The Official Newsletter for the Divers and Salvors of the United States Navy

Volume 7, No. 1 / April, 2003

USS SALVOR (ARS 52)
2 April 2003

SUPSALV SENDS

In This Issue

SUPSALV Sends ........................................... 2

USS SALVOR ARS 52................................... 3

NEDU Celebrates 75 Years ........................... 4

Command in the Spotlight .............................. 6

Royal Navy Clearance Diving Branch ........... 7

Historical Notes ............................................. 8

00C Welcomes MDV Steve Smith ................. 9

Prime Vendor - Lifesaving ........................... 10

PMS Corner.................................................. 11

Standing By, Ready to Serve ...................... 12

00C Website Update .................................... 14

Jake’s Corner............................................... 14

The Old Master ............................................ 15

From the Supervisor of Diving .................... 16

FACEPLATE is published by the Supervisor of

Salvage and Diving to make the latest and most informative news available to the Navy diving and

salvage community. Discussions or illustrations of

commercial products do not imply endorsement by

the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving or the U.S.

Navy.

Articles, letters, queries and comments should be

directed to the Commander, Naval Sea Systems

Command, NAVSEA 00C, 1333 Isaac Hull Ave.

SE Stop 1070, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20376-

1070. (Attn: FACEPLATE). Visit our website at

http://www.supsalv.org. To view an electronic version of Faceplate in PDF format go to our website

and click on the word “Faceplate” located in the left

hand column. This link will direct you to our list of

Faceplate issues.

Captain Jim Wilkins, USN

Director of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving

NAVSEA 00C

wilkinsjr@navsea.navy.mil

Captain Chris Murray, USN

Supervisor of Diving

murraycc@navsea.navy.mil

Mark Whitaker

Managing Editor

whitakermc@navsea.navy.mil

HTCM (MDV) Chuck Young, USN

BMCM(SW/MDV) Fred K. Orns, USN

Fleet Liaison Editors

youngch@navsea.navy.mil

ornsfk@navsea.navy.mil

F. Scott Lassiter

Graphic Designer

slassiter@roh-inc.com

America and the world were shockedon Saturday morning, 1 February this

year when we watched the catastrophic

disintegration of space shuttle COLUMBIA on TV, recognizing it meant sudden

death for COLUMBIA’s seven astronauts,

and a major setback for our space program. But like seventeen years before,

when the CHALLENGER space shuttle explosion occurred, our US Navy Diving and

Salvage force was called in to conduct the

in-water portion of the recovery. Unlike

the CHALLENGER operation, only a small

amount of COLUMBIA debris landed in

water, but it demanded a unique search

and recovery effort in a flooded national

forest ranging from 20 to 110 feet in depth.

The “bottom report” is best characterized

as near zero visibility in a tangled pile of

standing and fallen trees, branches, root

balls and stumps – dubbed “Texas Coral”

by the divers – as well as all the junk that a

popular commercial fishing area might collect over 35 years. As I write this from

East Texas, we’ve assembled under a unified 00C command and control the world’s

foremost search team, using old, new and

still developing technology to pry open

the reservoir’s tomb of secrets. Five towed

side scan sonars, two multi-beam imaging

bathymetry sonars and two autonomous

underwater vehicles (AUVs) are being employed to search the bottom and develop

dive “targets”. A total of nine (four

MDSU2 and five civilian agency) teams

dive the targets and determine if each is

shuttle or not.

While the COLUMBIA search is in

progress...on the opposite side of the

world, an 00C/USS SALVOR/MDSU-1

team planned and executed a remarkably

successful recovery of nearly 2 million gallons of fuel oil from USS MISSISSINEWA

in the middle of Ulithi Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. Hot-tapping

into dozens of fuel oil tanks 135 feet underwater without incident, these salvors

rendered MISSISSINEWA environmentally safe for the fragile atoll ecosystem —

two weeks ahead of schedule!

And half-way in between these two

major operations, we have an extraordinary

team of talented Divers and Salvors responding to our Nation’s obligations in

Operation Iraqi Freedom...a story that is

yet to fully unfold.

What do these radically different operations have in common? Divers and Salvors! The vast scope of capability, unequalled ingenuity and never-say-quit attitude of our community is both our heritage

and our challenge for the future. Why is it

a future challenge? Because the entire

Navy, including the Diving and Salvage

community, is on the brink of radical

change – Sea Warrior (previously Task

Force Excel (TFE)) – redefining ourselves

through a comprehensive overhaul of our

Fleet Diver and EOD community structure,

career progression and training. Change

itself is neither good nor bad, but it offers

opportunity for either good or bad results.

As we navigate these potential shoal waters to seek the best channel for the future,

I’m assigning each of you as look-outs to

ensure that our scope of operational capabilities, our ingenuity, and our legendary

perseverance under adversity are never at

risk. Time is short...let’s work together and

make our future even brighter!

Captain Jim Wilkins

Director of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving

Editor’s Note: The November 2002 issue of FACEPLATE had an editorial error in the biography of CDR Fink. CDR Fink attended the University of West Florida and not the University of Florida. The Managing Editor regrets this egregiousness.
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 3

I

t was yet another beautiful day in Paradise when the message arrived that an

Air Force F-15 had crashed off the coast

off Japan and the USS SAFEGUARD was

on her way to conduct the recovery. One

day later Pearl Harbor based USS SALVOR (ARS 52) was told to make all preparations to deploy for four months to take

SAFEGUARD’s place in the multinational

exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness

and Training (CARAT 2002). Two weeks

later SALVOR began the transit to Thailand.

In the hectic two weeks before deployment, SALVOR’s divers had no idea

what the next four months would bring.

Responsible for foreign diving and salvage training, they would be working side

by side with over seventy foreign divers

from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and

the Philippines. Each country would

present unique challenges, including the

fact that many of these divers spoke little

or no English.

Arriving in Thailand, we went

straight to work conducting familiarization

dives with the Royal Thai Navy Divers.

Following some brief pierside dives, we

set out to explore the PAK 1 wreck. Getting there proved tougher than expected.

The buoy marking the wreck was off by

over two nautical miles!

In true SALVOR fashion,

the divers led by Petty

Officer Rob Taylor contacted some local fishermen who used a depth

sounder and local knowledge to find the wreck.

