Episodes

A MK-5 Generation Navy Diver, David Bradrick, enlisted in the United States Navy in November 1973 and retired from active duty in August 2001. He attended Navy Boot Camp in Orlando, Florida. His first duty station was Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In Little Creek, Virginia, where David attended 2nd Class Dive School in 1975, he remembers seeing Master Diver Carl Brasher. David said that Master Diver Brasher, who overcame his physical challenges, inspired him to beat the grueling dive school physical req...

Does anyone recognize the tall Navy Diver with sandy blond hair standing next to Charlie Romero? His first name is Rex. His last name is unknown. Rex went unconscious while diving during the attempted recovery of victims from the Army Vessel YCU-63 in November 1970. The YCU capsized on the beach in Vietnam. Charlie Romero, suspected Rex, succumbed to hydrogen sulfide gas after cutting an accessway through the hull of the YCU to recover victims. Army 2nd Class Salvage Diver Charles Romero, with ...

Jim Phalin, Master Chief Hull Technician, Master Diver, talks about his 28-year Navy career. Jim was an accomplished swimmer and springboard diver in high school. Inspired by Navy stories about Deep-Sea Divers in Vietnam told by his close neighbor, Jim joined the Navy in December 1975. Before joining the Navy, he knew that he wanted to be a Navy Diver. Jim retired from active duty in November 2003. Jim's first Navy Dive command was the USS Orion AS-18, homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. ...

Master Diver Fernando Lugo discusses how his life changed after joining the military and attending Navy boot camp in San Diego, California. Fernando enlisted as a Machinist Mate, unaware of the undersea journey that awaited him in the future. MDV Lugo's career, Deep-Sea Stories, is about him and the Deep-Sea Divers he served with, pioneering a Navy Dive capability that contributed to the end of the Cold War. These riveting Deep-Sea Stories center around MDV Lugo's time on the Navy's Sea Lab III ...

Master Diver Milford Buzbee, also known as "Buzz," began serving his country in the Army from the ages of 15 to 19. Like many other young men who wanted to serve in the military, Milford lied about his age to enter military service. Milford was a welder in the Army. The attack on Pearl Harbor drove Milford to join the Navy in 1942. He retired from the Navy in 1961. Son, Lewis Buzbee, collected photos and artifacts and documented recollections of his father's Navy Diving career in his published b...

HMC DMT/Independent Duty Corpsman Len Starbeck joined the Navy in 1977 and retired in 2005. You can read about his incredible Navy journey in his self-published book "Medical Diver, What is a Medical Diver?" Len has a potential television mini-series in the works. Len served 24 of 28 years of active duty as a medical diver. Len vividly describes his journey, saying they are awash in extraordinary adventures that await future medical divers. He speaks of the inherent dangers involved in diving an...

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Joe Kingsbury joined the Navy in Providence, Rhode Island 1966. Warrant Officer Kingsbury retired in April 1996 after 30 years of Navy service. Joe was a diesel-submarine Sailor. He references a book named, "Blind Man's Bluff" by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew to describe his sub-service time on the USS Trout SS-566. Warrant Kingsbury recalled other tours of duty on the USS Florikan ASR-9 and the USS Arcadia AD-23. He was involved with the Seal Delivery Vehicle and dr...

Master Chief Master Diver Retired Bruce Earnest (a.k.a. dirty Ernie) joined the Navy in 1969 and retired in 1993. MDV Earnest duty stations were USS Cascade AD-16 in Naples, Italy, Diving Instructor Duty Washington DC, Saturation Dive School, USS Elk River IX-501, Diving Instructor Duty Panama City, Florida and Coronado, California, USS Opportune ARS-41, COMNAVSURFRON 8, Little Creek, Virginia, USS Edenton ATS-1, USS Grapple ARS-53, and the USS Pigeon ASR-21. Master Diver Earnest conducted salva...

Jon Klukas, Master Chief Master Diver Retired joined the Navy in 1990 and retired after 28 years of active duty. Jon is still involved in the leading edge of diving and hyperbaric technology development as the Copper Collar Group, LLC Co-Founder. His twenty-eight-year Navy career journeyed through dive missions all over the world. Jon's Navy Dive commands mentioned were the USS Beaufort ATS-2, Deep Submergence Unit, USS Salvor ARS-52, USS Safeguard ARS-50, Command Task Force-73 Singapore, SWRMC ...

A Deep-Sea Story about Chief Warrant Officer Grover Cleveland Burke. The furnace that forged Iron Men was set on high temperatures during deck, diving, and salvage evolutions on board the USS Reclaimer ARS-42. The unwritten rule "I'll watch your back, you watch mine" was in effect when USS Reclaimer's powerful capstans, gypsy heads and cranes pulled heavy strains on wire rope and mooring lines. Chief Warrant Officer Grover Cleveland Burke's focused leadership kept us safe from disturbing Neptun...

A Memorial Day Message. HMC (FMF/SW/DV) and Diving Medical Technician Pedro J. Gonzales reported to the Consolidated Divers Unit, now known as the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center Dive Locker, in December 1999. The Petty Officer's Mess knew Pedro as "Pete." In the fall of 2000, Chief Gonzales was one of the dive team members who assisted with pushing the RC 6500 recompression chamber inside the newly reconstructed chamber medical room. Pete led the oversight team that monitored contracts to...

In August of 2007, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two Navy Divers were ordered by President George W. Bush to recover victims from under the collapsed Interstate Highway Bridge in the Mississippi River. Recovery of victims was part of the harbor clearance mission to restore the $1.3 million a day commercial waterway. The conditions in the Mississippi River were challenging. During my Command Master Chier and Master Diver tour of duty, this is how I viewed this mission outcome through my Faceplat...

Robert Leroy Cave Engineman Master Chief, Master Diver, we knew him as Bobby Cave. He was a 35-year Veteran of the United States Navy. He attained the Rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. Bobby was a Saturation Master Diver. He is the world record holder for the deepest ocean suit dive. In 1972, exposed to ambient pressure in the open ocean, the record was set at 1,025 feet of seawater by a small Navy dive team with Bobby Cave, using the MK2 diving system. The decompression schedule lasted two we...

Navy Diver Chief Petty Officer Micheal Gilbert discusses his real-life challenges and Deep-Sea Story-filled dive career in his new and soon-to-be-published book "Fouled Anchor." Chief Gilbert entered the Navy in May 1998 and retired in August 2019. Chief Gilbert talks about having to complete his first tour of duty in the fleet before attending 2nd Class Dive School. Young Sailor Michael Gilbert recalls his first ship USS Hawes (FFG-53), receiving a distress call immediately following the terror...