The USMA SCUBA Team successfully completed SCUBA training for 39 cadets interested in both Basic and Advanced Open Water certifications during the last two weekends of April. The NAUI basic certification is the first step into the world of recreational diving and allows divers to enjoy SCUBA diving in lakes, oceans, or springs at depths of up to 60 feet. Over the course of three classroom and three pool sessions, students gain proficiency in the use of their dive equipment, dive tables, and skills such as buddy breathing and emergency water ascent.
All certification classes culminated with an open water dive trip to Dutch Springs located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The instructors, dive-masters, and dive controllers of the cadet-run SCUBA Team led their fellow cadets on several open water dives. On Saturday, two skill dives tested the divers’ abilities to practice basic SCUBA diving protocol, which requires them to clear their mask of water, recover their regulator (breathing apparatus), and share their secondary regulator with their dive buddy all while at a depth of 25 ft. After satisfactory performance, the divers progressed to the much anticipated exploration dives. The SCUBA Team planned and executed two additional dives on Sunday morning guiding students through sunken ships, planes, fire trucks and buses while simultaneously qualifying them for a lifetime SCUBA certification. Read More