coastal compass january 2015

Coastal Compass - January 2015

InsideThis Edition

Navy Evaluates Heated Undergarment ..... 2

View from the Bridge ......................................3

Leave Transfer Program ................................3

Navy Raises Ironclad USS Monitor ..............4

PCD Volunteers for Junior Achievement ......6

RDML Lorin Selby Visits NSWC PCD ..........6

Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Statement Audit .7

OPSEC: Beware of Social Networking ........7

50+ Years of Military Diving Support .............9

HR: And the Award Goes To ........................10

Navy Evaluates Heated Undergarment TechnologyBy John Klose

Underwater Systems Development Branch

See HEATED, page 4

Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Project Engineer John Klose re-laxes in a test tank during initial thermal protection pilot studies at University of Montana’s Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism (WPEM). (Courtesy photo).

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Naval Surface War-fare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) researchers have demonstrated a breakthrough diver thermal protection tech-nology that can warm divers indefinitely in very cold water using four to six times less power than previously designed systems.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) funded research primarily conducted at NSWC PCD in Panama City, Florida this past year, identified the safe and highly-efficient, electrically-heated, diver thermal undergarments using Carbon Nano Core fibers, or CNC, are effective. The next step is to transition this technology into both dry and wet cold environment applications and develop mission-specific prototype gar-ments for further testing.

The technology was developed through a collaborative ONR “Swampworks” re-search effort between NSWC PCD, the University of Montana’s Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism (WPEM), and defense contractors SAIC and the Coliant Corporation.

The U.S. Navy in Panama City, Florida has been investigating diver thermal pro-tection technologies since the SEALAB experiments in the 1960s. Since salt water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water, ocean temperatures in winter can

reach as low as 29° F creating a very chal-lenging environment in which Navy divers must operate. Cold skin temperatures lead to a loss of muscle strength and the ability to manipulate tools. Continued exposure to cold water can lead to the loss of core body temperature, called hypothermia, which can cause death in extreme situations. Navy divers are consistently challenged when working in cold water whether the mission is neutralizing mines, changing out the pro-peller of a ship, or riding in a SEAL Deliv-ery Vehicle.

“We are very excited about the initial results of our investigation,” said NSWC PCD Project Engineer John Klose. “Co-liant’s CNC fibers have the right combi-nation of physical, thermal, and electrical properties that allow us to build an electri-cally-heated undergarment that would not be possible using traditional technologies. The biggest risk from previous designs of electrically-heated diver thermal protection suits has been the potential for hot spots within the suit that could burn the diver. These new fibers use less power and gen-erate heat at a lower overall temperature than traditional technologies. This allows us to design a diver heated undergarment that is much safer and much more energy efficient than previous diver heating system designs.”

NSWC Panama City Division (NSWC

PCD) has delivered diving and life support and

naval special warfare mission area support for

almost 60 years.

The base in Panama City, Florida was origi-

nally established Sept. 1, 1945. By the mid

1950s, the base – then called the Mine De-

fense Laboratory (MDL) – was home to a small

group of Navy divers, Explosive Ordnance Dis-

posal and Underwater Combat Divers who sup-

ported the torpedo mine countermeasure and

research, development, test and evaluation

(RDT&E) mission areas.

By the mid-1960s, the command designed

and fabricated SEALAB I and supported

SEA-LAB II and III. Command experts also

designed and fabricated what is today known

as the SEAL Delivery Vehicle, or SDV.

Today, MDL has grown into NSWC PCD

and the organization continues to support

diving and life support through RDT&E.

(Coastal Compass Graphics by Casey Stew-

art, NSWC PCD)

About this Issue


View From the BridgeBy Commanding OfficerCapt. Phillip Dawson III

Happy New Year! While I am writing this month’s View from the Bridge (VFTB), many of you are enjoying the last week of the holidays—well-earned time off. As Mr. Stewart mentioned in last month’s VFTB, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division had a very successful 2014 with many achievements to recognize and cele-brate. Your efforts have made Panama City Division even stronger, in addition to pro-viding outstanding support for the warfight-er at the tip of the spear. For myself, 2014 was my first year in command here and it’s been an honor. I want to thank each and ev-ery one of you for all your efforts that made 2014 such a huge success.

But now that everyone is back, we have absolutely no idle time on our hands.