Following SCUBA dives

to attach strawberry

buoys to the wreck, we

used the 40-ton boom to

recover and re-deploy the

buoy, marking the wreck

location accurately for future survey operations.

Petty Officer Ben Moore said that, “It was

frustrating not having enough time to explore the wreck, but at least we put their

buoy in the right place so next year’s

divers can go straight to work.” Returning

to port, there were a few days to enjoy

some much deserved liberty in downtown

Pattaya before taking in all lines and heading to Kuantan, Malaysia for our next stop

on the CARAT tour.

Wreck clearance operations in Malaysia gave SALVOR’s divers an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with MDSU

ONE DET FIVE’s divers who were also

participating in the CARAT exercise. Over

the next ten days, the divers worked

around the clock using a variety of underwater cutting techniques and hydraulic

tools to remove a Vietnamese fishing vessel which had sunk and was blocking a

Royal Malaysian Navy pier. One of

SALVOR’s best cutters, Petty Officer

Charles Parson was excited to start work

each morning since, “It’s not everyday

your dive side is shared with wild monkeys coming out of the jungle.” Following

ten days of cutting and removal, everyone

was ready for the next challenge, working

with the Royal Singapore Navy.

After grueling training schedules in

Thailand and Malaysia, working with the

Singapore divers proved a refreshing midcruise break. For once, we were the “trainees,” and had the once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the Singapore Navy

Dive Center. Especially exciting was the

opportunity to use Singapore’s first class

explosive demolition range. Following a

week of training with the Singapore

Divers, SALVOR was given the chance to

show off her underway operating ability

by conducting battle damage assessment

and repair on the purpose built target

barge, the “Jolly Roger.” Led by Petty Of-

(USS SALVOR continued on page 9)

By: LT Paul Shoning

MM3 (DV) Paul Trakimas conducts wreck removal

operations with the Royal Malaysian Navy Divers.

USS SALVOR and Royal

Singapore Navy Divers on the

SALVOR fantail following

the Singapore Phase of CARAT

2002.
4 April 2003

Established in 1927, the Navy Experimental Diving Unit completed 75

years of pioneering diving and hyperbaric

research in 2002. Among NEDU’s accomplishments over the past three quarters of

a century are ground-breaking work developing standard decompression tables

for air diving, helium-oxygen diving procedures, recompression treatment tables,

surface decompression procedures, saturation diving, early sea-floor habitats, diver

thermal protection, and submarine rescue.

Experimental diving began in the

Navy in 1912 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer George D. Stillson. His small group

developed the first standard Navy diving

equipment, tested Dr. John S. Haldane’s

theories on staged decompression, and

extended the maximum diving depth of

U.S. Navy divers from 60 to nearly 300

feet.

Navy diving stagnated immediately

after World War I with the closing of the

Diving School in Newport, Rhodes Island,

but experiments with helium were conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of

Mines in the mid-twenties.

The Navy Experimental Diving Unit

was formally established in 1927 at the

Washington Navy Yard adjacent to the reestablished Diving School.

NEDU’s early focus was on submarine rescue and experiments with helium

diving. In the mid-1930s, Doctors C. W.

Schilling, A. R. Behnke, and O. E. Van der

Aue, became the first medical staff at

NEDU. Their early experiments demonstrated the usefulness of oxygen for treating decompression sickness and proved

conclusively that breathing high-pressure

air caused physical and mental performance decrements. They also developed

surface decompression procedures for

submarine rescue.

The first operational use of helium

was during the salvage of the USS

SQUALUS, which sank in 243 feet of water

off the Isle of Shoals near Portsmouth,

NH. Equipment and procedures developed at NEDU, including the McCann

Rescue Chamber, were essential to the rescue of the 33 crewmen who survived the

initial sinking.

During World War II, NEDU began

work on early oxygen rebreathers, investigated oxygen toxicity, and tested captured

enemy diving equipment. The unit also

tested breathing systems and pressure

suits for aviators and investigated altitude

bends, a new phenomenon observed with

the advent of high performance, high altitude aircraft.

In the 1950s, NEDU developed surface decompression tables using oxygen

for air diving. In 1956, NEDU developed

procedures for air diving that became the

basis of the Standard Air Decompression

tables, the Surface Decompression Using

Air table, and the Repetitive Air Dive

tables. These air tables became the standard worldwide.

In the early 1960s, CAPT George

Bond, Medical Corps, began the first early

experiments in saturation diving, Project

Genesis, at the Submarine Medical Research Laboratory in Groton, Connecticut.

He and his team of aquanauts conducted

their first manned saturation dive, Genesis

D, to 100 fsw at NEDU in the spring of

1963.

Saturation diving progressed dramatically through the 1960s and 1970s. New

diving records were set and broken, including the first 600 fsw dive in 1964, the

first 1,000 fsw dive in 1968 in a joint venture with Duke University, and a 1,600 fsw

dive in 1973 at Taylor Diving and Salvage

in New Orleans LA, which was then the

world’s largest hyperbaric facility. In the

1960s, NEDU developed recompression

treatments that would become known as

(NEDU continued on page 5)

By: LCDR Marc Tranchemotagne

HT1/SEAL Dan Jakobs (SDVT-2) testing the new KMS-48 mask in conjunction with the MK25.
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 5

Treatment Tables 5 and 6, still in use today.

In 1975, NEDU relocated from the

Washington Navy Yard to its present location on the Florida panhandle in Panama

City. It was commissioned as a shore

command under Naval Sea Systems Command. The new unit included the Ocean

Simulation Facility—the largest manned

hyperbaric facility in the world—and the

Experimental Diving Facility for unmanned

testing.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, NEDU

tested a great variety of diving equipment

and achieved new records for depth and

duration in saturation diving. Among the

equipment tested was the MK 12 Surface

Supplied Diving System (SSDS), which replaced the MK V that George Stillson had

tested in the 1920s, and which would be

replaced by the MK 21/Superlight 17, also

tested at NEDU.

During the 1980s and 1990s, NEDU

did a large amount of saturation diving to

evaluate diving equipment, examine deep

saturation diver thermal protection problems, test active and passive diver thermal

protection, validate decompression algorithms, test various carbon dioxide

absorbents and scrubber systems, develop Treatment Table 7, and conduct mission-specific training for various special

projects.

