Decompression Day
The first half of the Navy mission for class 06–10–SAT will end today and we must return to the surface. In keeping with my previous 2 journals I will not write about today’s events. However, we must give credit where credit is due. The 5 Navy saturation divers, MDV Green, ENC Irish, HM1 Janssen, BMC Lawrence and BM1 Kane worked and performed as the professionals they are. As a former Navy diver myself it makes me proud to come from the same roots.
I want to focus again on what’s “behind the scene”. All too often there are people in the so called “high places” who set policies, procedures etc… These people tend to make decisions without ever seeing the facility, without ever doing the job and sadly, without ever even talking to the people that do the job which are affected by the policies they set. You can’t lead a team if you don’t know what the team’s job and needs are. As a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer and being in several leadership positions during my career, there are 4 things that I quickly learned; 1– Set the example; 2– Train your people properly; , 3– Talk to your people and find out what they need to do the job; and finally 4– Give your people the time and tools to do the job properly.
I bring this up because today, decompression day, I met Karen Kohanowich, Program Officer for NOAA’s Undersea Research Program (NURP), and Ruth Kelty from the National Center for Coastal Ocean Science. Two women in leadership positions within NOAA who decided to “walk on the deck plates” of Aquarius to see her, learn about her and talk to the crew.
I say Hoo Yah!
The intent of my Day 1 journal was to write, of course, about the Day 1 accounts. However, if you read my Day 1 journal, you know that was not the case. I decided to write about what some people fail to see… “The Big Picture”.
You can read about what we did today from one of the other guys journal if you want, I prefer to write about “The Big Picture”. So it’s day 2, sure they’re working out in cold water for 4 hours at a time, with current, using hydraulic tools and ultrasonic metal thickness detectors, but what’s really underneath all this? What’s the big picture?
To me, this is about them. Them being the US Navy’s 2005 graduating saturation divers from class 06–10–SAT. These Navy saturation divers who for a long time now, would otherwise not have an opportunity to saturate in an open water environment during their entire careers, much less during training. Unless a job like the USS Monitor comes along, where Navy saturation divers worked along side NOAA and NURC divers to raise her turret, odds are these Navy saturation divers from class 06–10–SAT may never have an opportunity to make an open water saturation dive.
This is about them, about giving this class the experience of an open water saturation dive. The added and maybe unintentional benefit of this, is that the Commanding Officers and Master Diver of these men, Capt Mark Helmkamp (Supervisor of Navy Diving), CDR Glenn Allen (MDSU TWO), LCDR Druso Daubon (Asst. Supervisor of Diving), and MDV Lyle Becker (NEDU Saturation Master Diver), have an opportunity to see their men working out of Aquarius, an open water saturation system that can prepare them for the real thing.
I began writing my draft “Day One” Journal as most people probably would. Writing about the day’s accounts as they happened, perhaps including a description of an underwater scene, so well written that when read, would draw the reader in as if they were actually there seeing themselves. Although many of the day’s accounts would be note worthy in their own right, I choose to write of one specific event.
Four NOAA Undersea Research Center (NURC) divers, Ross Hein, Hal Letts, Dominic Landucci and Roger Garcia left the dock as the “Advanced Party” so to speak, on the R/V Delta. Dominic and I were to complete the “Day of saturation Aquarius systems” checks before the other five Navy divers joined me later that day. I suppose at this point most would see the obvious, four NURC divers on a forty five minute boat ride out to Aquarius to make sure all of her systems are running properly.
Perhaps…but I saw no such thing. I saw trust! Trust, that these four men, these four NURC divers were capable of ensuring Aquarius, the world’s only underwater habitat, was working as she was meant to work.