10th Group Green Berets Dive into Downtown Denver

Photo By Staff Sgt. Tanisha Karn | Divers from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) with the help of Denver's Downtown Aquarium, the Originals recently practiced their dive operation skills in salt water tanks, which closely mimics the ocean's environment, and gave the Green Berets the chance to interact with the community April 25, 2019 at the Downtown Aquarium, Denver. 10th Group divers train in the most realistic environments possible to stay ahead of the enemy.  

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES

04.25.2019

Story by Sgt. Tanisha Karn 

10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

Colorado is not known for vast salt water ocean environments. So what is a Green Beret to do when the time comes for open ocean dive certifications? Why, drive to the mile high city of Denver, of course!
To the delight of visitors, divers from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) practiced their underwater operations skills Apr. 25, 2019 at the Downtown Aquarium in Denver, Colorado.
"Having a salt water environment with marine life added an extra variable to work around," said a 10th Special Forces Group dive team leader. "Being in Colorado, finding salt water is hard to find and practice proficiency. We wanted to make sure our equipment was good and that we understand our buoyance before our requalification course."
The salt water tanks at the Downtown Aquarium, with more than a million gallons of water, closely mimics the ocean environment.
The divers first splashed inside the aquarium's shark tank, which houses a portion of the aquariums 500 different species of marine life including sharks. They facilitated several exercises which included open circuits training and reacting to simulated emergencies.
After the shark tank, the Green Berets dove into the underwater exhibit tank which normally houses the Aquarium’s Mystic Mermaids show. Once inside, they not only continued their training, but also took advantage of the chance to interact with about 600 school children who were visiting the aquarium that day.
"It was probably the most rewarding part,” one 10th Group operator said. “Typically, when we do our dives it's very tactical and military-focused, so being able to showcase a little of what we do for those kids and our families was pretty awesome.”
“No, unfortunately the mermaids were not there for the training,” said one 10th Group Soldier.
Despite the missing mermaids, strong relationships and support from local community organizations like the Downtown Aquarium enables the 10th Group Soldiers to experience realistic and unique training opportunities.

• Date Taken: 04.25.2019
• Date Posted: 05.06.2019 17:28
• Story ID: 320689
• Location: DENVER, CO, US