personnel from different services to learn and 

work together. Boatswain’s Mate Third 

Class Howard said, “It was an interesting diversion. I was impressed with the 

safety procedures that the dive team 

had in place and I saw how we could 

incorporate some of that in our operations.” Seaman Galvin from the USCG 

MLB crew added, “What the Navy team 

UCT TWO 

& USCG 

Joint 

Efforts in 

Coos Bay

did was some pretty cool stuff; I wish I 

could do that for a living!”

Following the last day of diving operations the Seabee Divers stowed their 

gear and had a sports day with the Coast 

Guard personnel followed by a BBQ 

sponsored by UCT TWO personnel. The 

Officer-in-Charge of CDD/B, Construction Electrician Chief Adam Winters had 

nothing but good things to say about his 

interaction with the USCG personnel at 

Coos Bay, stating “The Coos Bay Coast 

Guard personnel are true professionals. It is obvious they take a great deal 

of pride in their work, their unit and the 

Coast Guard. Skipper Chavtur immediately made us feel at home and offered 

any support we needed. They are a well 

equipped well trained unit, I glad the Detachment was able to gain the experience 

in working alongside another branch of 

the Military. I would jump at the chance 

to work with the USCG again.” 

BM3 Brennan Howard, MK2 Brad Etzler, 

and FN Trenton Mitchell members of USCG 

MLB Coos Bay prepare to transfer members 

of UCT-2, BU2 (SCW/DV) Matthew Dawson, 

HM1 Eric Ketelsen, BU2 (SCW/DV) Christopher Farmer, and BU2 (SCW/DV) Charles Runyon, into the inflatable dive boat. Photo by: 

CM1(SCW/DV) James Richardson, UCT-2 

By: Construction Electrician 

Chief Adam Winters

CM1 (SCW/DV) James Richardson Underwater Construction Team Two, Construction 

Diving Detachment BRAVO’s Assistant Officer in Charge.
November 2012 24

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Divers recently pioneered a new 

process for waterborne replacement of 

an Electrical Hull Fitting (EHF) on LOS 

ANGELES Class submarines. The first 

job was completed on USS OLYMPIA 

(SSN 717) on March 15, 2012. It used a 

small fraction of the resources that a drydocking evolution would have taken and 

the submarine was returned to full mission readiness in a timely manner.

An EHF repair typically requires 

Main Ballast Tank (MBT) flood hole 

patches and cofferdams to be installed 

by divers in order to vent the MBT to 

atmospheric pressure. Once the MBT 

Divers’ Innovation at its Best

New Waterborne Repair Process Introduced on USS OLYMPIA (SSN 717)

is vented, the topside access covers are 

removed and repair personnel can enter the MBT to conduct work. Because 

the OLYMPIA has no topside covers, 

her MBTs are accessible only by divers while the submarine is waterborne.

An unscheduled drydocking for 

the USS OLYMPIA would have caused 

scheduling conflicts with other projects 

already under way. Deferring the repair 

until her next docking availability would 

limit the ability of the submarine to successfully complete its mission. Shipyard 

divers proposed a method to change the 

EHF waterborne by venting the MBT 

and replacing the EHF without the use of 

patches or cofferdams. Shipyard Divers 

along with Ship Safety Officers and Project Engineers took to the task of writing 

a technical guidance process to perform 

the repair. Although the Electronics Shop 

was the lead trade and coordinated the 

work, Navy Divers performed all the work.

The task at hand 

did not allowed for mistakes, and could only be 

performed by the best 

and most capable divers. ND1 Landon Vanvalkenburg supervised 

the dive, as ND1 Joshua Johansen and ND3 

Daniel Soulliard accessed the flooded tank 

and made their way to 

the damaged EHF. The 

divers measured the 

water level in relation 

to the position of the 

EHF penetration, and 

determined it was safe 

to remove the EHF for 

repairs. The removal 

took less than one hour 

and was uneventful. 

After repairs were completed, the divers reinstalled the EHF in oneand-a-half hours. The 

entire job took less than 

a month from planning 

to completion.

This effort reflects a willingness to 

work together to find solutions. This is 

an excellent example of deck plate 

innovation that maximizes resources 

while maintaining readiness. I congratulate them on a job well done.

HOO YAH DEEP SEA!

