Well, how else are you supposed to find out about free mansonary if you don't walk up to a mason and ask them why anyone would want to be one. If GUE certification really holds merit, GUE practitioners will easily be able to effectively point out all the benefits of GUE over other organizations and won't scoff at the question.
I know there are lots of organizations around. I just want to know what benifits GUE certification would offer from actual GUE people. Believe me, I have heard plenty of reasons not to go GUE. I have reasons not to go GUE (cost, distance). I just want to hear from Pro-GUE people what they have gotten from the organization, and what I could get from the organization that I could not get elsewhere.
OK, I know you asked for a GUE practitioner's perspective, but it might be nice to have a datapoint from a non-GUE practitioner ... so I'll answer from the perspective of someone who stuck his toe in the water, decided that while it felt awfully nice, it just wasn't what I was looking for.
I took Fundies because I wanted to learn the back kick ... and develop my skills and protocols to the point where I wouldn't embarrass myself diving with my GUE-trained friends. I got a lot more than that for my money, however. The most valuable thing I took away from it wasn't the skills or the equipment configuration ... I already had a lot of that, and Fundies just provided a reality check on where I really was at. The most valuable thing was a mental shift ... from thinking about "my" dive to thinking about "our" dive. Now, that might sound like a simple thing ... but in many important ways, it's the most fundamental thing you can learn from a system that emphasizes "team". GUE provides a structure within which to practice that concept ... and in some ways I have over the years moved away from some of that structure ... but the concept has stayed with me, and it's something I try to instill in my own (NAUI) students ... in effect, teaching them
how to be a dive buddy. That's an element that you won't get from other agency curriculum until you get into tech training (if even then).
After Fundies I worked at a GUE shop for a year ... although I was teaching NAUI classes, the approach was designed to prepare students for further training in GUE, if they decided that was the direction they wanted to go. I took some skills workshops, and did the majority of my diving with GUE-trained divers. Over that period of time I decided that, as much as I liked the system, there were things I wanted to do that simply didn't fit the GUE model ... and came to realize that some of my physical limitations would prevent me from doing dives I wanted to do within the GUE system. So I got my technical training through instructors who taught for other agencies ... NAUI, TDI, IANTD and NSS-CDS. The key there was to find an instructor who would set a high bar and hold me to it ... which, admittedly, they don't all do.
I am not a poster-child for GUE ... I'm a NAUI instructor, sometimes solo diver, and recently took up sidemount diving ... but I don't hesitate one little bit to recommend to anyone who I feel is so inclined that they should take a Fundamentals class and decide for themselves if further GUE training is for them. It's not for everybody ... there needs to be a match between their system and your mindset and goals. For some, it's the best system available. For some, it's a complete waste of time. And for others ... like me ... it will offer a perspective on diving that you simply won't get with the traditional agencies (unless you are lucky enough to find a tech instructor who has had some GUE training) ... but it will not be the best way for you to move forward to achieve the things you want to achieve with your diving.
But, to be honest, no one can "convince" you ... that's something you have to do for yourself. Same goes for the famed "attitude" that gets so beaten to death on the Internet. I know and dive with a lot of GUE-trained divers ... and know some I would choose not to dive with. They're all individuals. The GUE system doesn't offer you kool-aid ... you either choose to seek it out or you don't ... that's up to you ... but it does not come from taking a GUE class.
The one thing I would recommend you avoid if you decide to go that route ... the mind trap that you somehow have to "perfect" your skills through persistent practice before you can get out and actually do some fun diving. I see this happen to some people who get into GUE ... they spend virtually ALL of their diving time at the same dive site, practicing skills over and over and over to the point where it feels more like a job than a recreation. I think a lot of it boils down to peer pressure ... and I think it's easy for certain personality types to turn everything into a job. GUE tends to attract that personality type, because of its rigidly defined structure. But the whole point of diving is to have fun ... and it's way more productive to strike a balance between doing fun dives and skills practice. But again, it's really up to the individual to decide where that balance lies.
If the concept of GUE-style diving appeals to you, by all means sign up for Fundies ... that's a no-brainer. Then evaluate what you take away from it from the perspective of whether or not this style really suits your goals. If it does, great ... go diving a while then sign up for another GUE class. If not, well ... there are plenty of competent instructors out there teaching for other agencies. You may have to work a little harder finding the right one for you, but it's not that hard, really.
No matter where your diving takes you, you'll walk away from Fundies with skills and knowledge that will serve you well. To my concern, if your goals take you anywhere beyond the casual warm-water vacation diver, it's one of the better investments you can make in scuba diving ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
