First Group

The first week started out rough with about half of the group having colds. Despite this setback they all did well and were ready for SRD by week two.  During the first week they got to enjoy the pristine waters of Crystal Lake and Winston Park Lake.

Week two – SRD. Most of them were pretty nervous about searching in the alligator infested canals with minimal visibility, but after several days of searching in the canal they were ready to go look for cars. On the last day they found two cars.

Second Group

This group got off to a better start because unlike the first group they were healthy when they arrived. Other than the healthier start everything went about the same for the second group. They did Open Water and Advanced Open Water the first week and Special Response Diving the second week. At the end of the second week we went back to where the first group had found the two cars and searched again. This time we found a Corvette that had been dumped there during the two weeks since the first group had been there.

Isaac Lemelin (left) Cody Price (right)

Dive Master Mark Sowash (left) preparing to observe his two students, Nathan Mellas and Connor Dahl, (right) in their search skills.

It was great to see them all improve each day as they get more used to the public safety side as opposed to the sport diving side.  They all enjoyed their training and progressed more and more each day.  At the end of the week they had a chance to put their skills to the test and do a search for vehicles.  They searched 2 lakes with a depth of 60′ and visibility of about 25′.   Two vehicles were successfully found – 1 had been reported stolen in 2008.

Nathan McGrath (top) converses with his dive buddy, Jeremy Yoder as they practice a search they must master to gain the title of public safety diver.

Jordan Harvel (Instructor for CETI Dive corp.), a graduate of ALERT Aquatics, oversees the in-water skills in the shallow end of the pool.

With a class of 25 students and 7 Dive master/Instructors the week went well and everyone adapted quickly from class room teaching to in water practicals.  Each day the students dove twice to get the appropriate amount of time underwater to be able to be certified.

Jed Backus shows his students the correct way to find their regulator in case of it being pulled or knocked out of their mouths.

They all did extremely well.  The dive masters worked fast and quickly taught all the appropriate skills for open and advanced SCUBA, including underwater navigation, night diving and deep diving.   The students all excelled each day to learn the required skills in hopes of completing the required certifications to make it to a public safety diver this next week through NAPD.

Josh Thomson removing an air hose from the air bag so the pipe can be moved to its desired location.

Divers Colin Price (right) Josh Thomson (center) and Mark Sowash (left) inside their recovered boat.

The boat was lifted in two stages, one just to get it close to the surface and off the bottom and the second to get the sides out of the water.  (In order to bail water out of the boat so it would be independent of the lift bags.)

The lifting pontoon holds all of the needed gear so it is a short swim to get what is needed no matter the lift.

This pontoon contained all the gear needed to make a safe controlled lift of any vehicle, small boat, small aircraft, or anything needing to be lifted. It was easy to move and the swim to get more gear short and fast.  It was able to be lifted while the divers were standing right next to the object, and keeping an eye on the lifting process.

Agency’s involved: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , Whitehouse FD and Smith County Sheriff’s Office.

We are glad to report that they did find the victim later the next day.

This past week (July 12th through the 16th) we had Marina Diver training held in Louisiana. We road tripped down Monday morning and started class that night. The following day we went out the Lake Pontchartrain to the 24 mile long bridge and did pylon inspections.

Between the 24 mile long bridge.

We each inspected several pylons to get a handle on what the work is like.

Mark Sowash swimming to the bridge pylon to conduct an inspection.

We cleaned a fishing boat, a pontoon, and a yacht.   All were in bad shape and had not been kept up, so the work took longer than usual.

Josh Thomson (far left) Colin Price (middle) and Mark Sowash, in front of the 40 ft yacht they cleaned Thursday, July 15th 2010.

They all did well and all students passed their practical skills with flying colors.

The river that was reported to have the safe.

The ALERT Dive Team arrived on scene Friday morning at 9:30 and began to search. Because of zero visibility and shallow depths, the search was difficult and longer than expected.  Another factor that slowed the search was the amount of garbage found in the river.

A small safe recovered by Brandon Sprunger.

Items found were one computer screen, a car bumper, two motorcycle exhaust pipes, a weed eater, four news paper machines, a candy machine, two fishing poles, a washer, an oven, a refrigerator, a dolly, two safes, a safe door, a machete and two rifles.

Mark Sowash holding the door to the first recovered safe.

The second safe recovered by Collier McGehee.

Neither of the safes were reported stolen and the guns, including one .22 caliber and one 12 gauge shot gun, both came back clean when their VIN numbers were run on the sheriffs and police’s data base.

Colin Price swims the shot gun to shore for more investigation.

The reported safe was never found.

Divers on scene:  Mark Sowash, Colin Price, Collier McGehee, Brandon Sprunger, Benjamin Stoner, and Micah Justice. Tenders:  Jedidiah Backus and Caleb Hard. Dive Team Coordinator:  Capt. Joel Talley.  Assistant Coordinator:  Casey Zachry. Photographer:  Josh Thomson.

Other agencies involved:  Gilmer Police Department, Gladewater Police Department and Cass County Sheriff’s Office.