We have a busy year in front of us with opportunities in which to excel. Right out of the gate, we will present a brief on Advanced Mining Concepts as we host the Honorable Robert O. Work, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Adm. James Win-nefeld, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD(AT&L)); Dr. Jamie Morin, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE); Dr. Roper, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OSD/ATL Strategic Capabilities Office); Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, Deputy Chief of Naval Opera-tions Warfare Systems (OPNAV N9); Vice Admiral Scott Swift, Director, Navy Staff (DNS); and Rear Admiral Lorin Selby Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Cen-ter (CNSWC).

The work on the Mine Countermea-sure Mission Package (MCM MP) begins TECHEVAL next month and ends the year with IOT&E. These tests represent the cul-mination of more than 20 years of research, development and testing. Spring and sum-mer also brings simultaneous testing of two Dry Combat Submersibles (DCS) to PCD.

This year, we will be joining NSA, NDSTC and NEDU to celebrate the Year of the Military Diver. Much of the equip-ment divers use was developed by PCD. For more than 50 years, PCD has supported diving, providing safe state of the art tools. Today, we are developing clothing to keep divers warm in cold water and supporting portable rescue equipment such as the Satu-ration Fly Away Diving System (SATFAD).

Following up on the preliminary under-

water munitions response (MR) survey in the Hudson River — near the West Point Military Academy that the NSWC PCD Technology Demonstration and Site Sur-vey (TDSS) team conducted in December — the TDSS team will conduct a second MR survey of the Harry W. Nice Bridge crossing the Potomac near NSWC Dahl-gren and a third MR survey at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

The new SSAM III and Lightweight Conformal SAS (LC-SAS) systems will un-dergo a series of tests culminating in dem-onstrations at the Office of Naval Research Science and Technology Demonstration at PAX River. The SSAM III will be the first-ever tri-band Mine Countermeasures (MCM) sensor payload to have both an acoustic color and a high-resolution imag-ing sonar on a single unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The LC-SAS will be the first-ever combination of advanced forward and side looking MCM sonars into a single UUV and will incorporate an advanced ve-hicle controller enabling expanded mission profiles and simplified operator planning.

We also have many new contracts to let, as well ongoing preparations for the Navy wide fiscal audit. We will continue to work on the actions of our Strategic Business Plan and all hands will be involved in im-proving Cyber Security.

As you can see, we’ll be busy in 2015. Sometimes these events can be challeng-ing, but working together we’ll execute with excellence. Mr. Stewart and I appre-ciate everyone’s hard work, so please look out for one another. ♦

NSWC PCD Leave Transfer Program

For more information, contact NSWC PCDHuman Resources at (850) 234-4568

Bivins, Amaryliss...........................................................................................................................................................104

Harrison, Karen............................................................................................................................................................A24

Roberts, Allison............................................................................................................................................................A25

Turner, Curtis...............................................................................................................................................................A25

Warren, Sharon............................................................................................................................................................023

For a complete listing of all approved leave recipients, contact the Human Resources Office


HEATED from page 2“We are seeing no change in the metabolic rate of test subjects

dressed in the heated undergarment and dry diving suit ensemble and sitting passively in a test tank filled with 40° F water,” said Dr. Brent Ruby, Director of University of Montana’s WPEM. “Their av-erage skin and core body temperatures are normal and hold steady with less than 50 watts of power being applied to the prototype un-dergarments. Without this protective heated diving suit ensemble, a normal person would survive less than 20 minutes in such cold water.”

“Having a safer and more energy efficient design solution for heated clothing can greatly improve the military’s performance in many operational missions that are conducted in extreme environ-ments,” says Coliant President, John Swiatek. “Soldiers trekking through mountain passes, helicopter air crews in the North Atlantic

in January, ground crew on a wintry airfield, or sailors working on aircraft carrier flight deck must all deal with harsh, cold weather en-vironments. This technology even has application in combat casual-ty care for preventing or delaying the onset of shock and potentially extending what is known as the golden hour.”

