Though they are all currently working office-based billets in Marine Corps Systems Command, the Marine and Navy reconnaissance divers who arrived at the Ramer Hall pool on Friday are still required to maintain proficiency in their primary military occupational specialty. For that reason, they hauled in heavy cases of dive equipment to the pool deck and suited up for requalification and refamiliarization dives.

Navy Diver First Class Jason Young served as the diving supervisor for the















day. He has been diving for the Navy for















8 ½ years and participated in a variety of mission types. Young said that reconnaissance divers support special warfare, salvage, ship’s husbandry and surface supply missions.

The majority of the divers practiced their underwater techniques using rebreathers rather than SCUBA tanks. A rebreather is a device that absorbs the carbon dioxide from the air a person exhales and allows him or her to breathe in oxygen-rich recycled air, said Young. Whereas a SCUBA system discharges the carbon dioxide into the water, producing bubbles that could reveal the presence of a diver in the water, a rebreather does not release bubbles.

Gunnery Sgt. Zachary Burgart has been a reconnaissance diver since 2007 and is currently a dive project officer. He welcomed the opportunity to get in the water for the training. Due to the at-times sensitive nature of their work, Burgart could not elaborate on the missions the divers conduct or share any "sea stories," but he did describe some of the safety measures the divers take.

"One of the first signs of trouble in the water is unconsciousness," Burgart said. For that reason, when in open water divers are always tethered to a buddy, he said, so they can pull their partner to safety if something goes wrong.

The divers also use hand and arm signals, and sometimes even radios inside their face masks to communicate.

Col. Michael Manning, a program manager for Marine Corps Systems Command, attended the training as an observer. He said he invites the Marines to Quantico to requalify and test out new gear.

Manning said that, after the Marines complete their tour in the National Capital Region, they will return to operational reconnaissance units and be able to share their knowledge of MARCORSYSCOM and the acquisition process with their units.