Was first certified in 1962 in Santa Cruz California.
I had to go the hard route but after several ships swimmer schools was able to go to the U.S. Navy Scuba School. Upon completion of it I returned to the ship.
Did my first recovery, a few months prior to Scuba School, which is still as vivid today as it was all those years ago. That night, bobbing in the middle of the South China Sea, I knew what I was going to do with my life.
Within a year I was in Second Class school with open orders to a diving command should I graduate.
Went to the diving locker of the USS Prairie AD 15, which was a destroyer tender. Was on the Gemini and Apollo recovery teams as the secondary units. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride for all the Pacific landings.
Got out of the Navy in 1970 and stayed active as a diver. Tried instruction but after trying to kill everyone during pool harassment I realized I didnt like civilian training tactics.
Moved to Idaho in October 1976 and joined the Kootenai County Sheriffs Department dive team. I was the only non-full time officer on the team. We had a back-up recovery team made up of Search and Rescue members that did double duty between land and water.
Went full time with the department in 1983 and I have been there ever sense. Our 10-member Rescue/Recovery team, up until the past two years averaged around 200 calls a year with a ZERO accident rate.
We have had months where all we did was dive and never worked patrol at all.
Thats about it in a nutshell. After 42 years I still love it. The team is one of the major reasons I do not want to retire. I'm way over 200 recoveries so why stop now.
www.mswobbles.com will show my wife diving. She has her Advanced and has MS to boot.
Gary D.