It's not useless, necessarily, but a misnomer if you get your AOW after just a few dives. You'll know a little more than you did right after your OW training but you are in no sense an "advanced" diver.You can add me. Dec 7-12 at Secrets. Havent selected an op yet, will be emailing tomorrow or Monday. Coming in solo, going to get my advanced cert (yes, I know most people say its useless) ...