In 1998, the diving biomedical research and development functions from

the Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI)

in Bethesda, MD, were

consolidated with

NEDU.

From 1999 to 2002,

NEDU conducted two

warm water diving studies to address concerns

of the Naval Special

Warfare community regarding critical gaps in

the Navy’s knowledge

of warm water diving

physiology.

In 2001 and 2002,

NEDU divers made essential contributions

to the ex-USS MONITOR salvage project.

The mission was a three-year, joint National Oceanographic and Atmospheric

Administration and U.S.

Navy expedition to recover artifacts from the

historic site 16 miles

south-southeast of

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse off the North

Carolina Coast.

 In 2002, NEDU completed the final openwater demonstration

dives for certification of

the MK 16 Mod 1 UBA

to 300 feet of seawater

(fsw) in the Gulf of

Mexico. The 300 foot

open-water certification

dives completed a fouryear product improvement process that included: extending the

working limit from 200 to 300 fsw, developing 1.3 atmosphere constant partial pressure of oxygen decompression tables for

nitrogen (N2

O2) and helium (HeO2) diving,

providing an HeO2 repetitive dive capability for dives shallower than 200 fsw, testing an emergency breathing system (EBS)

with integral communications, adding an

integral buoyancy compensation device,

and adopting an improved full face mask.

Over the past 75 years, NEDU has

evolved from a small team of Navy divers

to a diverse workforce of over 150 people

including military divers from the Fleet,

EOD, SEABEE, and SEAL diving communities; PhD scientists and engineers; diving medical officers, physiologists, and research psychologists; and many talented

technicians and support personnel.

NEDU’s mission has evolved from Gunner

Stillson’s original assignment to evaluate

diving equipment and procedures to a

much broader mandate that includes a

wide range of undersea and hyperbaric

biomedical research and development. As

NEDU looks towards the immediate future,

we foresee research focused on procedures for contaminated water diving, advances in diver thermal protection, furthering our understanding of oxygen toxicity and decompression illnesses, and

preserving a Navy capability for saturation

diving.

The author wishes to acknowledge

that much of the information on NEDU’s

early history was taken from a 50-year retrospective written by LT R. C. Carter, MSC,

USN and published in the Fall 1977 Faceplate, “NEDU celebrates 50th Anniversary

1927-1977,” and as NEDU Report 1-77,

“Pioneering Inner Space: The Navy Experimental Diving Unit’s First 50 Years.”

LCDR Marc Tranchemotagne is currently

Executive Officer at the Navy Experimental

Diving Unit.

(NEDU continued from page 4)

Ocean Simulation Facility, 55,000 gallon wet pot.

ENCS/DSW Vern Geyman, SM1/DSW Jorge Guillen, DC1/DV

Jeremy Mullis, HT1/DV Bart Washburn decompressing during

USS MONITOR diving operations.
6 April 2003

With a land grant from the state ofConnecticut, two brick buildings

and a T shaped pier on the banks of the

Thames river were officially declared a

Navy Yard in 1872. Today, the town of

Groton, CT is the home of the Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE

NLON) and its tenant command the Naval

Submarine Support Facility (NSSF) which

is the Navy’s largest nuclear capable Fleet

Maintenance Activity (FMA). NSSF provides intermediate level maintenance, ordnance, and supply support to 22 nuclear

attack submarines, support vessels, and

service craft. A pre-World War II building

serves as home for service members stationed at NSSF New London dive locker.

The dive locker has billets for 31 military divers, but presently fills only 24, and

does not currently employ DOD civilian

divers. The sole mission is providing Underwater Ship Husbandry (UWSH) to submarines, surface ships, and support craft

homeported in or transiting the North Atlantic Region. Outfitted with three diving

platforms, the dive locker accomplishes

more than 4,500 production hours per

month from the following assets: a 50-foot

LCM converted to a surface supplied dive

boat , a 50-foot workboat with a retrofitted

diving system module (DSM), a U.S. Navy

MK 3 Light Weight Diving System (LWDS)

which has become a permanently deployed overseas asset. NSSF does not

have a recompression chamber, relying on

the support of the Submarine School Escape Trainer (SUBSCOL)

and Naval Submarine

Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL).

 The overall make up of

the NSSF dive locker is

full of youth and enthusiasm. More than three

quarters of the personnel

are completing their first

tour as fleet divers with

half of that number being

first tour divers on their

first enlistment. Youth,

when properly harnessed,

can be an instrumental

factor in success, but

lacks experience. This places a huge responsibility on the limited number of senior personnel. On the Job Training (OJT)

and in-water time are the only true methods to bridge the experience gap. MDV Al

Overbeck , BMC Jim Hatter, ENC Robert

McCaulley, HT1 Brad Purple, BM2 Greg

Pirtel, and DC2 Aaron Knight bring the

necessary fleet diving experience to the

waterfront and provide the direct supervision, training, and development of the less

seasoned divers. Such training includes

everything from general military training to

the mechanical elements and logistical requirements to safely complete waterborne

repairs.

The everyday work that NSSF accomplishes is no different from that of

other intermediate maintenance activities

and shore repair facilities. We routinely

perform hull inspections, cofferdam and

flange installations, SPM repair and replacement, propeller replacement, and repairs associated with sonar and weapon

systems on LOS ANGELES and

SEAWOLF class submarines. The New

England Maintenance Manpower Initiative (NEMMI), (a fancy title meaning less

military and more civilian), the decommissioning of OAK RIDGE ARDM 1 and the

shifting of ownership of SHIPPINGPORT

ARDM 4 to the Electric Boat Corporation

(EB) have changed the way maintenance

and repair are conducted and accomplished. The NEMMI has brought an influx of contracted civilians, the majority

from EB, which has decreased the number

of military personnel to a quarter of what it

once was. The loss of a dry dock, ARDM

1, has placed more maintenance responsibility on the NSSF dive locker. The necessity for repairs has not decreased, just the

number of assets to conduct them. We

still maintain the “can do” attitude which

has brought many positive outcomes, the

challenges of first time in-water repairs,

and the accolades for saving the Navy

many dollars in dry docking costs.

QMC(DSW/SW) Michael Eighmey is

currently on the tail end of back to back

tours at NSSF NLON. His previous

commands include Naval Special Boat

Squadron One, USS ZEPHR (PC 8) and

USS FIFE (DD 991).

