I have said it over and over and Im going to say it again. I could not be prouder of the guys on my team and again today they reinforced that feeling.
Today we show up at the Marine building at 0800 hours. After a briefing on the days-planned events we head out to our designed search areas.
I take three of the more experienced divers, one FNG and the team leader Sgt. and we head for our ramp.
Windy, snowing, fricken cold at around 15df, near zero vis deep water and water temps in the mid 30s.
Im safety officer and safety diver so Im staying dry again because of this stinking cough. If something happens Im gone but if not Im staying topside.
The guys cover their search area up to 102 and decide the object we are looking for is not there. After checking they said there is no evidence to indicate it ever was there.
So we go back to the other search area and see how my #2 and his team are doing. They hit a whopping 20 and were able to clear their area then practice some line drills with two of the FNGs.
Back at the Marine Building I give a class on the compass and gear maintenance.
As training tradition has it we go for Mexican food.
Man we need to stop that.
Then after loading with mucho flatulent morsels we go over to the YMCA pool in the Spokane Valley. Its a big one and 12 deep. We get two lanes to play in which is plenty of room.
We divide the team up into two groups for basic skills. I have one and my #2 has the other. We demo a skill then one at a time the member does it.
Then some full-face work to get them ready for better and bigger things in the future.
Now the fun starts. One student at a time we hit them hard. My #2 and I start screwing with the divers to see just how much of their training has sunk in.
Trip the weight belt. No big deal. Trip it again but now the BC straps get unsnapped. Just about the time they get themselves put back together I do a realistic OOA by just ripping the reg. out of their mouths. Even with a flooded mask, another weight belt trip and unhooked BC they kept it together and we couldnt rattle them.
Not bad for a good seasoned PSD but the two we did this to just got their OW in late August. They had the mindset and skills to handle two of us constantly screwing with them.
They were not warned that we were going to do this to them. Did they get pissed? Not at all and they came up all smiles feeling a lot better about themselves.
The three FNGs who are not yet certified watched. One was in the water but the other two were watching from poolside. They werent smiling as much as our victims and no where near as much as when we first got there. We told them they would be well trained and capable of handling that stuff before we ever pull that stunt on them. The grins slowly came back but Im not sure they believe us.
Our plan is to do this pool work every 3 or 4 months. The next pool session will be about the same but they will be blacked out.
Damn I love this job. And did I tell you how proud I am of these guys?
Gary D.
Today we show up at the Marine building at 0800 hours. After a briefing on the days-planned events we head out to our designed search areas.
I take three of the more experienced divers, one FNG and the team leader Sgt. and we head for our ramp.
Windy, snowing, fricken cold at around 15df, near zero vis deep water and water temps in the mid 30s.
Im safety officer and safety diver so Im staying dry again because of this stinking cough. If something happens Im gone but if not Im staying topside.
The guys cover their search area up to 102 and decide the object we are looking for is not there. After checking they said there is no evidence to indicate it ever was there.
So we go back to the other search area and see how my #2 and his team are doing. They hit a whopping 20 and were able to clear their area then practice some line drills with two of the FNGs.
Back at the Marine Building I give a class on the compass and gear maintenance.
As training tradition has it we go for Mexican food.
Man we need to stop that.
Then after loading with mucho flatulent morsels we go over to the YMCA pool in the Spokane Valley. Its a big one and 12 deep. We get two lanes to play in which is plenty of room.
We divide the team up into two groups for basic skills. I have one and my #2 has the other. We demo a skill then one at a time the member does it.
Then some full-face work to get them ready for better and bigger things in the future.
Now the fun starts. One student at a time we hit them hard. My #2 and I start screwing with the divers to see just how much of their training has sunk in.
Trip the weight belt. No big deal. Trip it again but now the BC straps get unsnapped. Just about the time they get themselves put back together I do a realistic OOA by just ripping the reg. out of their mouths. Even with a flooded mask, another weight belt trip and unhooked BC they kept it together and we couldnt rattle them.
Not bad for a good seasoned PSD but the two we did this to just got their OW in late August. They had the mindset and skills to handle two of us constantly screwing with them.
They were not warned that we were going to do this to them. Did they get pissed? Not at all and they came up all smiles feeling a lot better about themselves.
The three FNGs who are not yet certified watched. One was in the water but the other two were watching from poolside. They werent smiling as much as our victims and no where near as much as when we first got there. We told them they would be well trained and capable of handling that stuff before we ever pull that stunt on them. The grins slowly came back but Im not sure they believe us.
Our plan is to do this pool work every 3 or 4 months. The next pool session will be about the same but they will be blacked out.
Damn I love this job. And did I tell you how proud I am of these guys?
Gary D.
