Question about military trained divers

[captain]

I would rather dive with a military trained diver just as I would rather fly with a military trained pilot. Some on this board sound like they are a legend in their own mind when it comes to their skills and knowledge.

Captain

 

[weekender]

"All I know about military dive training is what I saw on a documentory about that followed some seals through dive training." mike

are you kidding me? your post does nothing but riducule training you know nothing about based on a tv show.

 

[The Kraken]

I'm not going as far as Weekender did in his statement, but there is probably a considerable amount of information that was not shown in the documentary of the SEAL training. Those programs are produced to focus on the aspects of the particular subject which the producers feel would be most interesting to the mainstream viewer.

I've watched other programs that dealt with other military training schools such as aviation/pilot training. The focus always seems to be on the harassment issues, not the over and over and over and over and over again practice of emergency procedures.

Even to this day, I'm always cognizent of where I can place my auto in case of an emergency, just as I was taught in the military to always have a spot in mind for an emergency landing.

I've seen a number of the "SEAL documentaries" and they focus on the military aspect, not the safe diving and diving skills aspects.

But with that said, I think we're starting to go off on a different tangent . . .

 

[weekender]

"I'm not going as far as Weekender did in his statement, but there is probably a considerable amount of information that was not shown in the documentary of the SEAL training. Those programs are produced to focus on the aspects of the particular subject which the producers feel would be most interesting to the mainstream viewer." Kraken


Yea, what he said. i am at work and type my posts real fast then usually come back to see i pissed people off. he worded it better than me. thanks kraken and hopefully no hard feelings mike.

 

[captain]

Most military training is to teach people to operate under worse case situations, especially so in SEAL and special forces training where the equiptment may be damaged and not useable, or just plain not availible for a particular mission. If you can accomplish it under those conditions than the rest is easy.

Captain

 

[The Kraken]

So, getting back to the thread . . .

In some cases, should the applicant provide a copy of his or her DD214, or documents certifying completion of a proscribed course, some civilian agencies will give credit for the courses taken and completed.

I'll see if I can find anything on the NAUI or PADI web sites that would give an indication of to what levels these certifications would be accepted.

 

[sweatfrog]

There's a reason why Doctors 'practice' medicine. It's dynamic and evolving. The same goes for buoyancy. I've been zooming along Blue Corner in Palau when two currents meet. All of a sudden, my video is showing all angles of that area as I am tumbled up and around. Most videographers won't take their cameras into caves, because theres lots of tasks and never enough hands to get buoyancy down pat. Its an interesting conundrum and one that tasks you at times, but you can't do everything perfectly from the getgo.

This is getting way off the subject, but beginners have been scared by some of the comments made by know-it-all's on this board. The basic area isn't to turn people off to diving, rather to entice them to a wonderful and fun sport. You need to teach people to crawl before they can walk. Perfection and mastery aside, I want people to be excited about this sport I so enjoy. Because one person has an agenda, that can be precluded.

I used the term "Doing it Right" because the prevailing attitude from one particular individual seems to think that everything else is DIW. I've been diving and teaching for a long time and if I'd been doing it wrong, I'd be dead by now.

A comment was made on another thread that this individual had lots of experience and should be respected. Well, respect is earned. You get back what you give, and for him to trash any military organization because of what he saw on TV is unacceptably ludicrous. His surly attitude has been tolerated for way too long with no reprocussions.

Those with the loudest and most often heard voices don't always win, they just like to hear themselves and tout their ideas. Take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[MikeFerrara]

"All I know about military dive training is what I saw on a documentory about that followed some seals through dive training." mike

are you kidding me? your post does nothing but riducule training you know nothing about based on a tv show.

Why would I kid you?

I only commented on what I saw and clearly stated as much. Perhaps the show was poorly made and did a poor job of depicting the training, however based on training standards I wouldn't have been ablt to issue a certification to divers with the technique that I saw on that show. It's that simple.

 

[gathan]

I am a Canadian Navy Diver (Clearance Diver) and while I have had the pleasure in the past to share diving experiences with our USN diver friends and others from European nations during operations and exercises, I certainly cannot pretend to know all the training they go through, however I can attest to their competence under the surface, having shared the water column with many of them over the years. To answer the original question, our divers can get an equivalency "C" card, if they want, through a civilian diving agency on completion of a dive course. This is normally done in a manner similar to what SWEATFROG described in an earlier post. Now, to comment on "someone else's" post; I find it a bit strange that a person would attempt to convey to this forum, what that person obviously thinks is credible information, based on having seen a "movie". Having been a participant on both sides of the fence, as I am still actively diving in both the military and civilian world, It is my opinion that there are excellent divers and less than stellar ones everywhere however, most military divers that I have met over the years were pretty "clued in". I believe this is a result of the intense training they received to get qualified. For example, our "entry level" SCUBA course is 6 weeks long and encompases many hours of classroom theory which is applied beneath the surface of the water where a typical student will accumulate anywhere from 15 to 25 hours of practical diving. At the other end of the scale, a fully qualified Clearance Diver Supervisor would have attended a "collection" of dive and other dive related courses totaling over 2.5 years in length, spead over many years while gaining experience through operations and exercises as well as teaching. Surely this counts for something. I like to think I have an open mind and willingly engage in diving related conversations with some of my civilian diving friends and I have to admit that I have learned and continue to learn from them as well as from within the military, still. See you on the bottom.

 

[Gary D.]

Things have changed but I don’t think that much. We were so deep into the buddy system and buddy skills it almost over rode some of the other training issues we had.

Done ranting.

The question I was answering wasn't about training. From what you're saying Gary, it looks like US military training is pretty much the same, regardless of the branch. That's probably because all military Instructors were initially trained at the Underwater Swimmers School in Key West.

However, when some people get out of the military, that attitude can surface (people are people) and they sometimes think they are more prepared than the next person. For recreational diving, some objectives are different. Other than Some Come Up Barely Alive (SCUBA). Attitude is the primary ingredient to all learning. I take classes to learn and then I can apply what I've been taught. I will pay good money to learn something I'm interested in, but to be given something for very little cost diminishes the value and potentially brings Scuba back to the quasi-professional state it was in 30 years ago.

One of the reasons that the YMCA has such a huge presence is that it is still closely tied to military training. That's not what Joe Public is asking for, or wants.

Buoyancy is a key element (or should be) with any dive course. However, it's not the end all for diving. If memory serves, this thread is in the basic area. Take your DIR philosophy to the proper area. Buoyancy is continually worked on, mastery in all circumstances takes more time than all the people on this board have combined.

I just re-read my post and don't think I mentioned anything your telling me to leave about. What's up?

Gary D.