Combat Diver - Page 2

exsquid · 10-24-2009, 07:10

RUMINT has the CDQC POI changing to include kayaks & more CRRC time amongst other changes. Should get the complete skinny in DEC when I go down for Dive Supervisor.

x/S

Richard · 10-24-2009, 07:22

Although time and resource intensive, I know, but has anybody ever considered a Rubber Duck/Limp Duck OTH Infil exercise in the POI for the CDQC or CDS?

Richard

**Pete** · 10-24-2009, 07:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

...has anybody ever considered a Rubber Duck/Limp Duck OTH Infil exercise in the POI for the CDQC or CDS? .......

What skills are needed for that infil?

You could go down a long check list of whats needed but boil it down and there is not a whole lot of CD requirments in a Rubber Duck op.

Take a good rucksack team with real good swimmers and great canopy control, give them a little extra training and a few jumps and they would smoke a Dive team with piss poor canopy control.

"Fin Hard Mister" don't work too well out in the middle of the deep dark rolling ocean when you have no idea were the boat is. SEALs know all about that.

"Don't daydream up there, follow the damn boat!"

Richard · 10-24-2009, 08:28

Quote:

What skills are needed for that infil?

An OTH infil doesn't always end with the CRCs going into shore or everyone going the same place - and a before moonrise or after moonset RD/LD is not for the marginally skilled - especially during a marginal sea state.

Richard's $.02

Blitzzz (RIP) · 10-24-2009, 08:29

While at Key west I developed a rigging system for F-470 zodiacs to be attached to the bottom of a blackhawk.
This system was aprovd by Airsysoms Command and further by the ACE board, who redesigned the rig to be sewn by the Riggers. It is in the rigger manual, but I don't know what it was renamed. I called it the Blitz (of course) rig.
It allows the craft to fly with doors closed at max speed and then allows the troops th open the doors and sit in the doors to drop with the boat . there is little cjhance to lose the boat and the swim to the boat is minimal.
This system also give control of the boat release to the pilot and crewchief.
Just fix'in stuff. Dave

P.S. anyone who went through the first WIC courses can attest to it's "Coolness".

**Pete** · 10-24-2009, 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

...- and a before moonrise or after moonset RD/LD is not for the marginally skilled - especially during a marginal sea state.

Richard's $.02

Being on a dive team is more than wearing UDT shorts and looking cool on the beach with a good tan.

A nice thing about when there were 3 dive teams in a battalion was you got a good look at the ups and downs of each team. Where each put their focus.

Back when we were doing a number of Rubber Ducks our team started jumping bundles every chance we got. Used the bundle as the "RB" and chased it. That training paid off when we did Rubber Ducks in the ocean.

I've seen some surface swim teams and Kayak teams that could give a Dive Team a good run for their money out in the dark ocean.

And it's all just a way of getting to the beach were your real job starts.

Richard · 10-24-2009, 09:28

We really got proficient with RDs when we did a 60 day commitment to the ACE Board testing the MARS and developing rigging procedures for RDs - a month down at NOSC EDU (Panama City) loading out of Tyndall and dropping 4 RDs/wk in the lake along the inland waterway and out in the Gulf for OTH runs really paid off for us as a team. Also got Mk14/15 (the MK15 could be used around magnetic mines) training.

Sometimes you lucked out and a 'detail' was really worth committing to during a support cycle.

SCUBA Teams were a whole lotta work - a whole lotta fun - and a whole lotta "That sounds good...let's try it!"...which was usually followed by a whole lotta "WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING!!??!"

Quote:

And it's all just a way of getting to the beach were your real job starts.

Genau!

Richard

LongWire · 10-24-2009, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sdiver

PJs....having REALLY good looking hair, going to EVERY gentelmens club in the area, getting REALLY good places to sleep while deployed, getting REALLY good food while deployed, having lots and lots of care packages sent to them while they're deployed and going to the PX/AFFES every 2 hours to get milk to wash down all the cookies and brownies that were sent in the care packages, watching loads and loads of first run movies while on deployment, having REALLY good looking hair, (wait I already said that), then there's the thing about going in and getting downed pilots by whatever means necessary, (when they're not on crew rest).

You forgot taking up all the seats in the Helo just to watch us get off do our thing and get back on!!!!!

In my 19 yrs, give me guys that can swim comfortably with their bdu's and web gear, and that would cover about 90% of the stuff that I have come across for me needing to swim in the first place. Polarized statement? Maybe.

By comparison, the last gig that I worked doing FID with Seals attached, We were working flat range drills (teaching jundi how to shoot), if I turned my back on the Seals for more than 5 mins, I would have to go back and police up the Sand Angel Jundis from them. Give those Seals a hose and every event has the potential to be Hell Week. Mind you this was from a Career Seal E-6 with 20ys in............

Thats not to say that all Career Seals are bad one's, but from what I've seen it takes at least 18 yrs for those guys to get High School out of their system, if they ever do. MHO........

10-24-2009, 15:12

Had the great pleasure of serving 24 months on one particular ODA that had been recently just another ruck team. Company commander was tasked by BN to select an ODA to work with US Marines in Maritime Ops. So off we went to Oceanside California, camp Pendleton and participated in the USMC Coxswain Cource, excellent instruction, tough PT, lots of swimming. Enjoyed every minute of it. Asked if SEALS ever participated, USMC NCOIC said they were banned, too many problems. Marines liked working with Army more than any other agency.

Marines understand infantry tactics as well. Because of our ODA success later, several Marines were able to attend the US Army Ranger Course. While in ANCOC/O&I, I saw one of "our" Marines in the 18C cource.

WD

p.s., It seemed that rucking using the same muscles as finning, hip flexors. With a little coaching from another dive team in BN, we all became fairly good swimmers. Never missed a day of PT in the pool.

exsquid · 10-26-2009, 09:20

From what I heard, helo cast & rubber ducks will be included in the new POI. Good thing I went to Cast Master while in the Navy. Blitzzz, in the USN we called your configuration a Kangaroo Duck or K Duck.

x/S

**Peregrino** · 10-26-2009, 16:44

Guys - QUIT SPECULATING! You're starting to sound like the X-rays G-2ing SFAS. There's a lot of negotiating WRT the future of CDQC going on as we speak. What comes out the far end is going to resemble sausage - edible, maybe even good, but you don't want to know what went into making it. Good news - the end result will contain input from the CTSB that just concluded. Anything else is just speculation. Yes - I'm a spoil sport. It's part of my day job.

Blitzzz (RIP) · 10-26-2009, 19:25

Hey Exquid, I saw the K-Duck and it is what Delta came up with. it is held to the bird with cargo staps with a pull release located in the center of the bird's floor. The Bird had to fly with the doors open and the crew had no control as to the boat's release and the troops could not deploy on top of the boat. All of that was fixed with My rig.
Blitz

1stindoor · 10-27-2009, 06:23

As a diver ('93) and WIC graduate ('91), I can honestly say that I've used the skills I learned in WIC way more often than the skills I learned in dive school. That being said, I'm still an advocate of having the "tool" in our collective toolbox "just in case."

exsquid · 10-27-2009, 19:08

Blitzzz, I stand corrected. Cast Master was five years ago & I haven't used any of it since. Starting to get CRS already.

x/S

Blitzzz (RIP) · 10-29-2009, 09:59

I am asking if there is anyone out there that has acess to a rigeger's manusl and may find the Rigging for the (blitz Rig). It's not called that in the Manual but it is there for sewing a harness for the Zodiac. PM me or post here if you have one thanks.

I invented it ,it passed AIr Systems Command safety but the ACE board designed a sewn harness from it and I've never seen it as printed.