Well, a potential candidate I see...
I have been in the Canadian Navy for close to 24 years now, 20 of those as a Clearance Diver. Dave made some very good points in his post and like him I could have done much worse.
There are a few different types of divers within the CF; the Army Engineers' Combat Divers, the Ship's Team Divers, Clearance Divers and the Reserve Force's Port Inspection Divers (PID). JTF2 and the SAR Techs also have a diving capability. Out of those, only Clearance Diver is a trade in itself, the others being sub-specialties except for the PIDs..
Here is some of the work that we do as Clearance Divers:
Mine Counter Measure (MCM) as part of mine warfare;
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
Battle Damage Repair (BDR);
Underwater engineering work including salvage and maintenance of U/W installations;
Training of all categories of divers within the CF;
Maintenance of all diving life support equipment used within the CF;
Diving research and Development; and
Much more...
Here are some of the tools that we use to accomplish our work:
NITROX and HELIOX rebreathers to 81 M;
surface supplied diving equipment to 100M;
Lightweight surface supplied system with AGA mask;
Open circuit SCUBA;
Remotely Operated vehicles (ROVs) ;
Recompression Chambers (RCCs); and
Much more...
Clearance Diver is a specialist trade. In order to be eligible for selection you need:
to have a minimum of 4 years of service;
to be qualified as a diver in one of the previously mentioned diving sub-specialty;
to be medically and dentally fit;
to successfully pass preliminary selection training. This is a two-week course that we use to screen potential candidates in order to see if they have what it takes to undertake Clearance Diving training.
The initial Clearance Diver course is approximately 1 year long and gets you qualified to operate/dive the various diving equipment and tools that we use. Physical fitness training is very much a way of life within our ranks and much of this fact is passed on to the students while on course.
Following initial training, a new graduate would be attached to one of our 2 operational diving units situated in Halifax NS and Esquimalt BC where he/she would initially be part of the BDR team. After some experience as a working diving, the diver would then transfer to another department within the unit such as MCM, Maritime EOD, Electronic Diving Systems (EDS), the training school or the diving repair/maintenance section.
As he/she gains more experience, a Cl Div eventually qualifies for further training within the trade such as advanced EOD training, diving equipment technician, dive operations supervisor etc.
I hope this helps you get some insight into what we do. If you want to know more you can PM me. I work at the DRDC Toronto (formerly known as DCIEM) Experimental Diving Unit located in Downsview Toronto. If you would like to get an up close and personal view of the trade and live close to the GTA, PM me and I'll arrange to give you a tour of our facilities.
Andre
