NAVY DIVERS NAVY DIVERS A STUDY GUIDE BY ROBERT LEWIS http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://www.theeducationshop.com.aupage 1 1 NAVY DIVERS Overview programs. Only thirteen will make it. For many it will be the crowning glory of their career and the ultimate reward for A select, male-only group of sailors Navy Divers (Steve Westh, Russell Vines, years of hard work and determination. 2008) is a four-part documentary film are pushed to their absolute limits on a following an intake of Australian sailors gruelling regime that’s designed to match Fail and your entire naval career could be seeking to become Naval Clearance the relentless demands and dangers of over. Divers. real life operations. The four 27-minute episodes are: This observational action-packed series From exhausting six kilometre swims Episode 1, Hell Week, looks at the is a warts-and-all account of what it takes across shark-infested waters to nerve- challenging preliminary training designed to become a clearance diver in the navy, shredding bomb disposals at depths of to weed out those who will not be able to following twenty-seven men as they attempt up to 60m, each day presents a new and handle the actual training regime. to join the ranks of the navy’s elite. increasingly difficult test of skill, strength and endurance. Episode 2, Under Pressure, focuses on Plunging to death-defying depths, the training needed to undertake deep- detonating bombs and launching covert Monitored by doctors and psychologists, sea diving attacks behind enemy lines makes navy candidates must cope with constant clearance diving one of the toughest jobs pressure and stress while operating in an Episode 3, Breaking Point, shows the in the world. environment where one mistake can mean extraordinary stress that the candidates the difference between life and death. are subjected to, to find their individual This elite force demands complete breaking points and their commitment to physical and mental strength, rock solid Continual and ruthless assessment means the team. stamina and bravery. But above all, if you that every day is a battle for survival. With want to join this unit, you must conquer one of the highest drop-out rates in the Episode 4, Out With a Bang, looks at the navy’s toughest and most extreme navy only the fittest and the strongest will their training in the disposal of explosive training program. succeed. munitions, and their final graduation. For more than nine months they endure For every candidate the stakes are one of the military’s most extreme training incredibly high. page 2 2 NAVY DIVERS Activity 1 7 The film you are about to see is a documentary about a group of men Imagine that a friend has just told you that and their quest to become Navy he has decided to undertake a career- Clearance Divers. What would you related course that is very dangerous and Curriculum Applicability expect this documentary to show? very physically demanding. Navy Divers can be used at middle to List all the aspects and elements you senior secondary levels in: 1 What questions would you ask him or would expect to see. her? • Society and Environment – exploring Background information aspects of the Australian Defence 2 What would you want to know about Force, a significant institution in his/her likely experiences of the The following background information Australia’s democratic society. course? What do you think it would will help students better understand the require of him/her? context and some of the issues raised in • English – exploring aspects of issues Navy Divers. associated with war: motivations Activity 2 to enlist for dangerous operations, 1: NAVY CAREER STRUCTURE Above is an image from the Navy Careers individuals and teams, individuals under website. It is the introductory page for the Candidates for Navy Clearance Diver stress, women’s roles in war. section on Navy Clearance Divers. positions are full-time navy personnel. • Media – aspects of documentaries. 3 Assuming that you know nothing They have completed their eleven-week • Civics and Citizenship – the role of the about what Navy Clearance Divers basic seaman course at HMAS Cerberus, Australian Defence Force as a good do, what ideas and information about at Westernport Bay, Victoria. citizen in Australian society. the job does the image suggest? They may then have completed other Discuss such aspects as: roles, skills, specialist area courses. • Careers – Australian Defence Force technology, qualities needed. careers. They then apply to attend the Navy 4 Who do you think would want to Clearance Diver course. This involves: Before watching Navy Divers become a Navy Clearance Diver? • Basic Seamanship – four weeks The following suggested activities and 5 What training do you think would be background information will help students required? • Small Arms Training – four weeks better understand and critically evaluate (undertaken either before or after Basic 6 If you could ask questions of a Navy Navy Divers before they watch the series. Seamanship) Clearance Diver, what would you ask? page 3 3 NAVY DIVERS The selection test is two weeks long and is well known to be rigorous but the attrition rate has yet to be officially stated. The following table illustrates the expected level of performance for potential CDT sailors. 