NDCS(MDV) Dalbert Rivera is PHNSY 

& IMF Command Master Diver

By NDCS (MDV) Dalbert Rivera, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard

PHNSY Dive Locker Team-1. (from left to right): ND2 Neal, ND3 Carne, ND1 Johansen (green), 

ND2 Tombler, ND3 Soulliard (red), ND3 Thomas (console) and ND1 Vanvalkenburg. 

Photo By: ND2 Blyth

November 2012 26

Left to Right: Navy Diver Chief Jason Gray directs hydraulic puller operations during the beaching of Cape Ann III in Sydney, NS on 27 

May 2012; A view of the engineroon on Cape Ann III where Navy Divers spent four days installing patches; Navy Diver Second Class Martin Horan cuts an access hole in the bow of Cape Ann III so that three sets of chain can be rigged to the ship to support the final beaching pull.

I

n May 2012, MDSU Company 2-6 

traveled to Sydney, Nova Scotia 

with 18 Divers and four tractor trailers 

of equipment to participate in Exercise 

Frontier Sentinel. Over the course of the 

next three weeks, these Divers, joined by 

eight deep sea brothers and sisters from 

the Canadian Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic, 

dove, patched, pumped, and pulled until 

they had refloated and beached a sunken 

300-ton fishing vessel, Cape Ann III.

The idea for this project began a year 

earlier when Canadian exercise planner 

made their first site visit to Sydney, Nova 

Scotia. As you drove the main stretches 

of the city, you noticed the pilothouse 

of a ship leaning hard to port with only 

the starboard deck edge rising up from 

the waters. She rested at a dilapidated 

mooring made of four cluster piles, just 

20 feet from a jutting piece of shoreline. 

Mentioning the ship to a local would 

get you an earful of history and hypotheses about the ship and how she had 

come to rest at her current home. Need

less to say, she was a salvor’s dream. 

During the initial planning conference in September of 2011, a plan was 

drafted and a team quickly formed to start 

working through a variety of legal, environmental, and logistical issues. Commanded by Rear Admiral David Gardam, 

RCN, Joint Task Force Atlantic (JTFA) 

had the lead for the exercise planning, 

as well as the decision-making authority. Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic (FDU-A), 

home-ported in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 

along with Mobile Diving and Salvage 

Unit TWO (MDSU TWO), home-ported 

in Little Creek, Virginia, would be tasked 

with raising the vessel and handing it 

over to a local non-profit organization, 

the Cape Ann III Artificial Reef Society 

(CAARS). Although the exercise promised to provide MDSU TWO and FDUA exceptional training opportunities on 

the full range of salvage techniques in a 

real world environment (mud, muck, and 

cold water), a lot of heavy lifting would 

be required to make the project a reality. 

In December of 2011, before the 

harbor in Sydney could ice over, MDSU 

Company 2-2 met FDU-A in Sydney, NS 

in order to survey the ship and determine 

if raising the vessel was a reasonable objective for the salvage component of the 

exercise. Technical documentation of the 

ship was not available, so the survey was 

a painstaking process. Surface-supplied 

Divers penetrated the dark internals of 

the vessel in order to reconstruct the ship 

only by what the divers could feel with 

their hands. What emerged was a picture 

of a ship that had been carelessly torn 

apart. There were no longer any longitudinal or transverse bulkheads subdividing the ship. An 18’ long and 15’ wide 

cut had been made through the two main 

decks in the stern in order to remove her 

main engine. Divers could move around 

the ship, but loose wires, debris, mud, 

and mussels were waiting at every turn. 

It was awesome training just doing the 

survey, and MDSU TWO knew they had 

the right people and tools to do the job. 

Mobile Diving Salvage Unit Two Joins 

with Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic to Raise 

Derelict Vessel in Nova Scotia

By: LCDR Clint Lawler
November 2012 27

We told JTFA that we would need a 

month and some support on the ground. 

Captain Steve Wilson, RCAF, the lead 

planner from JTFA, took that response 

and started making things happen. An 

environmental assessment was conducted, legal requirements were agreed upon, 

and support agreements were put in place 

in the final months leading up to the exercise. As the exercise was beginning, 

the final signatures were stroked, and 

MDSU Company 2-6 was mobilizing to 

raise a sunken ship in Canada.

