Inside the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course
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- Опубликовано: 17 сен 2022
- In the latest episode of Coffee or Die, Marty Skovlund Jr. traveled to Key West to observe the US Army Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course’s class 04-21 as they finished their final two weeks of training.
The six-week course is notoriously difficult, and bad weather made every task even more strenuous for the students fighting to be awarded the prestigious “dive bubble” and the title combat diver.
“Combat divers are a different breed, man,” said Sgt. 1st Class Scott Brown, one of the instructors assigned to CDQC. Brown is a seasoned Special Forces combat diver, with trips to Afghanistan and Central America under his belt. “Nobody makes you go to dive school - you have to want to be here. This place just attracts a different kind of soldier. It’s a brotherhood within a brotherhood.”
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Sharks?
this is like BUDS on steroids
My son showed me this video,because he’s so enamored with what I did in SF-I was with a Scuba team in 5th Grp.Good video-it brought back memories of my time in Key West in the 90’s and of my deployments afterward.I sure don’t want my son to do what I did,but if I’m honest with myself,I’d be proud as hell if he makes it.I did every school I could-HALO,HAHO,Pathfinder,Ranger school,Air Assault,Language school(Farsi)JOTC(Jungle Operations Training Center)in Ft Sherman(before it was closed)and so many others,but none as difficult as Combat Diver.Of all I did,this is of which I am most proud.
@@92suzukigsx1100g It was my honor.Thank you for acknowledging.
Bad ass father
you're the freaking Man!!! Thank you for your service
@@blessredy Thank you.I would do it all again.Best country in the world.
Hooah! I always tell people that CDQC is the only school I have been through that all the stories you hear are actually true. Dive Sup being one of the most intensive academic courses
This is dope. Im sure you can take out any diver and stick them on land but you cant take any land guy and stick them in the water.
Wow didn’t know that
I'm a Water Guy and you can't just drop me in the Ocean like that. Oh Uhuh
@@sever427 then you aren’t a water guy
@@theotherside1159 Even SEALs die getting dropped in the ocean. Like in Grenada.
I used to love my days as a diver… I always thought I got the better end of the shitstick then the Land guys recieved… whilst they were out on ruck marches we hit the pool or ocean…
No one in the US Government should earn more than these brave men and women who all put their lives on the line to provide us the freedom that we get to enjoy.
I disagree. Because then you'd have people joining the service for the money. I definitely think warfighters deserve more pay but not more than US Government officials. Like I said, you'd have people joining only because of the money.
@@evilearthego5256 maybe we should decrease the pay for government officials so they don't just do it for the money either lol
@@cakeboss1721 I agree. I just don't want to see people joining the military because the money is good. You want people to join because that's what they really wanna do. SEALS and other personnel in the SOF community make close to six figures but people don't actually know this.
I hate to tell you but they're the strong arm of the gov. What you suggest is the players make more than the owners
Naw they pay us just enough to keep us in for as long as possible haha
I was part of South Africas 4 Recce Special Forces Attack Divers. I was a Logistics man and when I was on duty everything ran beautifully. This was in 86/87.
I wish my chests would stick out more than my belly after retirement! CDQC July 1995. No Bubbles, No Troubles!
Workout. Get in shape
Stationed here in Fayetteville/FT Bragg I can tell you personably these guys are the most humble bad asses in the world !
I'm a veteran Abn Combat Medic Scuba Cert...absolutely brutal training! I still dive with a 1964 Twin Hose U.S. Divers Twin Hose Regulator! 😛👍🇺🇲
I'm thinking my uncle in USMC worked with some of the Twin Hose . But not sure if it was 64.
1967 USMC Combatant Diver Force Recon used the USD Aquamaster regulator.
Legend!
Fucking legend
Glad we're all finally getting a look at SFCDQC after hundreds of vids on BUDS!
7th SFGA, A CO, 2nd BN, Scuba team. Attended the dive course in 1978. Jeeze just writing that makes me feel old. Dragers were just being introduced as were the CCR1000 rebreathers. Fond memories
Super respect!!!! I was 19 delta. This is a different level of responsibility and leadership. Never really had this type of chance to plan and conduct
It’s crazy to think about that I lived on this base for a few years when I was younger, not knowing what really was going on on it
I firmly believe that part of the training is learning/accepting/experiencing drowning and then going to war. RESPECT.
