Photo By Public Affairs Office | NUWC Division Newport engineers Nick Savage (from left) and Steve Francis at sea while...... read more read more
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Engineering and Diving Support Unit (EDSU) welcomed two new divers — Nick Savage and Steve Francis — who graduated from the five-and-a-half week Navy diver course at Panama City, Fla., on Sept. 8, 2017.
Francis, a resident of Coventry, R.I., works as an engineer for hull sonar arrays. He graduated from Northeastern University and started work at NUWC in 2014. Soon after he was hired, he began training with the divers in preparation to attend the school at the Naval Dive and Salvage Training Center.
After graduating from Columbia University, Savage interned at NUWC Newport and began working in the waterside security program. He recently moved to join Francis to work on hull arrays. Savage is a resident of Warwick, R.I.
“I took a scuba class in my senior year, and in my job interview here, I found that I could potentially do this as part of my job,” said Francis. “It’s really exciting to help the fleet in that way.”
While interning at NUWC, Savage spent time working as a dive tender on various jobs, running equipment and gear and making sure the divers had what they needed.
“You really understand how important safety is and see how serious everyone is about their jobs. It was good exposure to the work. It was good to know what you were getting into,” said Savage.
Preparing for dive school was a two-year process. Both Francis and Savage worked out with the NUWC divers several times a week, and they made sure they were doing something every day on their own time to ensure their success at dive school. In the last few months before dive school, they were training before and after work and during lunch.
Both divers credit the EDSU team with their success at dive school.
“We listened to stories of everyone’s dive school experience. We heard about it every day so we knew what to expect,” said Francis.
“Being here with these guys prepared us mentally to take it seriously,” said Savage. “We wouldn’t be where we are now without them. The good thing about this dive locker is everyone cares about us. We have something unique here.”
In order to pass Navy dive school, candidates must complete a series of physical requirements. To make sure they are well prepared for dive school, NUWC Newport’s civilian divers train beyond the minimum requirements, which is a contributing factor to their success.
“You won’t go to dive school if all you can do is the minimum,” said Savage, who went on to win his class’s Honor Man award for the highest cumulative score on all written, physical, and practical tests. Written tests cover dive physics and charting, basic diving medicine, and scuba operations.
Savage is the second consecutive NUWC Newport diver to earn that achievement.
“It wasn’t something I tried to do. I just studied hard for the exams and worked to the best of my ability,” said Savage.
Because of an impending hurricane, Francis and Savage and the rest of their class worked with a condensed curriculum, doubled up on training, and graduated earlier than anticipated.
Now that they are officially part of the EDSU, both Francis and Savage are ready for their first assignments.
“I’m looking forward to diving on a sub,” said Francis. “I put a lot of time into it. It feels good that it paid off, and I can’t wait to do new jobs.”
“I’m excited about the future,” said Savage. “As new divers, we’ll find a new niche."
Sending candidates to Navy dive school is a warfare center investment that results in the ability to complete more jobs for the fleet and provide a more comprehensive level of support for systems and equipment. For example, the Naval Submarine Support Facility (NSSF) Dive Locker at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Connecticut is the busiest dive locker in the Navy.
NUWC Newport’s EDSU provides much-needed diving assistance during work surges by sending individual divers or a fully independent dive team to help minimize delays and eliminate work deferrals. In order to effectively execute this arrangement, NUWC Newport needs engineering divers with the flexibility to support the constantly changing schedule of fleet work. The addition of these recent dive school graduates will support NSSF’s increased work load.
“The benefit to the center and the Navy is the value of the technical fleet support we provide. We combine engineering, diving capabilities, strategy, and in-water technical support that result in cost-effective solutions for the Navy,” said Division Newport’s Dive Officer Jack Hughes. “There’s a long history and tradition in this group. It’s a team of brothers who all really care about each other. We rely on each other and depend on each other in very challenging situations. I’ve been a diver since 1997 and we have always had high standards here. It’s a privilege to go to dive school and to be on this team.”
For any engineers interested in training for dive school, Francis and Savage offered the following advice: “Wake up every morning and don’t quit.”
NUWC Division Newport, part of the Naval Sea System Command, is one of two divisions of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. NUWC Division Newport’s mission is to provide research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, undersea offensive and defensive weapons systems, and countermeasures. NUWC’s other division is located in Keyport, Wash.
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2017 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 252692 |
| Location: | NEWPORT, RI, US |
| Web Views: | 1,069 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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