NSWC PCD has been the U.S. Navy’s Center of Excellence for Diving Systems and Technology for over 60 years. This latest break-through tackles one of the toughest challenges that Navy developers have faced in creating a safe and energy efficient heating source for Navy divers. Its future application to various Navy operational needs like ship husbandry, Initial Response Diving operations, arctic war-fare, and Special Warfare operations is expected to greatly improve human performance in these applications. ♦

Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint publication from NSWC PCD’s for-mer newspaper, the ‘Coastal Courier,’ Sept. 27, 2002 edition. It is being reprinted in support of The 2015 Year of the Military Diver. It should be noted that CSS divers helped to supervise and participate in the deep saturation dives required to raise the USS Monitor.

NEDU and NDSTC Divers Raise Civil War Ironclad USS MonitorBy Dan Broadstreet

NSWC PCD Public Affairs

Saturation Diver hydro-blasting USS Monitor’s Armor Bolt. (Photos by U.S. Navy Combat Camera)

See MONITOR, page 5

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — “The Civil War was the first war of tech-nology – the first truly modern war – and the Monitor has become the ‘Holy Grail’ of its history,” according to Civil War historian John V. Quarstein. “This was the ship that showed us the future.”

Over the last few years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Navy have teamed up to recover as much of the USS Monitor as possible. Two tenant commands at the Coastal Systems Station, however, helped to bring this par-ticular story to life. Those commands are the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, a research facility under the Naval Sea Systems Com-mand and the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, a claim-ant of the Chief of Naval Education and Training.

What would the man who designed the Monitor say if he knew his ship was still testing the technological limits of the Navy to-day?

That man was Swedish-American engineer John Ericsson. He was also the inventor of the first practical screw propeller. His ship’s profile was so alien to traditional ship design, it was called a floating “monster.”

This purportedly “ugly cheese box” fired blasts from 11-inch Dahlgren guns mounted inside of a 9-foot tall rotating iron tur-ret. Recovering the Monitor’s turret was the primary objective of this phase of the salvage operation. Like its Confederate adver-sary – the CSS Virginia, the very first “ironclad” ship to do battle - the USS Monitor would prove steam-powered and iron-plated armored ships were superior to the world’s standard fleet of wood-en ships during its maiden voyage. London actually stopped pro-duction on all of its wooden-hulled ships under construction when they learned the results of the famous “ironclad” battle.

When the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor finally met to slug it out, their shot and explosive shells merely dented each oth-er’s hulls. In fact, they were both so impregnable that they literally had to resort to “ramming” each other.

On May 11, 1862, the Union army took Norfolk, Va., and the CSS Virginia became strategically trapped. Rather than surrender,

the Virginia’s crew burned their ship near the shore of Craney Is-land. The Monitor, however, met its demise when it was caught in a gale just off Cape Hattaras, N.C. It had been in tow on its way to Beaufort, N.C., when the storm washed away the turret’s oa-kum packing – water poured in, and the Atlantic Ocean pulled USS Monitor and its crew down into history.

It has been said many times “history repeats itself.” In the case of the Monitor, however, it seems to be acting as a catalyst to test the boundaries of nautical technology once again. The U.S. Navy has taken this archeological rescue mission of the USS Monitor as a two-fold challenge — to test the “proof of concept” of using transportable-civilian equipment to conduct Naval saturation div-ing at extreme depths and second, to bring together as many Navy divers from as many different commands as possible to train them in a real-world “open water” diving and salvage operation.

“The Monitor 2002 was quite an experience,” said Signalman First Class Jorge Guillen, a saturation diver working at NEDU. “Mixed gas diving allowed only 30 minutes of bottom time [in


MONITOR from page 4

A Spider-Claw Assembly sits over top of the USS Monitor’s turret at 240 feet, ready to clutch the turret and retrieve it to the ocean’s surface. (Photos by U.S. Navy Combat Camera)

which to work] whereas with our saturation divers we had up to four-plus hours of bottom time.”

The historical significance of the ship required extreme care in recovering the salvageable parts of the Monitor. NOAA’s archeolo-gists supervised this aspect of the expedition’s work.

“We were actually directed to create small water-pressure waves with our hands to uncover the human remains of the Sail-ors,” said Engineman Senior Chief Vern Geyman, another diver from NEDU. “This was to preserve whatever DNA samples that might still remain.”

When the expedition returned with the human remains of three of the Monitor’s crew, Geyman told how a three-cannon salute was fired in honor of the Sailors from the past returning to shore.

