Into the Deep

It's every pool kid's dream - a 40-foot by 75-foot heated swimming pool. All it's missing is a diving board. However the 40-foot depth, the fitting for an aquatic crane and the plans for an airlock at the bottom reveal a purpose more utilitarian than recreational.

But that doesn't mean it's not fun.

On Jan. 15, the first class from the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center splashed into the breathless work of training. For the instructors, the new facility was a welcome addition. With the floors adjustable to different depths, airlock chambers and machinery attachments the the pool has smashed open new avenues for training.

Equally important, the new facility should break up the training logjam. The dive school has nearly tripled in size, recently. Previously, only one 12-foot-deep pool was available for the dive school, the Navy Experimental Dive Unit, special warfare developers and any of the various Army, Air Force and Marine Corps dive classes going through.

"I want to stress this is the Joint Diver Aquatic Training Facility," said Cdr. Timothy Richardt, NDSTC commander.

"We put through Army divers. We train Air Force pararescue combat divers, we train Marine Corps combat divers. We train Coast Guard divers," Richardt said. "We train all different facets of Navy diver: the Navy deep sea diver, Navy explosive ordinance diver, the Navy Seabee underwater construction diver, we put through both the basic divers and the advanced, first class divers. We also train the Navy scuba divers."...[NewsHerald.com]