With a salvage survey complete, 

CWO3 Ray Miller, Company 2-6’s Officer-In-Charge, and NDC Jason Gray, the 

company’s Leading Chief Petty Officer, 

developed a salvage plan and logistics 

so that people and equipment would be 

ready to move once the exercise kicked 

off. There were a lot of constraints, so the 

plan was simple: right it, raise it, beach it. 

CWO3 Miller said “This isn’t rocket science; we know how to move around 300 

tons of steel.” NDC Jason Gray, NDC Bryan Williams, and NDC John O’Donnell 

got busy prepping beach gear system 

and hydraulic pumping systems, so that 

MDSU would arrive in Sydney able to 

move 5000 gallons of water per minute 

and 200 tons in a straight pull.

NDC Gray and Cecil Harris from 

the Emergency Ship Salvage Material 

Warehouse at Cheatham Annex, Virginia 

put together a density list that filled four 

tractor trailers. NDC Gray said, “It was 

an amazing experience to draw so much 

equipment and then to 

see how it all worked 

together, like pieces

in a puzzle, during different parts of the operations. We brought 

so much gear, and we 

needed all of it, including Mr. Harris (who 

s u p p o r t e d M D S U 

TWO on site).” After 

7 days of mobilization 

in Virginia, and 1500 

miles of North American highways, MDSU 

TWO and FDU-A 

were on-site with all 

of their tools. 

Phase 1 was righting the vessel. Two 6,000 lb anchors 

were buried and righting legs rigged 

from the anchors to the kingposts on 

the top of the ship. Internal diving surveys were completed and with 100,000 

lbs of tension on the pullers, Cape Ann 

III righted from 30 degrees to 10 degrees. The vessel wouldn’t come past 

10 degrees due to the piles on her starboard side. Five days into the operation 

and righting was completed.

Phase 2 was raising of the vessel. 

Everyone on the team knew that this was 

going to be the most challenging phase. 

ND1 Abdul said, “we had all fought with 

a ‘swiss cheese’ sunken minesweeper in 

Albania during the last deployment, so 

we knew how hard making this watertight was going to be.” Divers worked 

furiously building patches, filling sandbags, and prepping pumps. Because the 

structure was weakened from the large 

deck cuts, two compartments in the aft 

of the ship were isolated and 20 tons of 

lift bags were installed in order to ensure the stern refloated first. 

Then there was the additional challenge of keeping the vessel stable through 

the raising process. This was a worst case 

scenario for stability: almost no compartmentalization meant that massive free 

surfaces of water would move inside the 

vessel, the main engines had been removed raising the center of gravity, and 

eight years with 30 degrees of list meant 

significant accumulation of silt and debris on the port side. So the plan was to 

let the vessel be unstable, but hold her 

with the cable pullers so that she could 

not roll – it worked. As the ship refloated 

she stayed pinned against the piles at 10 

degrees to port until she regained buoyant stability. After a week of furious activity and long days, Cape Ann III was 

once again moving with the tides.

Phase 3 was beaching the vessel. 

In order to get the ship safely stranded 

and in a position to turnover to CAARS, 

we needed to pull the ship as far as we 

could onto the shore. However, with a 

tide range of only 3 to 4 feet and a beach 

with only a few degrees of slope, we 

needed to get as many pullers rigged into 

the ship as possible. With help of an excavator and front loader, the two righting anchors were dug up and reburied 

in line with the vessel’s approach to the 

beach. Four pullers were then set-up and 

ready on the small spit of shoreline. After a one day delay due to weather, Cape 

Ann III got underway for her final voyage. With two pullers engaged, the vessel was hauled well up onto the beach. 

Only one more pull was needed. On the 

final day of operations, Divers cut access holes low in the bow of the ship and 

reeved three legs of beach gear through 

the ship. With 150 tons of pull, Cape Ann 

III came 15 feet higher up onto the beach, 

her bulbous bow above the high water 

mark and her prow casting a shadow over 

the pullers that moved her. 

The raising of the Cape Ann III 

was completed. Everyone involved 

had worked hard, learned new skills, 

and forged new relationships. NDC 

O’Donnell said, “I really enjoyed working 

with the Canadian Divers. They are just 

like us. They love to work hard, get dirty, 

and have fun.” Commander Gary Reddy, 

RCN, said, “It got pretty dicey during the 

pumping when that patch collapsed, but 

then one of the divers who was building 

the new patch looked up and said ‘We’ve 

got this, sir,’ and that was awesome.” 