“There wasn’t a dry eye anywhere,” Geyman said.Special tools ranging from underwater Broco torches with

exothermic rods to hydroblasters – water guns shooting water at 20,000 psi — aided the diving teams. The going got pretty rough – not only did the ocean’s currents compound divers’ fatigue, but the effects of breathing cold helium in frigid waters promoted loss of body heat. Also, the ocean’s pressure worked against their momen-tum and left every diver, “sore to the bone.”

Guillen said before they were able to bring a specially-designed and giant-sized “spider-vice assembly” down, the divers had to cut away a 25-foot by 42-foot section of the Monitor’s hull – bottom to top (the ship actually sank upside down).

This was necessary for the spider’s claws to get a foothold un-derneath the turret. Despite the aches and pains though, every diver interviewed said this was a “chance” once in a lifetime opportunity.

“When the diving bell’s hatch opened beneath me,” said Dam-age Controllman First Class Jeremy Mullis of Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, “the visibility was so good that day, there was the Monitor’s turret only 20 feet below, a barracuda swam over the turret – it just felt kind of ghostly.”

“I’m a very lucky person,” Guillen said, “I’ve actually become

a part of history in the making.”Wonder and appreciation seemed to be felt universally by par-

ticipants.“I was caught up in dealing with the past while working on

the Monitor,” Geyman said. “I didn’t realize the ship was making history once more during its resurrection until my wife mentioned this to me – that’s when it hit me and I felt stunned to have been a part of it.” ♦

The USS Monitor’s turret seen topside first time after 140 years. (Photos by U.S. Navy Combat Camera)

One of the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) saturation dive teams ready sitting inside a Decompression Chamber. Pictured from left to right are: SM1 Jorge Guillen, DC1 Jeremy Mullis, HT2 Bart Washburn and ENCS Vernon Guyman. (Photos by U.S. Navy Combat Camera)


Navy Volunteers for Junior Achievement at Breakfast PointBy NSWC PCD

Office of Corporate Communications

Pictured above are NSWC PCD employees who served as instructors for the Junior Achievement program Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 at Breakfast Point Academy. Standing from left to right are: Don Bickford, Jodi Hendrix, Matt Kopp, Amanda Davis and Jeff Prater. (Photo Courtesy of Marlene Paige, Executive Director, Junior Achievement Northwest, Fla., Eastern Region/RELEASED)

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Five business professionals from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) volun-teered to teach 125 fifth-grade students for the Junior Achievement (JA) program Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 at Breakfast Point Academy. Junior Achievement’s core purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

NSWC PCD Public Affairs Officer Jeff Prater described the event as a great hands-on activity that Navy professionals introduce to stu-dents to illustrate how learning, especially in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines can be fun and re-warding with respect to their future education and careers.

“The Junior Achievement ‘Our Nation’ elementary program is structured to present business information to students using age-ap-propriate and fun learning activities,” Prater said. “Practical exercises like how to introduce yourself and identifying personal characteris-tics and skills help students to better understand the world’s business needs.”

Prater said students are split into groups and work together to seek solutions on how they can meet the demands of the job market, includ-ing high-growth, high-demand jobs and how these concepts impact our country’s ability to compete economically with other countries.

Prater described Junior Achievement’s ‘Our Nation’ workshop as a learning approach that helps students better understand concepts

related to the globalization of business and from the Navy’s perspec-tive the importance of learning STEM and someday working for the Navy,” said Prater. ♦

Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Rear Adm. Lorin Selby tours NSWC Panama City Division for a familiarization visit Dec. 16-17, 2014. Rear Adm. Selby toured projects to include the Mine Countermeasures Mission Package, Littoral Warfare Science and Technology, Diving and Life Support, SEAL Delivery Vehicle, Expeditionary Warfare systems and our Landing Craft Air Cushion. Pictured from left to right are: Dave Vickers (Head, Expeditionary Systems Division), Rear Adm. Selby and Sheila Schnoering (Head, Expeditionary and Maritime Systems Department). (Photo by Anthony Powers, NSWC PCD/RELEASED)

RDML Lorin Selby, Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Centers, tours NSWC PCD

By Ray MaybusSecretary of the U.S. Navy


Coastal CompassNaval Surface Warfare Center

Panama City Division

Panama City, FL, 32407-7001

(850) 235-5990 DSN: 436-5990

Commanding Officer

Capt. Phillip Dawson III, USN

Executive Officer

Cmdr. Paul G. Werring Jr.

