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NSA Panama City: Home of Military Diving

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS120515-22
5/15/2012

By Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (NNS) -- Nestled within the Naval Support Activity-Panama City (NSA-PC) fence line lies the home of U.S. military diving where the research, development, testing, evaluation (RDT&E), certification and training is conducted to support the nation's military diving requirements.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) is the center of excellence for all RDT&E supporting Navy diving. It is a Navy laboratory with five primary mission areas: mine warfare; diving and life support; amphibious and expeditionary warfare; naval special warfare and other activities that infringe the littorals.

While NSWC PCD was established by the secretary of the Navy in 1945, as the U.S. Navy Mine Countermeasures Station, in the mid-1950's the Lab took on the mission area of diving and life support.

Today, led by Commanding Officer Capt. Scott Pratt, the warfare center is comprised of more than 1,300 civilian and military employees of which, approximately 880 civilians are in science and technology related fields. Of the 40 military assigned to the laboratory, 10 are Navy divers who support various RDT&E missions.

Throughout the years, the organization has experienced multiple diving and life support achievements, and the most recent scientific and engineering contribution was realized when the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) awarded NSWC PCD employee Dennis Gallagher with the 2012 Excellence in Technology Transfer award May 4, for his work with the Advanced Diver's Mask-Mounted Display System.

"We provide the full spectrum of RDT&E for Navy, joint and other agency diving and life-support systems," said Pratt. "Dennis' accomplishment and his FLC recognition exemplify the world-renowned technical excellence that resides within this division. His system has enormous military and civilian application, and we were able to quickly transfer this technology to the fleet which further demonstrates our ability and agility in technology transfers. It is this type of expertise and commitment to our customers that people can expect from our organization."

The Advanced Diver's Mask-Mounted Display System was made available for commercial and military use in December 2011.

"The mask-mounted display system is a whole new ballgame when compared to anything previously available, offering higher contrast, brighter color, smaller size, lighter weight, larger eye relief, lower cost, and lower power consumption," said Gallagher.

Before any breathing or life support systems or technologies transfer to the Fleet for use, the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) must give the final approval. NEDU's mission is to test and evaluate diving, hyperbaric, and other life-support systems and procedures, and conduct research and development in biomedical and environmental physiology.

The 120-person team at NEDU includes highly qualified and experienced military divers with a combined 1,000 man-years of diving experience: Sea-Air-Land (SEAL), Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Salvage, Saturation, Seabee, Diving Officer, and Diving Medical Officer (DMO). Ph.D. scientists, engineers, various science-degreed professionals, and support personnel work hand-in-hand with these divers, resulting in an unparalleled and effective force of undersea problem-solvers. NEDU provides technical recommendations based upon knowledge and experience, to Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to support the operational requirements of the U.S. armed forces.

"The unit provides technical recommendations to support operational requirements of our armed forces," said Cmdr. Keith Lehnhardt. "Our primary responsibilities to our customers, the people and organizations who ask us to certify their equipment, are to listen and be responsive. We strive to provide our customers with prompt, high-quality products and services at fair prices, and we always evaluate equipment and procedures without bias. We always submit credible, reproducible data and accurately report all findings in a timely manner and of course we continually seek to improve our operating practices. Our guidance and findings are based on scientific data and experience alone."

NEDU and NSWC PCD are both NAVSEA commands but organized in different chains of command. Combined, NEDU and NSWC PCD personnel cannot accomplish organization missions without state-of-the-art facilities. To conduct diving and life support tests, NEDU owns an Ocean Simulation Facility, an experimental test pool, an environmental chamber, an experimental diving facility, and gas analysis and cardiopulmonary laboratories.

NEDU's laboratory is used for analysis, to include gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy. The facility is currently used to develop reliable and rapid screening methods and analyzers for the Fleet whereas NSWC PCD's gas lab is the only Navy certified lab to be used for the spectrum of gas analysis.

The mission of the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) is as straightforward and precise as those who choose and successfully become Navy Divers: Train qualified candidates into proficient military divers in support of naval, joint, and allied operations.

"The schoolhouse provides both a controlled diving environment, as well as direct access to open water diving throughout the Gulf of Mexico," said NDSTC Commanding Officer Cmdr. Michael Egan. "We also provide training for a limited number of law enforcement and government agency personnel and allied forces. The center has 22 different courses of instruction and a throughput of approximately 1,800 students per year, with an average of 300 students in training at any given time. The Training Center conducts approximately 10,000 dives each year."

Located next to NDSTC is the Center for Explosive Ordnance and Diving (CENEODDIVE) where a slightly different type of military or government diver resides - explosive ordnance disposaleers. Established in 2003, the center trains all branches of service in the EOD career fields on various diving certifications or qualifications.

The center is the secretary of defense's only dive center that trains EOD technicians, military or civilian, in any agency. According to CENEODDIVE Commanding Officer Capt. Bradley McKinney, the Center provides life-long learning opportunities in areas of both personnel and professional development.

"Throughout each stage of an EOD technician's and divers initial training, we are there to train them, and to provide guidance and leadership as they enter their new and challenging career," said McKinney. "We strive to provide agile and adaptive training to all services, countries, and government entities; deliver knowledge to satisfy training requirements; and improve Navy and joint force operational readiness through personal, professional, and leadership growth."

The primary function of the Center for EOD and Diving is to support innovative human performance solutions that meet the needs of the fleet, by identifying and implementing the most efficient methods of training and delivery for Sailors in the domain, while ensuring advancement opportunities and requisite competency levels for all personnel are maintained.

NDSTC and the CENEODDIVE not only train EOD and the Navy Diver rating in various forms of diving skills, but also diving courses that support other naval requirements to include Seabee Divers, diving doctors, Army hard hat divers, U.S. Coast Guard divers, Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps combat divers, and foreign military divers. The Center for EOD and Diving manages diving courses for all five service branches.

The difference between an EOD and Navy fleet salvage or saturation diver lies within their missions. Salvage and saturation divers primarily recover, or salvage, equipment and sometimes people from the ocean depths using different types of Navy certified diving and life support systems. Then, located closer to the middle of the base and on the waterfront, there are the scientists and engineers and medical officers who collaborate and deliver the Navy's diving and life support systems to the users - whether they are located at NDSTC, CENEODDIVE, or out in the Fleet.

From the perspective of a passerby, there are few indicators the Navy's dive Fleet resides here inside the Bay County Navy base fence line, other than NDSTC's 'Dive Navy' banner displayed across a crane used for underwater salvage training. Early morning commuters might catch a glimpse of the dive school students running in their stenciled white t-shirts and khaki underwater demolition training (UDT) shorts, carrying a canteen full of replenishing water, as the sun rises over Alligator Bayou, but the fact is that these four commands: NSWC PCD, NEDU, NDSTC and the CENEODDIVE represent the home of all military diving.