When asked which part was his favorite, ND2 Pounders responded “The end 

of the day. It didn’t matter which phase 

we were in, the chain weighed the same. 

Everything we use is heavy.” 

LCDR Clint Lawler is an Engineering Duty Officer 

currently assigned as Engineer for Mobile Diving 

and Salvage Unit TWO.

Sailors from MDSU TWO and FDU-A show their colors on the 

bow of Cape Ann III after successfully raising her.
November 2012 28

Seabees from Underwater 

Construction Team Two 

(UCT TWO), Construction Dive 

Detachment CHARLIE, based out 

of Naval Base Ventura County in 

Port Hueneme, California, completed two months of cable stabilization, inspection and repair 

at Pacific Missile Range Facility 

in Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii 

this July. The tasking focused 

on repairing damage from last 

year’s winter, and preparing the 

range for this year’s Rim of the 

Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands (PMRF) is the world’s 

largest instrumented multi-environmental testing and training 

missile range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air and 

space operations simultaneously. 

It is the only range in the world 

where submarines, surface ships, 

aircraft and space vehicles can 

operate and be tracked simultaneously. There are over 1,100 square 

miles of instrumented underwater 

range and over 42,000 square 

miles of controlled airspace.

UCT TWO Seabee Divers 

worked in depths from 30 to 120 

feet of seawater off of a Lighter 

Amphibious Resupply Craft 

(LARC). Seabee Divers combine 

the best of both disciplines, relying on their construction capabilities as Seabees and their competence as Divers to accomplish 

missions that no other unit in the 

Navy is capable of performing. 

Three tons of cast iron pipe, designed to fit around the cables and 

protect them from the harsh sea 

state were installed. CDD CHARLIE also dove to depths of 110 

feet in the open ocean to perform 

maintenance on 10 practice mines 

Deep Sea Seabees

By: Chief (SCW/DV) Blair Mercado

SW1 Sligo inspecting installed split pipe, 

PMRF Kauai, HI.

SW1 Sligo installing cable tags, PMRF Kauai, HI.

BU2 Ramos cleaning deep water buoy, 

Niihau island, Kauai HI.

in a training mine field; with a 

bottom depth as deep as 450 feet.

There was no room for error. In 

addition, two members of CDD 

CHARLIE, BU1(SCW/DV) Donny Wedekind and CM2(SCW) 

Ryan O’Toole, provided support 

to the SPAWAR Marine Mammal 

Unit using LARC’s and small 

boats to recover practice rounds 

and targets for the exercise.

When crossing the pristine 

Hawaiian beaches on your way 

to work certain unique challenges 

can present themselves. A mother 

sea turtle decided to lay her eggs 

on the beach next to the only 

landing zone for the Det’s equipment. Base environmentalists put 

up a safety barrier and with careful maneuvering, day to day operations were not affected. This was 

a great example of environmental 

stewardship by the US Navy, and 

the UCT TWO Seabee’s were 

happy to report that after 7 weeks 

of anticipation, all of the hatchling made it safely to the ocean. 

The Seabees of Det CHARLIE worked 6 days a week to take 

advantage of the favorable weather conditions, completing over 

170 dives totaling over 70 hours 

of bottom time, ensuring the range 

would be ready for the exercise. 

C E 2 ( S C W / D V ) D a n i e l 

Lehne, project supervisor for the 

annual maintenance of PMRF, 

had this to say “Our Seabee divers performed a variety of tasks 

from drilling stabilization points, 

replacing zinc anodes and placing 

hundreds of pieces of split pipe 

to protect the sensitive acoustic 

range cables from the sea state. 

During the winter months, the 

rough wave action will move 

the cable across the sand, rock 
November 2012 29

ACROSS:

3. CNO

6. thermal

8. dive computer

10. saturation

11. oxygen worker

12. ascent

13. bilge keel

14. fast

15. dynamic 

 positioning

16. decompression

DOWN:

1. EEHS

2. warm

3. cold

4. reccurance

5. level two

7. defibrillator

9. full face 

 mask

Crossword Puzzle

Answers SW1 Sligo diving on J-box, PMRF Kauai, 

HI.