Marty! You did a good job on the video! Thanks for coming down to Key West.
Thanks for having us out!
Big man ! Can’t believe you are still out there getting. Ua for president. Miss you big boss realest leader out there!
Thank You to all of you brave men around the world 🌍Much respect to all of you for all you do from a U.S Army Woman Veteran!!!!
Spent half my life in Key West. So cool to see these guys over the years even the stories The civilians could tell about the pipe hitters
Pipe hitters are usually what people refer to seals as lol
These guys are badass! Glad they're on our side.
CSM Ua....what a great thing to see an old battle buddy from 2000-2001! Straight up professional and hardcore warrior. "Bore Brother Bore"!
The best course I graduated from while serving in the US Army.
That’s awesome bro, I’m 15 and want to go the sarc route and this is in the pipeline, any tips to prepare? Thanks for your time
Water operators are truly a unique breed. They thrive in conditions most would fail in. Great vid.
Should do a segment on the Dive school in PCB that hosts the marine corps, navy, and airforce. It’s next level when it comes to anything underwater.
Yeah that would be a really cool place to visit. Not sure they would allow it, for the EOD or MCD school though.
met a military rescue diver ways back. Cool person, very much the quiet service member.
Awesome brave guys. If I were younger, I would love to join this team.
WoW, I thought they were part of the Navy. Truly impressed to learn they are part of the Army.
Thank you all for your service and sacrifice!!
The way they pop out the water with all the guns and shit looks so bad ass. Sign me up!
So much respect for all our military personnel
The editing on this is phenomenal
Thanks for saying so.
When I was in the 10th SFG the dive team guys were like the big shots of the big shots. Hella strong and determined dudes.
Awesome video…..keep them coming!
My USN OCS roommate was a DEVGRU CPO getting commissioned. He told me that the toughest training courses he ever did were (1) Army Combat Diver in Key West, and (2) Jungle Training School with the French Foreign Legion. He stated that BUDS was nothing compared to those two.
Why did he do Army dive training if he went through BUD/S? A vet myself. Their whole second phase is dive training. Granted I understand our troops can attend different schools and trainings, and so all branches just about will train at others schools and courses etc. If he was Devgru a member of Team 6 I know they train with CAG guys and so I assume maybe something related possibly? Just makes me wonder why a SEAL would ever take the Army’s combat dive school. Pretty cool to read none the less, just curious. 👍🇺🇸
@@shredhead4604 Perhaps he may have cross-trained from Navy to Army (assuming he didn't pass BUDS)? Only thing I can think of atm.
@@Hammered4u If he was a member of DEVGRU then you know he completed BUD/S
@@shredhead4604 plenty of seals have been to CDQC.
@@shredhead4604 I'm no expert, but I believe just because you commission into something out of OCS, doesn't mean you end up passing the various ascensions into that community. Do I believe you could commission Naval Special Warfare, but end up not passing BUD/S.
I had so much fun at this school. Other then my first drop where the bubbles cleared and there was a barracuda 30 meters to my 12.
Fun,right.When did you graduate?I have never known one soldier or officer who thought of Combat Diver Quals as fun,but maybe you’re the first.It was the hardest school by far in the SF pipeline.
@@irishdefense77 lol no response
Bet you startled the hell out of the 'cuda...
I interviewed for a job one time and the interviewer asked me what I did in the Army and I said I was a 11 bravo Infantryman and Airborne at Bragg. He asked what I like to do in my free time and I said diving, I'd been a scuba guy for more than fifteen years, even had my own side job cleaning hulls of boats and loved it since I was a Florida boy and then I opened my big mouth and said I wanted to be a combat diver in the Army but I wasn't SF or Ranger qualified. This guy actually jumped up out of his seat and said to me the Army doesn't have divers why are you lying to me??? I was in the Navy I know better! He ended the interview immediately and instructed me to leave his office and I just looked at him like you're not even going to give me a chance to explain what a Army Combat Diver is? So I just looked at him and said you suck as a HR person and walked out.
