• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Safeguard, Royal Thai Navy Divers Share Techniques

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050622-15
Release Date: 6/22/2005 4:00:00 PM

By Chief Journalist Melinda Larson, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 1 Public Affairs

SATTAHIP, Thailand (NNS) -- U.S. Navy and Royal Thai Navy (RTN) divers practiced standard diving techniques June 21 using USS Safeguard (ARS 50) as a dive platform at Chuk Samet pier here.

The divers are sharing their skills during exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2005. CARAT, a bilateral series of military training exercises with several Southeast Asian nations, is designed to strengthen the interoperability of the sea services. In the precarious underwater world of Navy diving, a strong trust for fellow divers is the cornerstone of every operation.

“We need to get comfortable with each other in the water. Sometimes there’s a language barrier so we have to figure out other ways of communication, such as hand signals,” said Engineman 1st Class Joseph Moebius, a Safeguard diver, who was on the first of 10 dives with a RTN counterpart.

During each of the 10 dives, wearing MK-21 helmets, two divers from each Navy were lowered over the side of Safeguard on a dive platform to a depth of about 30 feet. The pierside practice is in advance of a scheduled wreck dive in open waters during the at-sea phase of CARAT.

“The indoctrination dives are a requirement for us before open water dives,” said Lt. j.g. Nicholas Parker, a Safeguard dive officer. “It’s also a chance for us to dive together in a controlled environment and increase our confidence in each other’s capabilities.”

Trust in fellow divers is critical, because when the unthinkable happens, such as a ruptured air hose or a diving injury, a diver has to trust the person underwater with him to make the right moves.

“There’s a lot more trust coming from the Thai divers because they’re on our systems,” noted Parker.

Working in an environment with divers whose second language is English also built the confidence of the U.S. divers.

“If you can teach it, you know it. Teaching the Thai divers helps build the confidence of men on my team because they can teach U.S. dive techniques to a non-English speaker,” said Parker.

Because the Royal Thai Navy does not have a salvage ship in its fleet, it’s important to train with the Safeguard divers in the event of a future mishap.

“We may be tasked to do diving or salvage operations with the Thai Navy. By building relations with our Thai counterparts through training exercises, we’ll be ready for a real event,” said Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate (MDV/SW) Jeffrey Samson.

Safeguard is one of four ships in the CARAT task group, which arrived in Thailand June 17 for the Thailand phase. Rear Adm. Kevin M. Quinn, commander of Logistics Group Western Pacific, is responsible for overall CARAT coordination for U.S. participants in his executive agent role as Commander, Task Force 712. Capt. Buzz Little, commander, Destroyer 1, leads the CARAT ships while embarked aboard USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43). The guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) and the frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) are also part of the CARAT task group.

Little’s staff is based in San Diego. Fort McHenry and Safeguard are forward-deployed to Sasebo, Japan. Paul Hamilton is homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Rodney M. Davis in Everett, Wash.