2.4k run Sit ups Push ups Chin ups 500m swim Week 1 SCUBA 12 minutes 60 30 6 14.30 min course 10.15 CD acceptance test 60 30 10 13 min minutes Completion of CD 9 minutes 120 50 18 9.15 min course • SCUBA Air course – three weeks 2: DEEP wateR DIVING, THE BENDS, AND NITROGEN NARCOSIS • Clearance Diver Acceptance Test – two weeks. If applicants fail here they are Diving can be a physically dangerous required to either change specialties or activity. exit from the Navy. At sea level the air around us has a • Basic Clearance Diver Course pressure on us of 14.7 pounds per square (approximately) – thirty-four weeks inch (PSI). metres it is three times the pressure, and so on for every additional 10 metres. Due to the investment that the Navy puts In water, this pressure increases by an into potential recruits there is a minimum additional 14.7PSI every 10 metres. So at When high-pressure gases in the air period of service for both Officers and a depth of 10 metres, the water is placing come in contact with water, they dissolve Enlisted RAN divers of six years. double the pressure on a person, at 20 into the water. This is how carbonated drinks are made — water is exposed to high pressure carbon dioxide, the gas dissolves into the water, and when you release the pressure by opening the bottle the gas dissolved at high pressure is released — as bubbles. The same thing happens in the human body during a dive. Nitrogen in the air inside the body is released under pressure, and dissolves into your bloodstream. If this gas is released too quickly, it is the same as releasing the bubbles in a carbonated soft drink, except that it is happening in your blood, and is both painful and dangerous. This is the ‘bends’. To avoid the bends, or the bubbling of nitrogen in the bloodstream, divers ascend slowly, allowing time for the pressure in the body to equalise with that on the outside, and to stabilize slowly. If a diver ascends too quickly, the gas bubbles, and he or she must be put in a page 4 4 NAVY DIVERS decompression chamber, and have the pressure increased to the point at which the diver started to ascend too quickly, and then gradually lowered to allow the body to stabilize. Even if a diver ascends carefully, there is still a danger from nitrogen narcosis. After a depth of about thirty metres nitrogen in the air enters the bloodstream, and has a mental effect similar to alcohol intoxication. There is a lessening of judgement and decision-making skills, a loss of focus, and impairment of physical • It is close to other nations in the north. • Australia shares the Pacific and Asian co-ordination. From about ninety metres regions with many other neighbours. • It is vulnerable to potentially dangerous the diver may suffer hallucinations, and biological imports of insects or • Australia has military alliances with even lose consciousness. This narcosis microbes that can cause great damage several other countries. is not itself physically harmful, but it can and loss to native fauna and flora. lead the diver to behave in a dangerous 1. Discuss each of these, and consider way. The Guinness Book of World • It has off-shore oil and gas platforms how each might lead to a situation Records no longer includes a section on that may be subject to damage by where there is a threat to Australia. dive depth records, as so many people terrorists. Consider these four main roles of Navy have died trying to break the record. • Imports are through major ports. Clearance Divers: Exploring Issues • It has large areas of unprotected A Mine counter-measures – In this coastline. role, Clearance Divers focus on the Why have Navy Clearance Divers? location, identification, rendering safe • Some immigrants arrive illegally by sea. Australia is a maritime nation. It is and disposal of underwater munitions surrounded by water. This creates a • There may be illegal fishing by nationals and explosives (such as buoyant number of important realities: of other countries in Australian waters. and ground mines), in areas where conventional mine hunting methods • It relies on the sea for its trade activities, • Ships may create pollution in Australian are not possible. This often means both imports and exports.