I am training for Army engineer diver course. What can I study/practice (outside/inside of the pool) to better prepare myself?

2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 23:44:56 -0400

Decompression tables, hand signals, specific knots, side-stroke/combat side stroke, APFT/NAVY PFT tips/tricks? Any work-out plans for lap swimming/breath-holding would be MUCH appreciated! Thanks.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Apr 25 at 2019 12:03 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 00:03:00 -0400

Used to be around Seabee Underwater Construction Teams back in the day. You can certainly work on the things you mention. What's missing is the work, dexterity, and mental game piece. A master diver Chief I knew would do mental therapy rebuilding a carburetor on the bottom of a pool for drill. It was all about expanding limits, staying focused; all while paying attention to the safety aspects. My other experience around these folk tells me not to overthink the front end which you may be doing. You have to be receptive, quick on the uptake, and drink from a firehose. Good luck.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 25 at 2019 7:02 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 07:02:44 -0400

Get comfortable with drowning and being without air. Underwater knit tying is a good exercise. When these guys came to brief myself and the other career counselors to help recruit people to the MOS, they stressed that it wasn't the swimming that makes people fail, it's being without oxygen that makes them freak out. At the time they had to run three dive classes to get enough students to fill one class of the engineering portion.

Response by MSG Dan Castaneda made Apr 25 at 2019 10:44 AM

MSG Dan Castaneda — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 10:44:20 -0400

I’m not sure what engineer divers need to do to get ready as I am a combat diver. However if you were going to our dive school, I would first tell you to learn to fin with up to 16 pounds, and work on breath holds. Do positive and negative breath holds. For example, take a lung full of air, do 10 push ups then sprint 10, 20, 30 meters before exhaling. Then blow all your air out, hold your breath and repeat. You have to get used to the burning sensation of carbon dioxide building up in your lungs.
Also, be in the best shape of your life. The better in shape you are the faster your body will recover.
Learn dive physics also. Our divers have to pass a pre dive course prior to going to dive school. If you don’t have the same requirement, I suggest you find an engineer diver and have him mentor your preparation. Good luck.

Response by SSG Sean Tremblay made Jul 31 at 2019 8:51 AM

SSG Sean Tremblay — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 08:51:02 -0400

Look at the DPFT, other than that let the instructors teach the academics, study after class if you need to. Prepping with no context really won’t help