CEC (SCW/MDV) Terry Juergens installing 

split pipe on cable, PMRF Kauai, HI.

BU1 Wedekind installing bolts on split pipe, 

PMRF Kauai, HI.

and coral, stripping off the protective 

covering potentially destroying the 

cables. The work we do here saves the 

Navy hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance costs compared to 

a civilian company, and millions in replacement costs if the system were to go 

down.” SW1 Nate Terrazas added, “This 

is the premier training range for the Pacific and the work we do here contributes directly towards Fleet readiness.” 

A c c o r d i n g 

to LT Sam Williams, a NAVAIR 

Integrated Project 

Team Lead overseeing work on 

the range, “Their 

(UCT TWO) work 

is a significant 

benefit to the Pacific Fleet for several reasons.

Most importantly 

the BARSTU R 

range is a valuable training asset to the surface, 

air and subsurface 

components of 

the Fleet. Also, 

by extending the 

life of the range, 

UCT TWO’s work 

saves money for 

the Navy. The alternatives would be decreased 

training capability or a total 

range refurbishment, which 

could cost the Navy upwards 

of $50M. The UCT TWO skill 

set is unique because the unit 

has expertise in both construction and deep sea diving. This 

allows the unit to perform 

quality construction work in 

the hazardous ocean environment, where the BARSTUR 

range is located.

Fulfilling their mission 

of supporting the Fleet and 

Marine forces in the PACOM 

AOR, UCT TWO’s maintenance of the training range 

is the first stop on a 6 month 

deployment that will take 

them from Kauai to Japan to the south 

Pacific and Naval Region Northwest.

The world’s largest international 

maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a 

unique training opportunity to twentytwo nations, 42 ships, six submarines, 

more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel. RIMPAC takes place in and 

around the Hawaiian Islands. RIMPAC 

helps participants foster and sustain the 

cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes 

and security on the world’s oceans. The 

relevant, realistic training syllabus includes; amphibious, gunnery, missile, 

anti-submarine and air defense exercises. 

Additionally, it utilizes counter-piracy, 

mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal and salvage operations.

SW2 Oswald preparing split pipe for installation, 

PMRF Kauai, HI. 

SW2(SCW/DV) Cody Oswald enjoys the busy 

deployment schedule, he had this to say “I love my 

job. The work is hard, but it’s never the same thing 

twice. What we do has a direct impact to the Fleet, 

whether it’s here at the largest training range in 

the Pacific, Fleet moorings in Japan, joint training 

with foreign military’s or maintenance of Anti-Terrorism barriers at Fleet concentration areas.”

EAC (SCW/DV) Blair Mercado Underwater Construction Team Two, Construction Diving Detachment CHARLIE’s Officer in Charge.
November 2012 30

Stop, Look, Listen, Think, and Act. This was an acronym Master Diver 

(MDV) Matteoni use to preach during advanced diving supervisor training for MDV 

candidates prepping for MDV evaluation. I 

will never forget this advice from the Old 

Master. So as my career comes to an end, I 

can’t help but STOP, think back to when I was 

seven, and couldn’t wait for Sunday nights to 

watch the TV show called ‘The Underwater 

Odyssey of Commander Jacque Cousteau’. 

I was so 

inspired 

b y t h i s 

s h o w , 

that summ e r I 

cut seve r a l 

y a r d s 

of grass 

t o e a r n 

e n o u g h 

money to 

purchase 

a pair of 

fins and 

a d i v e 

mask for 

the family vacation. My first breath hold 

dive was at a pool in Daytona Beach, Florida. Man, did it pay big dividends; a quarter, two dimes, and lots of pennies. The life 

guards would toss money into the pool for 

kids to find everyday during the summer. 

I knew then that diving was my passion, 

and had no idea this was the start and pursuit of the Master Diver qualification / Insignia known as the FATPIN.

At USN Basic Training we were introduced to the Navy’s values of HONOR, 

COURAGE and COMMITMENT. You have 

to have the courage, be committed mentally 

and physically to be selected for Navy Diver 

training program. It was at Second Class 

Diver training where I knew what I wanted 

to be when I grew up. The first morning I 

reported to 2nd Class diver training I remember someone saying, here comes the Master 

Diver. Everyone stopped what they were 

doing and automatically came to attention. 