Command in the Spotlight

Divers take five during snow storm. Left to right: BM2(SW/

DV) Kane, HT2(DV) Levens, GM2(SW/DV) Gilbert,

EMFN(DV) Delgado and DC2(SW/DV) Knight.

HT1(DSW/SW) Brad Purple inspects the

pilgrim nut during propeller removal.

QMC(DSW/SW) Michael Eighmey
November 2002 A p r i l 2 0 0 3 7 7

By: LCDR David Ince RN

On 7 March 2002, the Royal Navy

Clearance Diving Branch celebrated

the 50th Anniversary of its formation, coincident but not connected with Her Royal

Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second’s

50th year on the throne!

The Clearance Diving (CD) Branch

was officially formed under Admiralty

Fleet Order (AFO) on 7 March 1952 although a training nucleus had been set up

some 2 years earlier to take advantage of

the few remaining men with wartime experience. These officers and ratings had, in

the main, qualified as Shallow Water

Divers trained to use the Sladden ‘Clammy

Death’ diving dress and oxygen breathing

apparatus. Other officers and ratings

Qualified in Deep Diving (QDD) joined

them. On 25 February 1966, the

Minewarfare and Clearance Diving (MCD)

Branch was formed for officers. Those officers already qualified as CD and Tactical

Anti Submarine (TAS) automatically became MCD Officers while those qualified

only as CDOs undertook a conversion

course to be trained in Minewarfare, until

then, the prerogative of the TAS Branch

officers. TAS (UW) and (UC) ratings continued to perform Minewarfare duties until

1975 when the Minewarfare (MW) sub

branch of the Operations Branch was

formed together with the Diver sub

branch. In 1981, the MCD Branch took

over responsibility for demolitions training

from the Sonar (ex-TAS UC) sub branch of

the Operations Branch.

The RN’s small CD Branch has been

kept very active

throughout its existence,

initially clearing the huge

amounts of ordnance left

in the world’s oceans,

seas and waterways after

WWII, but gradually jetsam from other conflicts

has taken precedence. 

During Operation RHEOSTAT in 1974/5, the Fleet

Clearance Diving Team

worked with RN

Minehunters (MHCs) to

clear the Suez Canal of

ordnance and other military debris following the

Arab-Israeli 6 Day War. The final tally included 209 tons of TNT bombs of various

sizes, about 800 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, 6,000 rounds of ammunition,

and 70 various missiles. During Operation

HEMICARP in 1977, RN CDs co-operated

with their US counterparts to clear ex-US

and Japanese WW II ordnance from the

waters of Tarawa and Tuvalu in the Gilbert

and Ellis Islands. On a more peaceful

note, 35 RN CDs worked with 18 Egyptian

divers in 1977-78 to shift 16,000 tons of

mud and 320 blocks of stone during the

movement of important ancient Egyptian

monuments, submerged by the construction of the Aswan Dam, to a site replicating

Philaeon Agilkia Island.

CD teams worked in particularly arduous conditions conducting bomb and

mine disposal during Operation CORPORATE in the Falklands in 1982 and in the

Red Sea during Operation HARLING in

1984. In 1987, they cleared Iranian mines

in the Gulf of Oman and in the Persian Gulf

during Operation CIMNEL, the ‘Tanker

War’. In 1991, they were back in the Persian Gulf during Operation DESERT

STORM, this time clearing hundreds of

Iraqi mines laid off the shore of Kuwait.

In 2000 CD Elements, continually embarked as an integral part of a MHC’s

weapons system, were involved in Operation ALLIED HARVEST, the clearance of

allied bombs jettisoned in the Adriatic during the Bosnian and Kosovo conflicts, followed by Operation CLEANEX in 2001,

the clearance of ex Soviet Union and

WWII ordnance in the Northern Baltic

Sea. Today, CD Units remain very busy in

the United Kingdom and around the world

conducting their prime task of explosive

ordnance disposal (EOD), whether the munitions be conventional, unconventional

or the terrorist’s improvised explosive device. Many teams have become highly

specialized in their roles and work closely

with Army and Royal Marine units. Since

the Golden Jubilee celebrations RN Clearance Diver EOD Elements have been involved in EOD operations in Afghanistan

and Kenya, and will doubtless be involved in such operations again in the

near future! In the meantime as ‘Jacks of

all Trades’, they continue to support the

RN Fleet with underwater ship’s husbandry, search and salvage operations, experimental diving, and many other tasks. 

LCDR David Ince is currently on exchange

with USN assigned to NAVSEA 00C5.

The Roya l Navy C learance Diving Branch 1952-2002

EOD on 1,000 lb bomb.

RN (specialized) Clearance Divers - Para

insertion to DWC site.

Golden Jubilee of the RN Clearance Diving Branch
8 April 2003

USS OKLAHOMA

(BB 37) Ship

righted to about 30

degrees, on 29

March 1943, while

she was under

salvage at Pearl

Harbor. She had

capsized and sunk

after receiving

massive torpedo

damage during the

7 December 1941

Japanese air raid.

Ford Island is at

right and the Pearl

Harbor Navy Yard is

in the left distance.

Divers standing in front of a decompression chamber, while they were

working to salvage ships sunk in the 7 December 1941 Japanese air

raid on Pearl Harbor.

During the weeks following the Japanese raid, a

great deal of repair work was

done by the Pearl Harbor

Navy Yard, assisted by tenders and ships’ crewmen.

These efforts, lasting into

February 1942, put the battleships PENNSYLVANIA,

MARYLAND,and

TENNESSEE,cruisers

HONOLULU, HELENA, and

RALEIGH; destroyers HELM

and SHAW, seaplane tender

CURTISS, repair ship VESTAL and the floating drydock YFD 2 back into service,

or at least got them ready to

steam to the mainland for final

repairs. The most seriously

damaged of these ships,

RALEIGH and SHAW, were returned to

active duty by mid-1942.

Five more battleships, two destroyers, a target ship and a minelayer were

sunk, or so severely damaged as to represent nearly total losses. These required

much more extensive work just to get them

to a point where repairs could begin. Starting in December 1941 and continuing into

February 1942, the Navy Yard stripped the

destroyers CASSIN and DOWNES of

servicible weapons, machinery and equipment. This materiel was sent to California,

where it was installed in new hulls. These

two ships came back into the fleet in late

1943 and early 1944.

