2015 is the "Year of the Military Diver"? Also 2015 is: The 100th Anniversary of the Mark V dive helmet; The 35th Anniversary of Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center; The 70th Anniversary for NSA Panama City and Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division; The 40th year since Navy Experimental Diving Unit moved from Washington Navy Yard to Panama City, FL.

1. 15 Oct 2014
2015: The Year of the Military Diver
CMDCM (MDV) Steve Mulholland
Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center

2. To mark 2015 as the Year of the Military
Diver and highlight of all military diving
achievements.
• 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the Mark V dive helmet
• 2015 is the 35th anniversary of Naval Diving and Salvage Training
Center, the largest diving facility in the world where Deep Sea and
Special Operations Divers from all five services train
• 2015 is the 70th Anniversary for NSA Panama City and Naval
Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division
• Additionally, 2015 will mark the 40th year since Navy Experimental
Diving Unit moved from Washington Navy Yard to Panama City.
Vision
To remind the public everything that military divers
have done for this great nation

3. Schedule of Events
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
May 4th May 5th May 6th May 7th May 8th May 9th
AM
PM
Execution
Mark V Centennial Celebration will be held in
conjunction with the 35th anniversary of NDSTC in
Panama City Florida 4-9 May 2015.
USN Military Diver Training Continuum
Diving Historical Society
Lunchtime MWR cookouts
Man in the
Sea Museum
Open House
USCG Diver
Reunion
Dive Lab
Open House
USN MDV
Recall
USCG Diver Rate
Inauguration
Cpt Shawn English
Fieldhouse
Dedication
NDSTC
Open House NEDU
Open House
Mark V Dives at NDSTC
NSWC PCD
Open House
CPOA Golf
Tournament
Copper
Collar 5K
DEVRON
Reunion
US Army Diver Reunion
EOD Executive
Steering Committee
(Eglin AFB)
US Coast Guard Diver Reunion

4. Mark V Dives
- The Mark V dive helmet is
the signature of diving.
- To commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the Mark V
dive helmet, NDSTC will
conduct a limited number of
operational Mark V dives.
- The Sailors of the Year from
each diving Command will be
the first to dive the Mark Vs.

5. Cpt Shawn English
Fieldhouse Dedication
- Cpt Shawn English was the
Alpha Company Commander at
NDSTC from 2004-2006.
- During an Individual
Augmentation tour in Iraq, He
was killed by an Improvised
Explosive Device (IED)
- NDSTC is naming the new
indoor physical training facility
in honor of Cpt English

6. US Coast Guard
Diver Rate Inauguration
- The U.S. Coast Guard is
creating a new Coast Guard
Diver Rating. The aim is to
produce a permanent
professional diver corps with
the Coast Guard.
- The inauguration of the new
rate will be launched at Naval
Diving and Salvage Training
Center City where all Coast
Guard divers are trained.

7. Naval Diving and Salvage
Training Center
Commissioned in 1980,
NDSTC is the largest
diving facility in the
world where
approximately 1200
students from all five
military services train
each year. NDSTC will
host a 35th birthday
celebration and open
house on Wednesday
May 6th, 2015.

8. Navy Experimental Diving Unit
.NEDU is the worlds
premier diving and
hyperbaric research,
test and evaluation unit.
They liaise with
NAVSEA and
operational diving units
across all military services and government agencies to
develop timely, cost-effective solutions to support and
improve manned undersea operations.
NEDU will host an open house on Thursday May 7th

9. Naval Surface Warfare Center
Panama City Division
Established in 1945,
NSWC Panama City
Division is responsible
for research and
development of
underwater diving life
support systems and
saturation diving equipment. NSWC Panama City
Division will host an open house to commemorate its
70 years in Panama City.

10. Man in the Sea Museum
The museum showcases
progress in underwater
technology, from the earliest
days of diving to the most
modern underwater habitats.
The Man in the Sea Museum will host an open house
on the afternoon of Wednesday May 6th.

11. Diving Historical Society
HDS preserves,
studies, archives
compiles and
disseminates
information relating
to man’s underwater
activities and
promotes public
awareness and
participation in
underwater activities

12. Dive Lab
Dive Lab Kirby Morgan Diving
System International’s state of
the art test facility for surface
supplied diving helmets, full
face masks, and associated life
support equipment.
Dive Lab will host
An Open House on
Thursday May 7th.

13. MWR Events
• Annual Copper Collar 5K
• Annual NSA Panama City
Chief Petty Officer’s
Association golf tournament
• Daily cookouts during week of
celebration

14. Public Affairs
• The primary goal for the Year of the Military Diver is
to remind the public of all the great things that Military
Divers have done to shape this nation.
• This goal is achieved through a robust public affairs
campaign will begin January 1st, 2015.
• The aim is to submit one diving
photo each day on Navy.Mil with
the Year of the Military Diver logo
on the bottom right corner.
• Each day, Navy.Mil will also feature “This Day in
Diving History.”

15. Examples of Military Diving
Achievements
• USS SQUALUS (SS-192) suffered a catastrophic valve
failure during a test dive in 40 fathoms (240 feet) of water.
On May 24, 1939, Navy divers and salvage ships responded
quickly using a newly developed McCann rescue chamber
invented by VADM Charles B. Momsen. All 33 survivors
were rescued from the stricken submarine.
• On December, 1941, the Japanese Empire launched a
surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor
Hawaii. 21 ships were sunk or heavily damaged and 2402
Servicemen were killed. All but 2 ships (USS ARIZONA
(BB-39) and USS OKLAHOMA (BB-37)) were raised to
the surface by U.S. Navy Divers, repaired and sent back to
rejoin the U.S. Fleet.
• On July 17, 1996 TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed
off the coast of New York. U.S. Navy Divers recovered
most of the 230 victims aboard, from the decks of USS
GRASP (ARS-51) and USS GRAPPLE (ARS-53).

16. Reunions
• The Year of the Military Diver celebration will also allow various groups to
hold their reunions.
• The U.S. Navy Master Diver Recall is held every two years and 2015 is one of
those times. This allows our Navy’s most senior divers to get together with
together with the men who came before them.
• Submarine Development Squadron FIVE (formerly Submarine Development
Group ONE) reunion is for U.S. Navy Saturation Divers.
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Divers holds a yearly reunion, alternating
locations between their West Coast Unit in Hawaii and the East Coast Unit in
Virginia. They have chosen to hold this year’s reunion in Panama City Florida.
The new Indoor PT facility will be named after Cpt Shawn English who gave his
life in Iraq in 2006.
• U.S Coast Guard Divers are kicking off their new Coast Guard Diver rating
next year. They will commemorate this new achievement with a reunion for all
Coast Guard Divers past and present.

17. QUESTIONS