It was this instant respect for someone who 

most of us didn’t know but knew it was in our 

best interest to pop tall. It was MDV Dick Arlington, a man of infinite diving knowledge 

and wisdom, and that was the kind of HONOR I was looking for. 

So how does one young man passionate 

about diving come to be one of the Navy’s 

top diving and salvage experts? The formula! 

The Formula, (L x M+ T = H/P), you won’t 

find it in the USN dive manual, the Salvage 

handbook or the NDSTC diving formula 

booklet. However you will find these values 

being practiced in our CPO mess and the 

Ward room. The values in this formula if executed at highest possible means will bring 

honor and pride (H/P) in your adventures.

Dalton’s Law states ; “The total pressure 

exerted by a mixture of gases is equal to the 

sum of the pressures of each of the different 

gases making up the mixture, with each gas 

acting as if it alone was present and occupied 

the total volume”. So as a metaphor think of 

the gases in Dalton’s law as the values, the 

mixture as the formula and the total volume 

as H/P. We all know what happens when the 

gas mix is not what it should be.

LEADERSHIP (L) is most critical value 

to success! Every Master Diver must have 

an above average value of leadership. Every 

member of the dive team puts their trust in 

the MDV’s actions and it is essential to the 

success and safety of the dive mission. Teams 

who share great success are directly influenced by successful leadership. Your team 

could be the best of the best but if the leadership in charge lacks confidence, direction and 

intuition, the team will never get the recognition for its hard work and commitment. If 

you have a goal to achieve you have to take 

the initiative to find the leadership with the 

knowledge to show you how to achieve it.

MENTORSHIP (M) is the most valuable 

trait of a good leader. It is the main catalyst to 

effective teamwork. Your personal success is 

greatly depended on those who are dedicated 

to training and career development. One of 

the best mentors I ever had gave me homework every night in preparation for MDV 

evaluations. Sometimes I could not figure out 

the problem and in lowering my pride would 

have to ask for his help. I can still hear him 

say, “If I tell you everything I know then you 

would be as smart as me”. This was RAG 

MANS (MDV Radecki) way of getting you 

to try harder and you never forgot it. I got 

it! MDV’s like Rags, Hernandez, Shoulders, 

Leckner, Matteoni and many more took great 

pride in this value. 

TEAMWORK (T) is a cooperative effort 

by the members of a group or team to achieve 

a common goal. Navy Divers are taught this 

in the very beginning phases of their training. 

This is the heart and soul, and lives depend on 

it. A team with high morale, care, and respect 

for one another are most confident in their 

abilities to succeed in the most challenging 

endeavors. Safety in the Navy’s diving programs depends heavily on teamwork. There 

is no such thing as a one man dive team and 

there is no Navy Diver who accomplishes a 

dive mission by his or her self. I am sincerely 

grateful for the Navy Divers that I have had 

the opportunity to share this value with.

HONOR / PRIDE (H/P). Most recently I 

spoke about the pride and honor of a shipmate 

/ brother going ashore who always inspired 

me to work harder, MDV Jeff Royse. The 

honor in which Jeff had the privilege of serving, was the same honor talked about in the 

Movie “Men of Honor”, and has been passed 

down by MDV’s like Brashear, Radecki, and 

Ledger. Every Navy Diver has been given the 

privilege and the opportunity to experience 

what the value HONOR feels like, and the 

PRIDE it instills in all of us. No matter what 

your badge of honor is, please take the time to 

Stop, Look, Listen, Think and Act when representing the honor our men and women in 

the U.S. Navy, and this grateful nation have 

worked so hard to establish and given us the 

opportunity to achieve.

So after SLLTA and as my (A) action I 

have used personal FATPIN appropriations 

to purchase two coins in recognition of the 

leaders, mentors, and team mates of whom 

I have had the highest honor of serving and 

a heart of pride that will always be HooYah 

Deep Sea. These coins are tokens of my sincere appreciation (TOA) from me to those 

who have supported this awesome USN 

diving adventure and career. These TOAs 

are called Honor and Pride. It has been an 

absolute honor to have served with the men 

and women of the Worlds greatest Navy. 

God Bless America!

