Becoming a Navy Diver

[The Kraken]

One thing of which you should make certian are the physical requirements of that particular military specialty.
You may find that you pass the enlistment qualifications for the navy. The enlistment physical is far and away different from the physicals given for specialty jobs.
Case in point, when I joined the army to become a helicopter pilot I, and the other volunteers, were given a basic physical to see if we "qualified for flight school". We all passed and were enlisted into the army. Then at the end of basic training all of the flight school candidates were called out and give a "Class 1-A Flight Physical".
The flight physical was extremely thorough. Won't go into all of what was done, but it took a whole day for each of us.
There were several candidates who had passed the preliminay physical but failed the flight physical for one reason or another. They were denied flight school.
The guys that failed the flight physical were moved into more specialized MOS's because of the education required to be approved for flight school so at least they didn't end up humping an M-16 in the bush in Viet Nam.
MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE INFORMATION AND READ THE FINE PRINT ! ! ! ! ! ! !

 

[JerseyDevil]

As was stated earlier, the Navy may not be so quick to let you run off to BUD/S after dive school. I have seen divers become Seals though, so it can happen. Also and this is a biggie, if you go to BUD/S and don't make there is a real good chance you won't be going back to being a diver. I saw this firsthad with an EOD guy.

The two are very different, and the dive training won't make second phase a breeze. In fact it may make it harder on you since the instructors will key in on people who have experience in something your there to be trained in (i.e. diving, ex-Army types, etc).

If being a Seal is what you really want you may want to enlist with a source rating for them and ride out the time it takes to get your citizenship. Or maybe wait to join until you get your citizenship, then head right for BUD/S. A little time and maturity will serve you well. Becoming a Seal is a big undertaking.

Good Luck

 

[Windwalker]

Listen to what everyone says about the Recruiters, they will do anything for your name. Get your occupation in writing, get your secondary occupation in writing and make sure there is an out clause in the event that they cannot put you in either. Make sure you understand WHAT your occupation is. Watch out for the fine print that says if you fail a school then they don't have to honor the out clause. You might get an instructor that does not like you, and he might fail you just for fun.

When I was discharged from the Corps, I was approached by the Navy Recruiters who asked me to join as a Seal, I told them to take a long long walk off a short pier with lead boots. Being a Seal is painful and thankless. The shear amount of Cr@p you have to put up with as a Seal is astounding. You can be assured that during deployment, if your lucky 1/8 of the time you are going to be cold, tired, and miserable. Another 6/8 of your time your going to be shut up in a small space for a long time bored out of your goard, and the rest of the time is going to be spent drinking and trying to forget your misery. Most the seals I have met are hard and tired, they don't tell everyone that they are a seal because that is often something they don't want people to know. If you think about it, if your among a much of guys at a bar, if you say "I'm a Seal" that is a sure way to end up in a fight because there is always some Bozo that wants to know how well you can fight. Also.. Seals aren't like in the video games. The majority of what they do is forward observer, they go in to gain intelligence, to disrupt, and then get out without anyone knowing they were there. Of course.. there are people who get off on that type of life style.

Oh yea.. one last thing.. Check out www.snipercountry.com there are quite a bit of Military Special units that are represented there. They can give you the scoop.

 

[rmediver2002]

This sounds like SCUBA or submarine SCUBA school, it is offered as a re-enlistment option but is only 4 (SCUBA) or 5 (submarine SCUBA) weeks long instead of six months, it does not cover hard hat diving.

I did not have any hard hat (second class diver) students, nor have I evewr heard of any go through that did not go on to diving billets regardless of service... They are all undermanned and most likely will remain that way.



I will give anyone here as much information as you would like on military or hard hat diving but will not comment on those things I have not experienced first hand. I was not a SEAL so I can not comment on what it took or takes to become a SEAL

Every guy on my boat that went to dive school made it a condition of their reenlistment. They all said, "I WILL reenlist if you WILL send me to dive school." Coincidentally, they all went to dive school. I wanted to go, but since I didn't reenlist, well...

Anyway, they all went, but they didn't become full-time divers. They served in the boat's dive division, but none of them transferred to dive billets. They all still did their "day jobs" on the boat. I don't know how it works so I don't even know if they could have requested a dive billet.

As an aside, I can tell you that my dream would be a dive billet in Guam. What a life those guys had. But I digress...

Finally, about the SEALs. Good luck on that. A piece of advice though...many SEAL teams did op's off our boat so I've met a lot of them. If you truly want to make it as a SEAL strive for endurance and quickness, not brute strength. All of the SEAL's I've met are thin and fast (but still strong). I've never met a big, buff SEAL. That's not to say that they can't still lift two outboard motors over their heads, though.

All of they guys in my boot camp company that wanted to be SEALs were huge, weightlifter types. I don't know if they made it or not, but from what I saw I assume they didn't. Don't make their mistake.

