@agilis (who doesn't log dives ) stated
"I'm curious to know when the operational function of divemaster became a certification. I don't remember it existing when I was certified back in 1972. I'd been diving a while before that, but it was around that year that dive shops began to require a C card before they'd refill your tanks, so I got an NASDS certification"
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Perhaps I can provide a bit of history;
1) There was a company in Chicago during the late 1950s &early 1960s called "Divemaster." It was a full line company and even had a mail order certification produced by E.R Cross. Zale Parry, (
@drbill close personal friend) was student number 10 in the late 1950s,'
2) LA Co UIA began using the term Divemaster from the beginning of their program in 1954 to denote a person or persons in charges of an activity
3) 1962 I developed a 20 plus page flip chart (modern version Power Point) titled "Instructor/Diver Retention" which established instructor & diver classifications for advancement
A) rejected by LA Co UIA - if trained by LA Co You Are a Diver !
( however the presentation spurred the development of the 3 months long never equaled LA Co Advanced Diving Program- aka LA Co ADP- which is still going strong)
B) Presented to NAUI by Art Ulrich -- rejected by NAUI B of D
C) Presented to PADI by NAUI instructor Dennis Graver who was working for PADI- laid dormant for a number of years- John Cronin re discovered it and used the concept to create the current step instruction which is the basis for PADI, Inc success
3)1960s? possibly mid 1960s, prior to PADI, Al Tillman published and article in Skin Diver Magazine titled "Underwater Jägermeister " (aka UW hunt master) declaring there would some day be a need for a Jägermeister to be in charge on boats and to lead dive groups . (now 50 plus years later AL Tillman 's prediction has become the norm- modern divers cant dive with out a guide - hand holding is the norm)
That is a very short synopsis of how it began...
In th dazzz of our dives
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"The idea of a person with less than a year's experience serving as a divemaster is comical. A person should have years of experience and hundreds of relevant dives before they are permitted to supervise the incompetents turned out by contemporary programs. "
You are so correct !
Sam Miller, III