Submitted by Scott Lassiter from the

U.S. Navy Historical Center Website

Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941 - Post-attack Ship Salvage

 To work on the remaining

seven ships, all of them sunk,

a salvage organization was

formally established a week

after the raid to begin what

would clearly be a huge job.

Commanded from early January 1942 by Captain Homer

N. Wallin, previously a member of the Battle Force Staff,

this Salvage Division labored

hard and productively for

over two years to refloat five

ships and remove weapons

and equipment from the other

two. Among its accomplishments were the refloating of

the battleships NEVADA in

February 1942, CALIFORNIA

in March, and WEST VIRGINIA in June, plus the minelayer OGLALA during April-July 1942. After extensive shipyard repairs, these four

ships were placed back in the active fleet

in time to help defeat Japan. The Salvage

Division also righted and refloated the

capsized battleship OKLAHOMA, partially righted the capsized target ship

UTAH and recovered materiel from the

wreck of the battleship ARIZONA. However, these three ships were not returned

to service, and the hulls of the last two remain in Pearl Harbor to this day.

All this represented one of history’s

greatest salvage jobs. Seeing it to completion required that Navy and civilian divers

spend about 20,000 hours underwater in

about 5000 dives. Long and exhausting efforts were expended in recovering human

remains, documents, ammunition and other

items from the oil-fouled interiors of ships

that had been under water for months. Uncounted hours went into cleaning the

ships and otherwise getting them ready

for shipyard repair. Much of this work had

to be carried out in gas masks, to guard

against the ever-present risk of toxic gasses, and nearly all of it was extremely dirty.
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 9

ficer Chad Jakel, our divers showed their

cutting and patching prowess by repairing

the target barge following a live fire exercise.

With the CARAT exercise nearing its

close, we had no idea of the challenges

that would face us in the last stop in the

Philippines. Although the Philippine Navy

had no Deep Sea Divers available for the

exercise, SALVOR’s training presentations

on underwater ship husbandry drew a

large crowd. After the classroom lessons,

we were asked to put our training

to the test by welding a steel doubling plate to the leaking hull of

the Philippine destroyer RAJAH

HUMABON (PF 11). To further

complicate matters, most of the

welding would be performed in

driving rain and 30-knot winds

while in a two-point moor in Manila Harbor.

 Rising to the occasion, the

welders led by Petty Officer Jon

Klukas went to work surveying

and conducting welding operations. Twice during the repairs,

due to high winds and heavy seas SALVOR began slipping in the two-point moor

and had to stop work to reset the moor.

While transiting to Subic Bay to complete

repairs, the divers were able to stop all

leaks in the RAJAH HUMABON earning

the praise and appreciation of the Philippine Navy.

On the long voyage home, our divers

had the chance to enjoy some well earned

liberty in Hong Kong and Guam. A few

days out of Pearl Harbor, we received the

news that we would be deploying in a few

short months to the Ulithi Atoll in the

Southern Pacific to defuel the Ex USS

MISSISSINEWA which was sunk there in

1944 with over 2 million gallons of oil remaining onboard. Just another day for a

SALVOR diver!

LT Paul Shoning was commissioned

through the US Naval Academy in 1998,

and has just completed a tour as the

Operations Officer onboard USS SALVOR.

This month he is transferring to

Eglin AFB to attend EOD school.

I

’m Steve Smith and it’s a very exciting

time to take the helm as Fleet Master

Diver. I almost didn’t take this job but I am

now happy that I did. New developments

are on the immediate horizon that will dramatically improve the way we train and

advance our personnel. I look forward to

working with all of my diving colleagues

on these positive changes. I have over 22

years in the world’s finest Navy and over

20 have been spent as a Deep Sea Diver.

Some of the Commands I have been attached to: USS CONSERVER, NDSTC,

Submarine Development Group ONE,

NEDU and EODMU 8. As I get out and

about I look forward to seeing old friends

and to making new ones. I hope to assist

you and your Command in any diving

need that might arise. In the event that I

can’t assist you, I will find the person or

resource that will help you complete your

mission.

I would also like to thank HTCM

(MDV) Chuck Young for the awesome job

he has done for NAVSEA and our Diving

Navy. Chuck is moving on to CIVLANT

after serving his country for over 21years.

He goes on terminal leave soon. So to my

good friend, mentor and saturation dive

partner I wish you all the very best as you

sail off on your next voyage. Fair winds

and following seas, shipmate.

e-mail: smithss@navsea.navy.mil

Phone: 202-781-0960

Welcome MDV Smith

EM1 (DSW) Rob Taylor conducts

bilateral dive training with the Royal

Thai Navy Divers.

(USS SALVOR continued from page 3)

Starboard side view of the USS SALVOR ARS 52.

MDV Steve Smith on a cold day at the

Washington Navy Yard, DC.
10 April 2003

For the past four years, the DefenseSupply Center Philadelphia’s Marine

Lifesaving and Diving Prime Vendor Program has been providing equipment and

service to military diving commands and

federal activities. It has been our duty and

pleasure as a Department of Defense activity to work with such a diverse group of

personnel that perform essential and critical missions for the United States of

America.

The program is available to all military and federal activities throughout the

world. Our program supports mobile diving and salvage, rescue, ships husbandry,

special warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, underwater construction, port security and other related missions.

The Prime Vendor program is organized into five regions. To simplify this, if

you are located on the East Coast, Gulf

Coast, Europe or South America contact

Amron, Mar-Vel, or Atlantic Diving. If you

are located on the West Coast, Alaska,

Hawaii, Guam, Japan or Korea contact

Amron, Mar-Vel or Aqua Tech. Here are

the points of contact for each prime vendor:

• Amron International Diving Supply,

759 West Fourth Avenue,

Escondido CA 92025. (877) 462-6700

www.amronintl.com

• Mar-Vel Underwater Equipment,

Inc., 7100 Airport Highway,

Pennsauken NY 08109. (800) 325-

5711 www.mar-vel.com

• Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., 1439 N

Great Neck Rd Suite 202, Virginia

Beach VA 23454 (800) 948-9433

www.atlanticdivingsupply.com

• Aqua Tech Dive Center, 1800 Logan

Avenue, San Diego CA 92113 (619)

237-1800 www.divecenter.com

How does the program work and what

makes DSCP’s prime vendor contracts attractive and easy to use? Just contact a

prime vendor or DSCP and you will get

registered on the program – it’s that easy.