I live in Key West and being able to see this stuff in real life is really cool. I have video of them jumping out that plane as Garrison Bight Marina is next to their facility, my best memory was them flying in the helicopter while getting lobster in the channel they flew so low and they waved to me, One of the many cool bonuses of being a local in key west, I've seen F-22's to a submarine in the shipping channel, I love Key West !
Went through the course in the summer of '75. The facility was much more, ahem, humble then, but I was young and stupid, and didn't know it was supposed to be hard. We had the largest number of Emerson rebreathers, outside of a museum.
AFAIK, I hold the record for youngest to ever graduate the course at eighteen.
SFUWO school, Fleming Key. 👍. Was lucky enough to fly over it recently in a (tourist) helo on my birthday. Good video!
Wow, crazy premium content I love it
I haven’t the words to describe how much I love, respect, and appreciate the men and women who serve our country in the military.
My feelings are even stronger for those brave and fearless men who earn the title of Special Forces. And stronger yet for those who earn their medal from combat dive school.
I’m a land lover. Even in my prime I could never do what they do. Just the thought of being in the ocean with sharks, jellyfish, possibly gators, snakes, and other creatures gives me the hee bee jeebies.
May God protect and help all our soldiers, whether in peacetime or war, always. ❤️✝️🇺🇸
No one serves our country. Everyone us a Rothschild pawn.
Lauri Törni aka Larry Throne at 3:33 when he was stationed at Bad Töldz, Germany. 🇺🇸 🇫🇮
I went through language school with Ua. The dude is a legend.
@David H which language 🤔
@@ObamaFromKenya Tagalog.
Awesome video!
That badge with the wings and knife belongs to the Singapore army commando formation, our version of the green berets. They wear red berets though. I'm proud to see that some of our commandos have come and passed the SFCDQC, a great partnership to have between the 🇺🇸 and 🇸🇬 10:46
I like watching this stuff because these guys are undeniably insane
Would've been cool to see the graduation ceremony un less that is a closed/personal ceremony like "blood badging" . So much respect for those men.
Combat diver qualified and Dive tech for closed circuit.
Was a difficult but rewarding course.
I knew a Combat Controller that completed this class. He stated that it was the hardest training he ever had and previously he completed Ranger school!
I've heard interviews where D-boys have said this is about the hardest school they ever went through.
It looks like a Select attrition rate presumably ?
I'm a Brit and I'm kinda intrigued about where this course stacks up against the Seal BUDS course or the Seal Team 6 selection course ?
Here in the UK it's more geared towards the SBS who really operate and train in the sort of conditions (seas) that really
set them up as the benchmark !
Thank you 😊
awesomeness soldiers always remember "Its ours for the taking"
This is so awesome!!!
This was so much fun : )
Good to know we're safe!!!
Cool 😎 I should have went to this course when I was in Special Forces
Balls of steel and hearts of gold!
Great documentary, Guys. Nice edit. Hopefully they didn't take make damage from the hurricane.
The last words from the CSM were really interesting. Basically saying that the dive teams were highly trusted and relied upon due to the hardships they endured during parts of their training, and the solid guarantee of their fitness. Military diving is no fucking joke. It makes guys quit swimming for recreation.
Very well done
“Combat diving” did not originate from the OSS after WW2 as the soldier mentioned. It originated in the Us Navy and Marine Corps just before and during WW2 with the Navy frogmen, Marine Reconnaissance and Raiders. There were some US Army EOD consultants used in the formation of the training, but unless “combat diving “ as the gentleman mentioned has some specialized definition then the history isn’t right. The need to reconnoiter beaches for landings was the impetus. Later it developed into a means of covert insertion of Raiders per FDR’s directive for commando units to Admiral King. Nowadays it’s all crossover training among SOCOM and the individual units with these capabilities but there was plenty of “combat diving” long before post War OSS formation.
What's with the Lloyd Bridges double hose type regulators? I thought we abandoned those some 50 years ago? (They used them for him for TV cause it looked "Macho".)
Dope video boys!
I am a Future US NAVY SAILOR and I am enlisting in the US NAVY after I finish my education I come from a military and veteran community I am hoping to go to the Fleet
My dad, a Vietnam vet, spent 22 years in the Army. He somehow ended up with SF while in Vietnam, then went on to get just about every tab he could. The one he really wanted, but never got a chance to go to, was the scuba bubble. He still regrets it to this day. I'm scared to death of sharks, so screw that mess.