Division Technical Director

Edwin Stewart (SES)

Office of Corporate Communication

Public Affairs Officer

Jeffrey Prater

Editor and Media Liaison

Dan Broadstreet

Public Affairs Specialist

Jacqui Barker

Coastal Compass is published monthly by NSWC PCD and is an authorized medium for news of gen-eral interest about employees of NSWC PCD and their work. Contents of Coastal Compass are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the Department of Defense or Department of the Navy. Coastal Compass’ content is pro-vided and prepared by the NSWC PCD Office of Corporate Communi-cations. For details about submissions, con-tact NSWC PCD Corporate Commu-nication Editor Dan Broadstreet at (850) 235-5990.

To contact NSWC PCD’s Fraud, Waste,

and Abuse Hotline, call: (850) 234-4462

Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Statement Audit

WASHINGTON — We are the world’s premier naval force because of your un-matched operational excellence. We are about to be called upon to demonstrate that our business operations are conducted with that same level of excellence. Congress mandated that the Military Departments make progress toward, and achieve, finan-cial statement auditability by 2017. To that end, the Navy has undergone intense prepa-ration across all business lines.

In December, an Independent Public Accounting (IPA) firm will commence the first comprehensive financial statement audit on the Navy’s Schedule of Budget-ary Activity (SBA), reviewing current year financial data. The Department of Defense Inspector General will be supporting the IPA in this effort. This audit will be a sig-nificant milestone, the culmination of many years of preparation throughout Navy com-mands.

Successful completion of annual finan-cial statement audits adds rigor and disci-pline to our business culture, demonstrating to Congress and the taxpayers that we are

accountable for every dollar they invest in our Navy-Marine Corps team. A favorable opinion on a financial statement audit will confirm that we have achieved a high level of stewardship for the funds we spend.

The Navy is following the Marine Corps’ lead, as the Marines achieved fa-vorable audit results on their Service’s FY 2012 SBA. During the audit, if you serve in any one of the many roles in spending Navy funds, you may be asked to show that you do so in a consistent and well-controlled manner using proper internal controls, and that you properly document business trans-actions.

Financial managers, and those from all other functional areas, will participate in the audit. Every financial transaction is eli-gible for detailed examination by the audi-tors.

The quality of our daily performance in executing the business side of our na-val force will be reflected in the auditor’s report. It is important that you conduct all business transactions with required atten-tion-to-detail every single day. Your lead-ership attention and continued commitment is critical to the Department’s success. ♦

BEWARE of Social Networking: Practice OPSEC

By Mike GillianNSWC PCD OPSEC Program Manager

Did you know? • Information on social network-

ing sites has led to people losing job offers, getting fired and even being arrested.

• Several violent and non-vio-lent cases were linked to so-cial networking sites where the victims first connected with their attackers.

• According to the Al Qaeda Handbook, terrorists search online for data about “Gov-ernment personnel and all matters related to them (resi-dence, work place, times of leaving and returning, chil-dren and places visited).”

What not to post: • When using Facebook and

other social media platforms, do not post personally iden-tifiable information and any information that can damage NSWC PCD operations.

• Think about what you’re post-ing before hitting share. Many times, you can avoid releas-ing sensitive information by simply rephrasing your social media post.

• If you aren’t comfortable plac-ing the same information on a sign in your front yard, don’t put it online.If you’re not paying for some-

thing, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold. Understand just what it is you consent to by accessing various websites and applications.

Be Aware and Prepared - Think like the Wolf!

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a year-long series of articles that cele-brates the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division’s history and heritage in Panama City, Florida and commemorates the command’s 70th anniversary in Bay County, Florida and more than 50 years of Re-search, Development, Test and Evaluation support to Military Diving. This first installment focuses on the command’s scientific support to the U.S. Navy’s Diving and Life Support and Naval Special Warfare missions from 1945 to 1965.

By Jacqui BarkerNSWC PCD Corporate Communications

PCD Reflects upon 50-plus Years of Military Diving Support


PANAMA CITY, Florida – For seven decades, Naval Surface War-fare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) has supported the U.S. Navy’s mine warfare, diving and life support and naval special warfare technical requirements.