Online Ordering / Web Sites

As part of a contractual obligation, all

prime vendors must maintain a Web-based

online ordering system that is linked to the

DOD supply system. The web sites are

secure ordering sites and no order shall be

charged to a customer if unwarranted.

These online ordering sites include an

electronic catalog with various search

methods, item descriptions and technical

data in a user-friendly format. It should be

noted that all prime vendors would always

accept phone and fax orders.

Brand Name Preferences

The Prime Vendors carry the products of virtually every manufacturer including Aqua Lung, Typhoon, Poseidon,

Diving Systems Intl., Vikings, DUI, Dacor,

Interspiro, Bauer, Circle Seal, Gates,

Whites, Casio, ScubaPro, Mares, and

Scott.

24-Hour Customer Support

The Prime Vendors are on call 24-

hours a day, 365 days a year. Each Prime

Vendor has a call system that will rely messages to assigned personnel during offbusiness hours.

Rapid Delivery Times

• The contract allows 30 days for

routine delivery, 7 days for urgent

delivery and 24 hours for emergency

delivery.

• DSCP Customer Liaison Specialist

Assigned to each Diving Command.

• A Defense Supply Center Philadelphia Customer Liaison Specialist is

assigned to each customer.

Conclusion

The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia is a combat support agency with the

War Fighter as our main concern. We are

actively engaged in understanding your

requirements and assisting to ensuring

your readiness. For more information,

please contact Ralph Lund or Abie Fuller

at (215) 737-4154, diving@dscp.dla.mil or

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/gi/general/

mardiv.htm

Our goal is to provide the Right Item @

the Right Time in the Right Place for the

Right Price!

Ralph Lund is the Contracting Officer of the

Marine Lifesaving and Diving Prime Vendor

Program at the Defense Supply Center

Philadelphia. He is a 22-year DOD

employee and all service has been in the

Acquisition Field. Ralph currently resides

outside of Philadelphia in Oreland PA.

PRIME VENDOR - LIFESAVING

By: Ralph Lund
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 1 1

“Service to the Fleet”

PMS Corner PMS Corner

TFBR Submission: Submit electronic technical feedback reports using https://

www.ftsc.navy.mil and following directions:

• Go to: Command Programs

• Click: PMS

• Scroll down to: Request for Services

• Click: Submit Electronic Technical

Feedback Report (ETFBR)

• Fill out form.

MIP Series 5921/5971/H-012 are to be submitted to Fleet Technical Support Center

Pacific (FTSCPAC). MIP Series EOD- are

to be submitted to Fleet Technical Support

Center Atlantic.

Force Revision 1-03: Anticipated receipt

is March 03. Review command/Workcenter

LOEP against actual configurations and

submit TFBR for LOEP deletions for equipment/systems no longer carried.

Luxfer announces trade-in program for

6351-alloy scuba tanks in the United

States:

Luxfer Gas Cylinders announced a new

scuba tank trade-in program to enable

owners of older Luxfer scuba tanks manufactured in the U.S. from 6351 aluminum alloy to trade in their tanks and receive

credit toward the purchase of new scuba

tanks made from Luxfer’s proven, proprietary 6061 alloy. Luxfer will implement the

simple four-step program outlined below

on January 1, 2003. The program will end

on December 31, 2003. This is a limited

one-year offer!

1. To determine whether your Luxfer

scuba tank is made from 6351

aluminum alloy, check the original

hydrostatic test date (the earliest

date) stamped on the crown. (Look

for a month/year combination, such

as 3/75.) If the stamped year is 1972

through 1987, the tank is made from

6351 alloy. A limited number of

Luxfer scuba tanks were also made

from 6351 alloy during the first half

of 1988. If you have a 1988 tank with

an original hydrostatic test date of

6/88 or earlier, Luxfer will assume

that it is a 6351-alloy tank and issue

an RG number. Tanks with an

original hydrostatic test date of 7/88

or later are made from 6061 alloy and

are not eligible for the trade-in

program.

2. Call the Luxfer Customer Service

Department toll-free (1-800-764-

0366) and report the number of 6351-

alloy tanks to be exchanged. A

Luxfer customer service representative will ask you for the model

number, serial number and original

hydrostatic test date for each tank,

as well as your return mailing

information. The representative will

then issue you a returned goods

(RG) authorization number and tell

you how to ship tanks to Luxfer in

order to receive a special $50 credit

voucher for each tank.

3. Send your 6351-alloy scuba tanks

directly to Luxfer’s plants in Graham,

North Carolina, or Riverside,

California (whichever is closer).

4. Luxfer will mail you a $50 voucher

for each tank. You may redeem this

voucher toward the purchase of

new Luxfer 6061-alloy scuba tanks

at any participating dive shop or

retail store.

Points of contact:

Mr. Kerry Duffy/ISEA 059 Comm: 850-230-

3162, DSN 436-3162 or email:

duffykp@nedu.navsea.navy.mil.

Steve Smith BMCM(MDV), NAVSEA

00C36, comm: (202) 781-0960, DSN: 326-

0960, or email: smithss@navsea.navy.mil

Technical questions, logistics problems,

supply requests, personnel issue? Call or

contact ANCHOR DESK 1-877-4-1-

TOUCH or www.AnchorDesk.navy.mil.
12 April 2003

I

nhale deeply, hold that breath, savor it,

then exhale slowly. Notice a feeling of

total relaxation? Appreciate it.

If the search and recovery operations

tempo for 2003 is a repeat of 2002, the men

and women of NAVSEA 00C2, Salvage

Operations/Ocean Engineering will have

few opportunities for such simple pleasures.

NAVSEA 00C maintains the Navy’s

and the nation’s comprehensive technical

capability to search, locate, and recover

objects of interest lost in waters ranging in

depth from a few feet to 20,000 feet. The

diverse inventory of equipment includes

three different side scan sonar systems;

two towed pinger locator systems, five

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) of

various levels of sophistication; assorted

underwater recovery tools, surface and

sub-sea navigation/positioning systems,

satellite communication systems; as well

as data processing, management, and presentation capabilities. This search and recovery “kit” is continually maintained in

Ready for Issue status in Landover, Maryland, close to multiple modes of international transportation. The equipment is

designed to be as self–contained as possible, air transportable, and capable of being quickly deployed aboard vessels of

opportunity anywhere in the world.