SF, Ranger, Freefall Parachustist, Jumpmaster, Airborne, Air Assault, Pathfinder, Expert Infantry, Combat Infantry, Jungle Expert, and Drill Sergeant.
Hahaha. I think it's hilarious that it's sharks you think would be an issue. These guys probably have very very few run ins with sharks if ever. Just like sharks at the beach is a 1 in a billion thing these guys don't really see them or worry about them either. It's long distance swimming with a bunch of heavy gear and being able to remain cool under intense pressure that makes it all so difficult. Sharks are not really of any concern.
@@bestieswithtesties Howdy Sir, I did the Scout Swim Course in Key West Florida in about 1990. It's at the course that we learned about sharks. Fortunately, Sharks have a pea brain, so they are not very intelligent like whales and therefore only respond
to certain stimuli, i.e., if you flop around in the water with a paddle board, they will think that you are a wounded fish and go in for the kill, if you always remember to swim with strong, sure strokes they will not bother with you. Regards, Denis C. Berte' SFC/USMC
"The more thou sweateth in training. The less thou bleedeth in combat ". The quote of an American Hero.
And it's very true.
About to join the navy , dope ass video.
Great video! 6:53 - SFC's shoes are untied?
I remember going through this course earned my scuba bubble
This would be excellent for Rangers because one of their specialty is frontafided areas. A it's looking like the Pacific may be a hot spot soon
Fin hard, Rangers lead the way!. Loved Key West🇺🇸
Keeping it Awesome 😎👍
I've got 37 static line jumps and have a hundred something dives but combining those looks so fucking bad ass. Thanks for the video.
Of course you have....then Mom woke you up to go to your job and Walmart
I highly approve of this video.
how many times do they encounter like sharks and other deadly ocean life? Like students ever have any injuries from it? always wondered!
How would we apply to be a videographer for you guys? This is a dream job and y'all do amazing work. I was a Marine, 0311 with 1/1 C Co. I am 27 and I took up photography and videography last year full time.
Probably not in the RUclips comments. Go to their website and get in contact with someone who works there already
@@Keepgoing9919 exactly. You’re not going to get an answer on RUclips soliciting your services
Memories, once upon a time.
This always makes me laugh because my dad got voluntold to go to this school due to what his job was in the army at at the time, he always said everything school related is volunteer only except for combat dive school.
This is really awesome to see. Great video. I noticed the divers have a bright red safety float when in the water. With all the safety mechanisms that have to be in place is this only for training purposes? They use rebreathers for conducting covert underwater infiltration so if diving in a real combat situation would they simply not use the float?
Yeah even during real-world Ops… SEALs, Combat Divers, etc always use bright orange floats right over top of them while covertly infiltrating in hostile waters. That way the bad guys, pirates, pleasure boaters, etc. know exactly where they are and that they are there so they don’t run them over with their boats, possibly wacking them with the propellers. A little harder for big tankers to see, but that’s why they have binoculars. And the more orange floaties, the better/safer for the operators.
@@williethom5075 yeah those floats would be really tactically unsound
@@williethom5075 🤣
These brave warriors are just as badass as any Seal team.
Went thru this in '67. WOW has it changed. I bet there aren't any scorpions in the grass any more. Hats off to the current folks who train and are trained there.
tbh If the training then was as it is today, I don't know that I would have passed.
Smaller classes then. No idea how many in the Army were qualified back then. In Vietnam at our B camp, the SGM and I were the only ones.
I went through I June & July '67, from the 3rd Group on Ft Bragg. I was honored to be the top graduate in my cycle. In fact, our class (only 16 men) established doing PT at 0530, before breakfast.
I am confident I would pass today, even with the very tough upgrades to the course.
-Ken D
@@kendavis7680 Ken, at 3rd Grp in Bragg did you run into a 2nd Lt Pistone, or Sergeant Gilbert Secor?
@@CandC68 I definitely don't remember Sgt Secor, since that was the last name of my kindergarten teacher.
My swim buddy was 2nd Lt Jon (we were 1st names only in training), and I have no recollection of his last name. We were actually swim team II, from our open water qualification lake swim, at Bragg. But, we finished at the top, never missing our target by more than 10 yards.
