Combat Diver Training

[OldNSalty]

...More than half of them were cut....

Well of course they had a 50% drop out rate-they started with airmen after all.

 

[tracydr]

The "basic training" course for Special Forces divers is done in Key West; one of the prerequisites to passing the course is to swim 5000 meters: UHG!!! Also, those who make the cut also get NAUI Master Diver certification.

I had a PA who was Special Forces. When he left the Artillery he went to Navy Seals school. Lost about 50 lbs in 6 weeks. He said the training was a lot like what you see on GI Jane. I also had a friend that was an Army Vietnam Recon Diver. He did his truing with the Navy Seals as well. In fact, he's the one who first got me interested in diving. When he left Vietnam, he became an offshore underwater deep oil rig welder. Used to stay underwater for days, hanging out in a bubble.
Tracy, US Army, Major, Retired, Corps Artillery Surgeon

 

[OldNSalty]

In watching that show the other night they did an exercise in the pool where the divers went down with a blacked out mask. The instructors would mess with there gear and the divers had to figure out what the problem was and correct it.

They then said that for the final exercise they could not film what the instructors did tot he gear but it required the students to remove the gear to correct the problem. I sat there and thought 'What could they possibly do that would be so secret?"

So any ideas? The only thing I thought of was removing the first stage but as I have never had that happen could you recover from that? I guess you could put it back on and turn the air on but would that purge the water out?

 

[Recondo0321]

Us Army SF dive school is in the keys-been there for trunk training twice. USMC Combatant Dive school is in Panama City. One of the most difficult schools in the world. Lot's of fun!

 

[Prostardiver]

The instructor who taught my wife and her son their OW class and my Rescue Diver class was an active SF Combat diver at Bragg. He was the most soft spoken person who could quiet a roomful of noisy students with a calm, quiet comment. When they talk about the elite warriors of the world, I can say I know one. Although he could never discuss missions, we did have some interesting conversations.

 

[Griffo]

I'm not game enough (stupid enough?) to enter the split fin debate, however I was a little suprised that they used rubber fin straps. I would have thought that spring straps would be more durable, but am sure they have valid reasons for every equipment choice.

Anyway, I would actually like to go through a much tamer version of the pool excercise where the instructors mess with them and their gear. That would certainly make a diver far more practiced at emergency OOA scenarios that the simple OW test of ditching a reg and finding it again.

 

[Tigerman]

...
So any ideas? The only thing I thought of was removing the first stage but as I have never had that happen could you recover from that? I guess you could put it back on and turn the air on but would that purge the water out?

I wont say for the rest, but the 1st stage you can remove, put back on and breathe fine. You'll need to get it serviced afterwards as you've flooded it, but no problem continuing the dive afterwards..

 

[tengsr]

I thought that jet fins were the standard as well. Maybe they know something we dont?:chinese:

I've seen youtube vids, where military, divers used jetfins. Maybe Air, Land, and Sea each have their own setup

 

[tengsr]

maybe they have a wrench, put them in a leg hold and undo their lp, and hp lines

 

[tengsr]

maybe they unhook their inlator hose and flood their BC. I'm willing to bet that its individual for each diver in the course though