Command Master Diver 

EODTECHDIV NDCM Gary Furr 
November 2012 31

I am LCDR Sam Brasfield. I reported to NAVSEA as Supervisor 

of Diving (SEA 003B) in late July from 

the Naval Diving and Salvage Training 

Center. Boy, what a treat it was to serve 

as the Executive Officer of the world’s 

premier diver training facility! I know 

for a fact that all the services are getting 

the best trained divers possible. First 

off, the caliber of students showing up 

at NDSTC is top notch. The students are 

smarter, stronger, and more motivated 

than ever before. Yes, they do come to 

school younger (direct accessions) but 

there are many benefits to that as well. 

Secondly, these men and women are being trained by the best of the best. The 

instructors and staff at NDSTC never 

ceased to amaze me with their motivation and ability to train Divers. Thirdly, 

the facilities and training aids are world 

class. NAVSEA and NAVFAC have 

fielded many training aids that take the 

students from the crawling stage to the 

walking stage, prior to sending them to 

the Fleet where they will be required 

to run. If you have not seen the JATF 

(Joint Aquatic Training Facility), the 

Multi-Panel Projects (MPP), or the new 

salvage project you must get to Panama 

City to see them. I was also fortunate 

enough to work for a former SUPDIVE, 

CDR Michael Egan. In my 24 years of 

being in the U.S. Navy, he mentored me 

better than any other and the learning 

never stopped. He gets it! Thanks Sir! 

I am excited to be here and look 

forward to all the challenges that will 

come with the job. I have to be honest, 

I am a bit overwhelmed with all there is 

to learn and do in this position. But, if 

I weren’t overwhelmed I would wonder 

if I was in the right job. After all, challenges are what we (Military Divers) 

thrive on. It is a great time to be in diving! After 11 years in the desert many 

have forgotten that over 70% of the 

Earth’s surface is covered with water. 

Following the CNO’s tenets “Warfighting First, Operate Forward, Be Ready!” 

we at 00C3 are going to stay focused 

on what we need to do for now and the 

future to keep military diving relevant. 

 I do have big shoes to fill. The previous SUPDIVE (CDR Mike Runkle) 

is a very smart guy who was involved 

in many things. CDR Runkle worked 

many issues, and one of his big projects 

was laying the ground work for a strategy that will increase the actual work 

time of the diver and encourage international collaboration. The United States 

has done some amazing things in diving 

but other countries have much to offer 

us. This cooperation will benefit us all. 

CDR Runkle took command of MDSU 

TWO in early September, and there is 

no doubt he will do great stuff and document the requirements to help bring 

our diving forces into the 21st century. 

I would also like to say goodbye to 

Mr. Jim Fenner (NAVSEA 00C3) who 

retired at the end of August. He gave 

47 years to serving this great Nation 

with most of it in U.S. Navy Diving. 

Although I only worked with him for a 

few weeks, I could tell by his demeanor 

and thoughtful approach that he is one 

of the best. He will be sorely missed 

and I hate that I did not have more 

time to work for him. His last words 

to me were, “Do what you know how 

to do and take care of those Divers out 

there.” And that is what I intend to do.

As Supervisor of Diving, my job 

is clear. I am tasked with setting diving policy, ensuring that Divers have 

the right equipment and the correct diving procedures. I serve you 

(the Military Diver). With that, a little bit about the philosophy I bring. 

I believe that we should not be in 

the business of telling people “no” but 

instead finding out how to tell them 

“yes”. My two sons have heard from 

birth “Brasfields don’t say can’t”. Of 

course they use that against me when I 

tell them they can’t do something they 

really want to do, but I honestly believe 

if something is ethical, moral, and legal 

there is a way to do it. I do realize there 

are laws of physics to consider as well. 

There is also something known as “acceptable risk”. Let’s face it, what we do 

is risky and the rules are set to mitigate 

that risk. However, the rules that are set 

don’t always cover every scenario. Don’t 

think for a second that I am not going 

to ask the hard questions, but I do want 

to be the solution and not the problem. 

I am a forward thinker. If you can 

conceive it, and get your leadership to 

believe it, we can achieve it. Push the 

requirements up your chain! And if you 

have a solution to that requirement, send 

that up as well. There is a process known 

as JCIDS (Joint Capabilities Integration 

and Development System) which is a 

methodology that uses top-level strategic guidance as a basis for identifying 

and describing shortfalls in joint warfighting capabilities. Navy Diving is going through that process starting with a 

CBA (Capabilities Based Assessment). 