 

[Juls64]

My son plans to join the Navy. He intends to go to school for Firefighting, but he would also like to go to Navy Diver Training School in Panama Beach. We were just at the recruiters office tonight, and everything seemed like it would be fine. Now I come back to do more research and read this thread.

My spirits are definitely dampened now!

Is it at the time he is at the MEPS station, and they are typing his contract, that he needs to make sure Diver School is included? Will that be enough to insure him a spot, as long as he can comply with the physical part? Is it relly all just a crap shoot in the end?

If he can't dive there, he won't back out. His primary goal is the firefighting part. He would really like to dive though. As we haven't signed anything yet, we are trying to do our homework so everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Julie

 

[Gary D.]

My son plans to join the Navy. He intends to go to school for Firefighting, but he would also like to go to Navy Diver Training School in Panama Beach. We were just at the recruiters office tonight, and everything seemed like it would be fine. Now I come back to do more research and read this thread.

My spirits are definitely dampened now!

Is it at the time he is at the MEPS station, and they are typing his contract, that he needs to make sure Diver School is included? Will that be enough to insure him a spot, as long as he can comply with the physical part? Is it relly all just a crap shoot in the end?

If he can't dive there, he won't back out. His primary goal is the firefighting part. He would really like to dive though. As we haven't signed anything yet, we are trying to do our homework so everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Julie

I see two big problems here.

#1. If his primary goal and focus is on firefighting he will most likely fail dive school.

#2. If he is just focusing on the physical part he WILL fail dive school.

The training, depending on the Navy's need for divers, is geared largely on making you quit. If the instructors can make you quit they do not want you. We were told on day one that they would do what they needed to do to get us to quit. They told us two groups in the servace will die if they quit in the middle of their mission. Thats divers and pilots so they push and push in school.

That is where the mental part comes in. You need to be fast and strong but not buff but most importantly you have to have the mental attitude to stop a freight train. Physically you do not need to be Superman. Mentally you need to be every Super Hero combined. Remember the "Little Engine that Could".

Also, he can't have anything else on his mind but diving. No family, No kids, No beer or Booze, No females, No hot cars or bikes, No Nothing but diving.

It is very doable and very rewarding with the right attitude. Tell him good luck from all of.

My brother-in-law was a seal. He got out about the same time I did. He hasn't dove in over thirty years and wants nothing to do with it. It's rare if I stay dry for 30 days.

Gary D.

 

[MastahD]

Hello all,
I am a recreational diver and am considering the navy diving program as well and am researching it in-depth.
A few questions:
1. I have less than perfect vision, am I not eligible? What if i get laser surgery?
2. My heart has a slight clicking sound at the mitro valve, and many physicians have assured my after EKG's that I can do anything anyone else can do. Will the navy physical exam discover this abnormality and declare me ineligible?
3. I am 6'8'' and thin, yet very athletic. Am I eligible?
4. Occasionally I experience strange pressure fluctuations in my nasal/ear cavity. Will this affect my eligibility?
Thanks for the answers,
Michael

 

[MastahD]

Hello all,
I am a recreational diver and am considering the navy diving program as well and am researching it in-depth.
A few questions:
1. I have less than perfect vision, am I not eligible? What if i get laser surgery?
2. My heart has a slight clicking sound at the mitro valve, and many physicians have assured my after EKG's that I can do anything anyone else can do. Will the navy physical exam discover this abnormality and declare me ineligible?
3. I am 6'8'' and thin, yet very athletic. Am I eligible?
4. Occasionally I experience strange pressure fluctuations in my nasal/ear cavity. Will this affect my eligibility?
Thanks for the answers,
Michael

 

[shellbackdiver1]

Maybe times have changed so what I say might not be accurate. I was in the Navy for 9 years 13 days. I considered becoming a Navy SEAL about 3 years into my enlistment but was unable unless I cross rated. For those of you considering enlisting I will explain....I was an Aviation Electronics Tech....there is not a need in the SEALS for this type of rating. I needed to cross rate into a billet that was needed by the SEALs. So if you are considering joining the SEALs be sure you go into a rating that is accepted. If I remember correctly most, NOT ALL ratings accepted would not really help you land a good high paying technical job once in the civilian world after you failed to complete the BUDs program. Just something you should consider.

I did not cross rate because at the time the only rating available was fire control tech and there was no openings. The Navy did not want to lose the money they had already spent on my training was the explaination given.

The biggest mistake I ever made was the day I got out of the Navy, 9Sept04. I could be retired now diving every single day if I had stayed in. What an idiot I am.

 

[venturediver]

You need to specify with your recruiter what type of diving you wish to do. There are salvage and recovery divers, which is more grunt work. There are hull technicians, that really sucks inside of the boat, and there are rescue swimmers, which is very physically taxing. If you are considering SEAL's, rescue swimmer is probably your best bet. However, it is very physical and you may not get a guaranteed position. I was a Corpsman in the Navy in San Diego, and I know that SEAL training is something you seriously need to consider before committing.