Did you know Sgt Sammy Couttes (commo Sgt) in Nam? He deployed in Dec '67, and spent mist of his time in Mile Force. He died in WY, about 6 tears ago.
BTW-I live in Colorado Springs, CO.
Typo: Mike Force, not Mile Force...
@@kendavis7680 Wow my brain cells are evaporating. I recall the classroom tng at Bragg, but no recollection of a lake swim. Just Fleming Key in the back bay, and a deep dive off Red Beach(I think). And the missiles pointed at Cuba. Sorry don't recall at Couttes. I went over in Sept 67, came home and left service Sept 68.
04-14 I graduated with one of the instructors.
Years ago, I was leading dive training exercise for open water students. In the pool, we had a circle of students kneeling in the deep end. The exercise was to remove your mask, pass it to the right and take the mask from your left. Put the mask on your face and clear it of water. The exercise was over when you got your mask back. One size does not fit all.
One woman in the class had shown indications of panic. One of the assistant instructors was a former Combat Diver. I told him to stay right behind her during the exercise. I told him that I thought she would bolt for the surface and I wanted someone that I knew would not let her get to the surface with lungs FULL of air. She bolted and he probably saved her life.
My son is former SF and a recreational diver. His ODA didn't have a demand for Combat Divers. He might not have wanted to do it anyway. It is a bad ass specialty.
Love you guys!! I would love to work for you guys! Any way you are hiring??
Big props go out to all the men who completed this training at the time of Vietnam without wearing tennis shoes..
I never asked for the combat diver knife...This came to me as a gift without receiving the proper training...
So badass
How does this training compare to BUDs? Almost seems like it's even more demanding minus the cold water.
When I was stationed in KW I used to see the whole class running together for PT. Motivators and scary bunch
Metal carabiner on front of compass?
Is this program very different from the SEALs combat water ops? These guys are dope
Very different. These guys mostly just use the water to infiltrate or exfiltrate. They're still land-based soldiers just who can use the water to get in and out of places. The Navy SEALS are the ones who focus on actual water based operations and do all kinds of things within the water way beyond just getting in and out.
Cheers from a FMF Corpsman!
Marine combatant diver course next??
The one school I would have passed on if it had come up
"We go the moon not because it's easy but because it's hard" - JFK
Can anyone point me to a video or two with some SF operational dive stories?
It takes a special kind of crazy to be able to do this, and please know I say this with the upmost respect.
Idk how much these guys make but I can assure you that it’s not nearly enough.
What was a Dive Team’s dream gig in Afghanistan? What kind of work were they competing for?
I am wondering do reports of shark attacks ever make it into your training protocol.?
I ask this because the website:Shark attacks happen-1 guy thrust his hand into the gill slits of a great white shark when it was biting him.That prompted an immediate release behavior.
I was always curious about how this course compared to SEAL training. Is it taken directly from the SEAL curriculum?
@Enzo V some of these comments about needing an elite force that deploys from the water over the beach…don’t we already have one?
One aspect of this course that I did not hear mentioned, if it was I missed it sorry, is that these guys are already experienced soldiers. They are already MOS Qualified from their SOCOM or JSOC teams and looking for more skills. Makes it even more impressive that some of those guys do not make it through training.
Typically new SF guys get assigned to dive team then have to graduate from the course in order to stay on. The Q-course also offers slots after graduation and before they ship off to their Group.
Yes the video specifically mentions that a lot of guys will get qualified for diving and then go back to their special forces/ranger units etc. They come from a wide range of backgrounds. That's how all of the more difficult courses are. People don't just sign up for the military and immediately start taking the advanced stuff they have to work their way up.
Do I get to hear heavy metal background music during training and all of my missions?
very cool
Does previous advanced and cave certifications help in getting selected for dive school ? I am a newish diver , loved the gym before finding diving , had no interest in the navy untill this , but I would have to know I have a shot first . 20 yo, W male , florida . And advice ? Don’t wanna go to a recruiter and blown off …
No your certs will not help you, however you can enlist in the Army as a 12D (Diver) or Special Forces candidate and get a chance to attend this school. I'm a Recruiter in S Florida responsible for all of the Keyes