However, the process takes time and 

many requirements start with the people 

doing the work. Steve Jobs said, “A lot 

of times, people don’t know what they 

want until you show it to them.” There 

may be some truth to this in regard 

to consumer electronics. However, I 

know that the most innovative thinkers 

the US Navy has are the Divers, SEABEES, SEALs, and EOD Techs. I am 

here to serve you! Help me, help you!
November 2012 32

mind having met your fears, mastered 

them and are now personally confident 

that when asked, you can do anything 

by yourself. This is all perhaps nostalgic 

Hollywood drama some would say. I say 

when the history of Navy and Military 

diving is studied and well known, when 

you hear the stories of routine risk of 

one’s life and limb, when faced with the 

option that often you must put your life 

into the hands of other “trained” professionals, I say these Divers are this way, 

because they deserve to be. Like all “ALPHA” type personalities, Navy/Military 

This is about military diving, 

Deep Sea Diving, the wearing of 

equipment almost too heavy to walk in, 

let alone work in underwater. Although 

not all military diving encompasses the 

wearing of some sort of deep diving rig, 

military diving is in itself the “stuff” 

that legends, tall tales and “Sea Stories” 

are made of, and when visible in national calamities, what newspapers write 

about. By the very nature of the work, 

the claustrophobic feel of the heavy unwieldy equipment, the dark often cold or 

zero visibility dives make the men and 

women of this profession exceptional in 

the same sense as an astronaut, pilot, or 

firemen. Like these other professions, it 

is always obvious who the graduates of 

Navy Dive School are. They stand out; 

they conduct themselves with a self-assuredness that is a requirement for those 

that meet danger and must master the 

very human instinct not to go into dark 

and dangerous environments. I heard it 

said once, “In a room full of boisterous 

men and women, how can you find the 

Military Diver among them? Just wait 

and they will tell you who they are!” 

Braggadocio? Perhaps, but more accurately, the feeling that goes through one’s 

“Down In the Sea to Work”, 

 a Tribute to Graduates of U.S. Navy Dive Schools, Past Present & Future

trained divers covet the challenge, seek 

out that which is edgy, gravitate to those 

we recognize as having “Been there-done 

that!” For these select men and women 

graduates of Navy Dive schools, there 

has been a continuing daily commitment 

to the nation’s military mission in all four 

corners of the world. Through the efforts 

of retired Navy Divers, and in recognition of this fraternity of men and women, 

a statue of the traditional Mark V Diver 

is being erected at the Naval Diving and 

Salvage Training Center on 26 October, 

2012. This commemoration of all military Divers will be a new slice of Navy 

Diving history that will stand for all time, 

a representation of hard training, difficult 

working conditions, tales of daring-do, 

individual heroics and the daily toil under 

the seas of this world. This statue honors 

all those who graduated from Navy Dive 

Schools, and most directly, “All those 

who go down in the sea to work”.

By: Ed Delanoy, CWO4 (Ret)

Mr. Ed Delanoy, CWO4 (Ret) is a Hyperbaric Division Officer at NDSTC, and 

newly elected President of the Diving 

Association Of Wise Guys (DAWGs).

Diving waivers are a request from the Commanding Officer to OPNAV N97E3 via 00C for technical review and are 

for situations that are outside of the normal guidance of the OPNAVINST 3150.27B and the US Navy Dive Manual.

1. Read OPNAVINST 3150.27B

2. Ask yourself is a waiver required?

3. Give compelling justification why the waiver is required.

4. Outline the ORM and mitigation plan.

5. Include mission start and completion date.

6. Have Commanding Officer or Acting sign the waiver.

7. Contact NDCM (MDV) Phillips @ (202) 781-1451 for guidance, prior to submitting the waiver request.

8. Scan to PDF and email to NAVSEA 00C: arne.phillips@navy.mil, Samuel.brasfield@navy.mil, and 

glenn.moffat@navy.mil

9. Keep it unclassified if possible, if not send via SIPRNET. Send a note via NIPR requesting we check SIPR 

for incoming waiver.

10. Submit waiver request as early as possible.

Remember, the more information provided and the earlier it is submitted, the better the chance the waiver will receive 

a favorable recommendation and approval. 

DIVE WAIVER PROCESS

Photo above: Paul Guiver demonstrating the size of Jake