First off sit down with your team and the administration to see what is wanted, expected and needed.
It doesn’t do a lot of good to do something you want if it's not needed.
First and foremost is to get your members comfortable in the water. Not by demonstrating things that make a good “sport diver” by the agency’s standards but truly comfortable in the water by PSD standards. These are not even related.
A good comfortable “sport diver” can be wound up tighter than a Swiss watch during a PSD operation and be a hazard to themselves and everyone around them.
Here is an example of what we are doing to our FNG’s. BUT ONLY after we feel they are ready and they will not have a clue as to when and if it is coming.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=129998
Once that comfort level is there you can start working on the Peer Pressure issues. Every team member and I mean EVERY TEAM MEMBER can at any time be able to say I don’t want to do that dive. Or I’m not comfortable to do the dive, I’m not ready or I just plain don’t feel like doing the dive and not suffer any repercussion from the team members, administration or anyone period.
If I ever hear of anyone bad mouthing any one of my teammates for not doing a dive, calling them chicken or anything on that order I will go off on them like a mad bull in a china shop. Attitudes like that kill PSD's and most die during training.
We just had an operation under very lousy conditions where my teammates stood right there in front of god, friends, and everyone else and said they weren’t ready to do that dive. I have never been so proud of them. That is a very tough thing to do and Testosterone just seems to have a way of preventing actions like that. Guys just don’t like backing down in front of their peers.
Those actions bleed over to the women as well and this business has a way of getting women to push themselves far beyond their abilities to prove a point.
Well folks we do have one point to prove. That is that we can do an operation safely and not suffer any causality, no matter how small in the process. A Band-Aid here and there and some sore muscles are normal and expected but nothing more.
Work on those issues first and then concentrate on being an operating PSD. We just had a night operation where I put an FNG in the water. I mean a real FNG as in it was like his 6th or 7th dive period. But he has shown the comfort level and ability to do the task that was at hand.
Granted it was a very simple operation but had I told him to get unsuited he would have without saying a word. He would have just got undressed and moved into another position. He has been listening and practicing at home. The rat got suited up about as fast as I did. Not bad for an FNG.
Then there is the issue of everyone realizing that ANY team member at any time can ground another member anytime he feels the need. Again this should happen without question.
My #2 grounded me a few years ago over a bloody nose. I have very dry sinuses and I normally get a little bloody. But for some reason, when I came up he said get out, you’re done. My response was Yea Right and I was getting ready to go back down when my rope got real short, like in no slack at all. He was fricken serious but I was done no questions asked (after some whining on my part). He saw something I and the others didn’t and he made a good call. Was it a good call? Not in my book but I honored his call to pull me. It is sure worth a lot of good laughs now.
Everyone on a team need to be able to have the balls to ground someone as well as be grounded them selves.
Back when I was diving in the Navy your rank or rate had nothing to do with a diving operation. There was a pecking order that was strictly followed. I think they still do it today but if a little E-1 was the senior diver and in-charge of an operation a Fleet Admiral would take orders from him period.
Work on these things and then work on line searches, grid searches, zero vis operations, rescues and recoveries. Don’t put the cart in front of the horse.
Good luck and good training.
Gary D.