The Navy’s global, rapid response,

search and recovery capability was thoroughly tested and, again, successfully

demonstrated on eleven different projects

in 2002. In the Spring months, the activity

was particularly intense with search/recovery teams concurrently mobilized to

the Atlantic Ocean, Western Pacific, and

Mediterranean Sea. In the Mediterranean,

two back-to-back search and recovery

operations were successfully performed.

Every one of SUPSALV’s search and recovery assets as well as two commercial

ROVs were used to support operations.

The Navy’s side scan sonar systems, Centurion, SWISS, and Orion, and pinger locator systems TPL-20 and TPL-30 supported

search/location projects while NAVSEA

00C’s ROVs VideoRay, MR-2, Deep Drone,

Magnum, and CURV III performed object

recovery, inspection, and documentation

tasks. To provide a cost effective, rapid

response, two commercial ROVs, Remora

6000 systems, were also called upon to

perform object recoveries when the Navy’s

equipment was otherwise engaged.

Last year’s projects were as diverse

as the equipment suites selectively tailored to perform them. Over the year,

three helicopters, four aircraft, one

weapon, and one 45-ton anchor with 14

shots of chain attached were found and

recovered. NAVSEA ocean assets also assisted in acoustically imaging a sunken

fishing vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, and in

providing broadcast quality video documentation during the summer’s joint

Navy/NOAA USS MONITOR turret recovery. In 2002, NAVSEA 00C conducted

(Standing-by.....continued on page 13)

CH-46 SEA

KNIGHT being

salvaged off of

the coast of

Norfolk, Virginia,

in the spring of

2002.

ROV CURV III

being loaded over

side. CURV III can

dive to a depth of

6,000 meters.
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 1 3

projects on behalf of the Army, Air Force,

NOAA, and Coast Guard, in addition to

Navy air and submarine components.

The equipment needed to find and

retrieve items from the deep ocean is diverse and complex, so it is with significant

pride that the capability, often and primarily, serves to save lives. 00C’s recovery

of a F-14B from 10,000 feet of seawater in

the Mediterranean Sea this past June is a

case in point. The nose wheel of the F-14B

aircraft appeared to fail during catapult

launch. On-site examination of the subsequently recovered wheel assembly resulted in the immediate grounding of F-14

carrier squadrons until effective remedies

could be affected. The speed with which

the F-14B was located, recovered, and examined allowed fixes to be quickly recommended and implemented. As a result, the

F-14 squadrons expeditiously and safely

returned to their carrier flight duties.

The successful and cost effective

completion of an emergent search/recovery project relies on 00C2’s ability to

quickly evaluate search and recovery

needs in terms of required expertise, personnel, and equipment. The ultimate

project approach is predicated on an accu-

(Standing By.....continued from page 12)

rate assessment of the loss data, and decisions involving an appropriate technical

response. The latter task incorporates decisions on the kind, availability, and location of needed expertise and equipment, including that residing with other Navy elements. Cooperation and coordination of

personnel and equipment with other Navy

components has resulted in cost effective

solutions that otherwise could not be realized.

This past year, NAVSEA 00C has

taken full advantage of the capabilities and

assets of the Navy’s Mobile Diving and

Salvage Units, the Emergency Ship Salvage Material System, local contractors

near the project scene, and those of its

prime search and recovery contractor,

Phoenix International, Inc. in support of its

operations.

With the ability to address emergent

requests for search and recovery operations, the NAVSEA 00C2 team stands

ready to respond anywhere in the world,

at any time, every time. Given this responsibility, when the moment presents itself,

00C2 takes that deep breath.

Tim Janaitis is the Business Development

Director at Phoenix International. Phoenix

is the contractor responsible for operation

and maintenance of the Navy’s salvage

remote operated vehicles.

F-15 being salvaged in the Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 2002.

F-14 TOMCAT

being salvaged

in Medterranian

Ocean, spring

of 2002.
14 April 2003

The supsalv.org website team has beenworking diligently to facilitate the

online registration process of conferences

and events. Users can find out specific

details about time and place of events, and

register for them, all through the

supsalv.org website. In addition, users in

some cases have the ability to participate

in conferences even before attending. For

the upcoming MDV/CWO conference, users have the option to initiate new discussion items and review existing ones on-line.

Aside from conference pages, several

other additions and corrections have been

made to keep the site up-to-date. Keep an

eye on the “What’s New” sections of the

website for all the latest!

Most recent conferences:

• ED Diver Conference, Dec 11 2002

• Cofferdam Workshop, Jan 28-29

 2003

Upcoming conference:

• MDV/CWO conference, May 14-16

 2003

By: Mac Alnakari

JAKE’S

CORNER

By: Scott Lassiter

“Maybe it wasn’t

such a good idea to

run a marathon in

full dress!”
A p r i l 2 0 0 3 1 5

I

 cannot remember how many times I’ve

read The Old Master in Faceplate.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that

I would one day write it myself. I consider

this to be one of my last official duties. As

I look back over my 37 years in the diving

community, I think of all the changes that

have occurred. I remember when the old

MK V MOD 0 and MOD 1 (GAS), Jack

Brown, and SCUBA were the only shows

in town. There was other equipment still

in the design mode but at that time we regarded that equipment to be far down the

road. The most modern systems that we

had were SEALABS I and II and the Advanced Diving System (SDS-450). Our

idea of safety was primitive compared to

the safety requirements of today. Although safety was never disregarded it

was not like today where we are pro-active

about it. Fine example are the PMS system,

System Certification Surveys, and the

Safety Center inspections that are in place.

There are memories of the various diving

assets available during those times such

as the old ARS, ASR, AS, and AD along

with various small boats and diving tenders. Those were the days when you

walked aboard a new diving command the

first thing on your list of things to do was

to learn the system. (No two systems were

ever alike).

