Need some advice

[Superlyte27]

There is a section for Commercial Divers on this forum. I suggest you read all of it.

Now, with that said...
Being a commercial diver isn't a fun or glamorous job. It's certainly not an easy job. It's really dirty, really hard work. You are usually stuck in some shiit hole be it boat or hotel for a month or two at a time. Don't try to be a family man while being a commercial diver.

You've done a discover scuba class... I'm guessing that was in clear warm water. Commercial divers almost never work in nice water. Most of the time its either very hot or very cold and almost always zero vis. I've literally worked covered in oil, mud, crap and things I couldn't even label. Sometimes it's scary. I've worked for several employers who have killed their crew. Last year there was a pretty big thread here about a friend of mine who lost his buddy in a water tower.

I get that you loved the discover scuba, but if that is what's making you lean towards a commercial diving career, you are making a huge mistake. I once got to drive a $150,000 Porsche. When I was all done that didn't make me want to be a truck driver.

I promise its a very very hard life. If I had it to do all over again, and had 30k to spend on school (I spent 8k on comm dive school) I'd go to nursing school.

 

[USdiver1]

Go Navy. The Government pays for the school, 3 squares a day and the roof over your head. If you successfully complete training, you will get the kind of job that you are currently dreaming of, also courtesy the US government. You had better be both persistent and dedicated to this course of action though, halfway through training is not the time to realize that you wanted to be a recreational diver, as Uncle Sam will own you for the duration of your enlistment, diving or not. Analyze your options: commercial diver vs. any other career very carefully before committing.

 

[drrich2]

Think long and hard about what 'the Military owns you' means in war time. As others have said, if you enlist and your intended career path doesn't work out for whatever reason, you likely can't just shrug, say 'Well, it's been fun' and go home.

The Military is the one U.S. employer I know that can order you to kill other people you don't even know on command, walk into a minefield, refuse to let you quit for years and, at least in the past, shoot you for desertion under some circumstances? All this and they can deploy you into hostile foreign situations for several months on end.

I am not dissing military service. From what I understand, for some it's been a powerful positive good in their lives, and the U.S. would not exist without it.

But think very long and hard about just what you'd be signing up for.

Richard.

 

[TMHeimer]

If you enlist in peace time and a war breaks out...... I suppose some figured to enlist in 2001 then said what the hey....

 

[turt1e]

I know nothing about commercial diving, but this does bring to mind a saying that goes something like... "The quickest way to ruin your love of a hobby is to make it your job!"