Posted on Apr 17, 2020
SGT Yusuf Al-Assir
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LTC Program Manager
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Very.
Luck and Timing will be your biggest challenge but you have to be the top guy on the list because there are only a hand full of dive units.
As an Enlisted Engineer, I wanted to branch 12A and go to a dive unit. The Army had other plans.
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COL David Turk
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I’d like to know too. I’ve never heard of a dive qualified engineer officer (unless they earned it as enlisted or on their own).
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LTC Program Manager
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I've met a few former Dive Platoon Leaders maybe 2 or 3
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CPT Executive Officer
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The Army selects and sends 3-5 Engineer Officers a year to the Naval Dive and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) in Panama City Beach, Florida. I was both an Executive Officer and a Commander of an Engineering Dive Detachment.

The engineer dive field provides very specific and specialized skills (port opening, waterfront facilities maintenance, hydrosurveys, underwater search and recovery, etc.), but unfortunately most planning cells do not know how to incorporate these skills into conventional military operations.
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COL David Turk
COL David Turk
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CPT (Join to see) - thanks for the info!
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CPT Engineer Officer
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I have, but they were collegiate level swimmers who volunteered to stay at FLW in order to go to dive school. But without asking to be in TRADOC say FLW to get to the school before leaving Missouri the attrition rate is so high it seems like a risk reward consideration.
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CPT Executive Officer
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The engineer dive field is extremely small so each year on average 3-5 engineer officers are selected to go to Phase 1 (Fort Leonard Wood) and Phase 2 (NDSTC, Panama City Beach, FL), of dive school. These officers then become the lieutenants and captains that serve with dive detachments.

As far as difficulty... it’s a pretty selective and competitive process, and there is a timing element associated with it as well. Typically Dive Officer selection is only hosted once a year at Fort Leonard Wood, and in the past only lieutenants who were enrolled in EBOLC could attend. The last two years have been different though, and the selection was open to all lieutenants in specific year groups.

If you’re serious and interested, send me a message and I’ll put you in touch with someone who can get you the latest information on the selection process.

I was selected to be a dive officer in 2013, and I completed command of a dive detachment in April 2019.
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