As we progressed into the early 70’s,

the Navy began to design and build new

systems like the FADS I, MK 1 MOD 0

Deep Dive System and the ATS 1 class

salvage ships. During that time I participated in the development of the Saturation

Diving tables at the Experimental Diving

Unit in the Washington Navy Yard. This

gave me the opportunity not only to learn

first hand about saturation diving but also

provided the opportunity to learn about

the basic components of a saturation dive

system. After spending a number of years

on board the USS

HOIST (ARS 40), I was

fortunate to become a

member of the pre-commissioning crew of the

USS BEAUFORT (ATS

2). This opened up a

whole new world of

diving and salvage for

me. When I think back

about the capabilities

of that ship I am still

amazed. As my career

progressed I was assigned to Harbor Clearance Unit ONE. Being

a member of the ACU 1

dive team afforded me

the opportunity to put

to use all the experience

I had acquired over the years. In 1975 I

accomplished a dream I had ever since I

joined the diving Navy, I became a U. S.

Navy Master Diver. During that time I was

assigned the task of de-commissioning the

SDS 450, which resulted in an abundance

of Air System parts. The majority of these

parts were Level One in nature. So we requested and received permission to design and build the first Flyaway Mixed Gas

Diving System. This experience helped me

to really understand the System Certification process.

I often look back at all the changes in

the Diving Navy that I have witnessed

over the years. Today most of the diving

systems that are in use by the Navy are

the standard Lightweight Dive System

(LWDS), Transportable Recompression

Chamber System (TRCS), Fly-away Recompression Chamber (FARCC), Diving

System Module (DSM), Fly Away Dive

System (FADS III) Air and Mixed Gas, and

the Standard Navy Double Lock (SNDL)

Recompression Chamber to name a few.

Not only are these systems standard in

design but, they are supported by the

state-of–the-art Operation and Maintenance Manuals which contain not only

the proper maintenance instructions but

also the operating and emergency procedures to ensure that all systems are being

operated the same. The philosophy used

today and the equipment that has been

developed from that philosophy are leaps

and bounds from when I started diving.

 In closing, I guess I want to say

thank you for all the hard work you have

done over the years. This was truly reflected last summer when I stood on deck

of the Manson Gulf barge WOTAN off

Cape Hatteras, NC during the USS MONITOR Expedition 2002 and watched Navy

Saturation Divers working side by side

with the Navy Conventional Divers. That

was a sight that I never thought I would

see. That made me realize just how far we

have advanced in the Diving Navy. Keep

up the good work and dive safe.

MDV JJ Fenwick (U.S. Navy retired).
16 April 2003

As I write this, I am sitting in EastTexas with CAPT Wilkins, CWO

Riendeau and Mobile Diving and Salvage

Unit Two Det Bravo,

Master Diver Mallet,

Master Diver Smith,

MDSU TWO Reservists

and more side scan sonars, multibeam echosounders and REMUS’s

than you can count. We

are involved in locating

and recovering Columbia Shuttle debris that

is in an underwater forest at depths to over

100 feet. I’m not sure if

sitting on a limb in a tree

and decompressing will

require writing a new

chapter to the dive

manual or not. CWO

Riendeau will be writing

an article for the next issue of FACEPLATE about the adventurous diving that is occurring.

EEHS

We now have our first certified Emergency

Evacuation Hyperbaric Stretchers. Both

units will be employed in the Gulf to enhance safety to the diver. These are to be

used to enhance the safety to the diver,

but not replace our current dive manual requirements. All requirements for chambers still remain in-place. However, there

are times where the

dive manual allows

you to be diving in a

remote location without the benefit of a

nearby chamber. The

EEHS can fill that

void in a situation

such as the occurrence of an AGE in

shallow water and

you need to stabilize

the diver immediately.

Security Swims

Some of the most

dangerous diving we

do is underneath vessels. As we look at

homeland security

and overseas security, there will most likely be an increase in

diving under vessels. We need to be extremely careful and not let complacency

set in as we do more and more of these

swims. Do not let this become too routine

of an evolution.

MDV/CWO Conference

A reminder that the MDV/CWO conference will be held in Panama City at the dive

school on 14-16 May. There are a lot of

significant issues that need to be addressed. One of the most important issues

to effect diving in years is Task Force Excel and what it is going to mean to the diving community. Plan on attending the conference now.

Farewell and Following Seas

MDV Chuck Young.

MDV Chuck Young retired aboard the

USS CONSTITUTION on 28 March 2003.

MDV Young has been the main brace at

NAVSEA 00C3 for almost four years. His

vast knowledge and experience as a saturation diver were put to the test in preparing for the USS MONITOR. Due to his

drive and determination, we were successful in leasing a civilian saturation diving

system and then putting it to work on the

USS MONITOR. MDV and I have spent

the last couple of summers together in a

saturation diving chamber. Without the

saturation diving system, the USS

MONITOR’s engine, turret and cannons

would never have been recovered. HOO

YAH Chuck. Best of luck in all your future

endeavors.

Captain Hank Schwartz, DMO.

CAPT Schwartz retired at the Navy Yard

on 21 March 2003 after 25 plus years in

the Navy. CAPT Schwartz retires after

serving his last tour of duty at NAVSEA

00C as the Program Director, Biomedical

Research Program. I’ll miss gentleman

Hank Schwartz and his professionalism

and easygoing disposition. Thanks Hank

for all the great years and especially the

help and assistance you gave me with the

Bio-medical Research Program and as a

Saturation Diving Medical Officer on the

USS MONITOR. You can visit Hank in his

new digs in Hawaii.

MDV/CWO Conference

The MDV/CWO Conference is tentatively scheduled for 14-16 May 2003 and will be

hosted by the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center. The conference provides

an opportunity for senior enlisted and Chief Warrant Officer leadership throughout

the various diving commands to collectively review and discuss current and future

community issues. A diving advisory will be released later this year providing more

details. To register or submit point papers go to http://www.supsalv.org, cursor to

“00C3 Diving” select “Conferences” under pull-down menu.

MDV Reunion

The MDV Reunion will be held on Saturday, 17 May 2003, at the Coastal Systems

Station Marina, Panama City, FL starting at 1000. The point of contact for the reunion is ENCM/MDV(ret) Joe Gray at (850) 230-9217.

Captain Chris Murray and MDSU

TWO DET BRAVO CWO Riendeau

overseeing operations in Toledo Bend

Reservoir, Texas. Photo by Donald

Fegley of ROH Inc.