Today, NSWC PCD continues a strong legacy of scientific innovation through research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) directly to the diving and life mission area. Originally established July 20, 1945 and commissioned Sept. 1, 1945 as the Mine Countermeasures Station – the bulk of the work came from the Mine Warfare Test Station in Solomon’s Island, Maryland from 1943 to 1945.

Later, the base’s name would change to Mine Defense Labora-tory (MDL) and it would employ approximately 600 people, 120 military, and also be home for 30 other attached to the Naval Air Mine Defense Development Unit and 500 Sailors attached to ships home ported in Panama City, Florida.

The base’s enduring primary mission has been mine warfare, which was nicknamed the “dirty little tricks department” by for-mer Assistant Chief of Naval Operations Rear Adm. Charles B. Momsen. By 1965, former Minehunting Branch Head Roman C. Stanley, said “...half the total mine defense effort at the Lab is ap-plied to minehunting.”

On April 29, 1955, the base was renamed MDL and the first mention of U.S. Navy divers stationed at MDL was in the com-mand’s newspaper called The Underseer March 9, 1956 when the editor ran a letter of appreciation to the divers from the Decatur County Sheriff A.E. White. The four-man team dove for a drowned man in the Apalachicola River March 5, 1956.

The team included Lt.j.g. C.W. Ewing, FFC J.P. Wilkinson, Boatswain mate First Class Herman Kunz, and Gunners mate Sec-ond Class Frank Talarico. Ewing, who was a diver and explosive ordnance disposaler, had served at MDL from 1955 to April 1956. Later the newspaper reported he was accepted into the University of Texas College of Pharmacy and pursued a master’s degree in pharmacy.

Between 1961 and 1962, an Underwater Tracking Range was designed and installed with the goal of determining the ground track of towed or free-running underwater vehicles simultaneously.

By 1963, MDL was the U.S. Navy’s lead laboratory for acous-tic and torpedo mine countermeasures and also served as the co-ordinating activity for exploratory development in swimming and diving.

In 1964, NSWC PCD was still called MDL. It was a U.S. Navy command that fell under the Bureau of Ships. It was also the year the command designed and fabricated the SEAL Delivery Vehicle,or SDV. Today, in 2014, NSWC PCD continues to fabri-

Pictured above are early prototype phases of what has now become the Navy Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV). The photos were borrowed courtesy of the Mine Defense Laboratoary’s archives. (U.S. Navy/RELEASED)

cate the SDVs and thereby deliver lifecycle and full-spectrum sup-port to the Naval Special Warfare community.

Also in 1964, the MDL began early construction of SEALAB 1 and tested it at 60-100 feet in the Gulf of Mexico waters off the coast of Panama City, Florida.

In 1965, MDL was home to the Swimmer-Diver Branch where 18 of the 24 branch personnel were trained divers whose mission was to improve diving and life support technologies which could in turn be used to support mine warfare tactics and countermeasures.

“All the diving is voluntary,” said Swimmer-Diver Branch Head Tom Odum, as quoted in a 1965 article submitted to Navy Times. “But, we find this system works out well. We can speak the same language as the men who are using the equipment and, through this, overcome some of the resentment that occasionally crops up between research people who design the gear and the men who actually use it.”

By 1965, most Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Un-derwater Demolition Team (UDT) equipment was evaluated by MDL staff, to include Mark VI scuba gear, and mixed gas breath-ing systems that would allow divers more time in the water and reduced compression times.

Support for the U.S. Navy diving in the mid to late 1960s con-tinued with technology support like the diver-held sonar for under-sea searches, portable decompression chambers, and various un-derwater communication systems. Research was also conducted in the spirit of saving diver’s lives during mine countermeasure mis-sions. Projects evaluated how the steel bottom of a diver’s aqua-lung might set off a magnetically triggered mine, how the clanging of a weight belt might detonate an acoustic mine, and a 15-minute oxygen supply for MDL helicopter pilots in case of crash into the water.

Part Two of this series will be featured in the February 2015 edition of The Coastal Compass. ♦

coastal compass january 2015

Documents

cold water

pcd volunteers

diver thermal undergarments

navy divers

fresh water

university of montanas

cold skin temperatures

salt water freezes