- There’s a very small Army group that goes by means of the Fight Diver Qualification Course.
- Contributors, largely Inexperienced Berets, are examined on their diving know-how and talent to carry out underneath strain.
- It is arguably the Army’s hardest course and is more likely to be in larger demand in an period of great-power competitors.
When somebody talks about frogmen or fight divers, most individuals instantly think about Navy SEALs, the devoted maritime element of the US special-operations group.
However SEALs aren’t the one ones who do fight diving. There’s a very small Army group, largely made up of particular operators, that goes by means of the Fight Diver Qualification Course to turn out to be fight divers.
It is arguably the hardest course within the Army, and because the focus shifts from floor wars within the Center East to competitors world wide, the abilities it teaches are more likely to be in larger demand.
Right here there be monsters
US Army/Maj. Dave Butler
Established within the Nineteen Sixties, the Fight Diver Qualification Course takes place in Key West, Florida.
An necessary characteristic of the course is its adaptability to present or future threats, and it has gone by means of many variations. It usually lasts between 4 and 6 weeks. Solely a choose few attend.
“Nearly all of college students that attend CDQC are particular operators from the Inexperienced Berets, Particular Mission Units” — akin to Delta Drive or SEAL Group 6 — “Rangers, and infrequently troopers from infantry and reconnaissance items. Along with active-duty service members, ROTC cadets from universities round America and West Level cadets can also attend,” a retired Inexperienced Beret who was a course teacher informed Insider.
The course is split into two phases.
Through the first section, instructors give attention to bodily health, gear familiarization, and teamwork. Subsequent, college students are paired in teams of two and turn out to be “dive buddies.”
The primary section ends with the dreaded pool stress occasions. Instructors check the scholars’ coolness, proficiency, and talent to comply with procedures that would doubtlessly save their reside or their buddy’s lives down the road.
College students must cross customary occasions: the 50-meter underwater swim, retrieval of a 20-pound object from the underside of the pool, and the two-minute water tread.
US Army/Robert Lindee
The scholars additionally must excel academically.
“Educational courses overlaying topics akin to diving physics, harmful marine life, diving physiology, diving accidents, and decompression are taught and examined. College students be taught using open-circuit SCUBA gear, which is used throughout search dives, ship hull searches, and open-water deep dive,” the retired Special Forces operator mentioned.
College students additionally be taught the all-important decompression procedures. Incorrect decompression protocol may cause paralysis and even loss of life as dissolving gases turn out to be bubbles contained in the physique’s tissues, also called “divers’ illness.”
The second section covers the tactical features of fight diving. Specifically it focuses on the Mark 25 Draeger oxygen rebreather, a closed-circuit underwater respiratory equipment that does not emit bubbles, enabling particular operators to swim undetected.
College students additionally conduct a number of underwater dives to hone their navigation abilities and work with small boats and plane, akin to helicopters, as completely different insertion and extraction strategies all through the course.
The course ends with a full mission profile that features insertion by air and a closed-circuit dive.
The Army’s hardest college
US Army/Okay. Kassens
Members of the Army special-operations group usually agree that the Fight Diver Qualification Course is the toughest course.
All course candidates must undergo a pre-course choice, the Maritime Evaluation Course, to even qualify for the Fight Diver Qualification Course. Most of the particular operators who attend the course fail or drop out, and nearly all of them have already been assigned to a special-operations unit.
The course’s issue is measured in three other ways, “the first being adaptability in a water atmosphere whereas in annoying conditions — this being the one side which college students cannot totally put together themselves for till they’re within the course,” the retired Inexperienced Beret and former teacher informed Insider, talking anonymously to keep away from compromising ongoing work with their former unit.
“Bodily health is evaluated and emphasised all through the whole course, making it one of the tough programs within the navy. Thirdly, college students’ educational talents are monitored and examined all through the course,” the retired Inexperienced Beret added.
US Army/Workers Sgt. Christopher Case
Apart from the extent of toughness, the Fight Diver Qualification Course can be harmful. The course has stringent security precautions, however deaths have occurred. Two Special Forces operators died whereas attending the college in late 2021.
Those that do graduate earn the coveted Fight Diver insignia and rejoin their items. Within the case of Inexperienced Berets, who make up many of the college students, they be a part of a fight dive workforce that is a part of their Special Forces group.
A cadet just lately made historical past by turning into the primary girl soldier to graduate the course and turn out to be a fight diver. A lady going by means of an Air Drive special-operations pipeline has additionally graduated the Army course.
The Army fight diver group has typically been missed and underused through the previous twenty years, as there was no use for fight divers within the wars within the Center East.
As great-power competitors with near-peer nations, particularly China and Russia, heats up, fight divers are more likely to be referred to as on extra to use their capabilities within the waters of Europe, Asia, and world wide.
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a protection journalist specializing in particular operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (nationwide service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins College graduate.
