Trace,
Great thread! I find it humorous and informative. Keep up the great work !
I have been following the thread since its inception and am amazed at he lack of historical knowledge of diving and dive instruction, so I am posting the following;
I some how suspect that you are remiss in not listing the late Mr. Conrad "Connie" Limbaugh and Dr. Andy Rechnitzer who jointly developed the Scripps diving program which was attended in 1954 (64 years ago) by the late Al Tillman, LA Co Aquatics specialist and Bev Morgan and the late Ramsey Parks, representing the LA Co Life Guards.
This was the very beginning of civilian skin and SCUBA diving programs in the US and the world and was called the "LA County UW Instructors program" which developed into the Underwater Instructors Certification Course aka the famed UICC----. UICC 67 has begun-only a few were accepted in to the program even less will graduate as LA Co UW Instructors . The UICC is not walk in the park through water sprinklers - to graduate You are a diver - Not one who dives as you are an Underwater Instructor not one who just instructs...
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LA Co UW instructor Neil Hess wrote a monthly article in Skin diver Magazine titled "American Diving Patrol" ( after the American Ski Patrol) he campaigned for a universal national dive training program , concurrently while working on a Doctorate at an eastern ivey league university - where he passed away at the prime of his life .
Al Tillman picked up the pieces and developed the frame work for a national program at the Underwater Society of America (aka USA) convention at Houston in August 1960- the program was a success and NAUI was created. (FYI my old dive buddy Harry Vetter, NAUI #4, who is 88 is the last living instructor for that first NAUI course.)
NAUI was a true association owned and operated by the members. It was the first in may areas: the first TRUE association, the first informative news letter, and who could forget "The famed yearly conference "International Conferences on Underwater Education" aka ICUE aka IQ ???
So NAUI was also created by LA County UW Instructors
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John Gaffney was a world class spear fisherman -- In 1955 the team of Gaffney and Howard Patton won the International Spearfishing meet between US and Mexico. He was also an LA Certified Diver.
While employed at Skin Diver magazine founded by Chuck Blakeslee, LA County UW instructor, John developed the ideas of "National Association of Skin and SCUBA Diving stores." and went about organizing the local California stores which soon expanded include dive shops out side of California and prompted a name change.
NASDS under John, the great innovator of diving, gave the diving world many firsts, the famed VIP, the micro chipped certification card, The OW Instructor program- Mike Burke was # one... and of course two great glossy informative fun filled magazines "Dive" and "Aquarius." Now much sought after collectors items
John and I were life long friends.....during he later part of his life when he was terminal he would call me at the office jut to chat -- He never asked to speak to me-- instead he just groaned and moaned until my OM would put me on the line for a short chat or a question - That was John - Dang I miss John!
NASDS is no more -- absorbed by SSI who gave us the SSI Pro 5000 Platinum Pro Award
So both NASDS and SSI roots can be traced back to LA Underwater Instructors Program
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In 1969 in the middle of the winter there was a NAUI instructors course scheduled at Dowers Grove. Illinois. I was to be one of the instructors /evaluators and had my bags packed and ready to leave.
A huge storm hit Chicago several days prior to departure and the organizers and NAUI officials determined that the course should be cancelled and it was..however, .there was a change in temperature and weather so a number of prospective candidates showed up expecting a week long NAUI instructors course ,
There were no NAUI officials, other than NAUI Instructor Ralph Erickson in attendance so Ralph, John Cronin, (the local US Diver sales representative) Bob Chow and others conducted a dive instructor course which they called Professional Association of Underwater Instructors (in 1969 the term SCUBA was not in common usage)
The meager class files remained dormant in a card board carton until John was promoted to General Manager of US Divers and moved to Santa Ana California.
John had the frame work for a diving instructor course but few members and no office....These problems were solved by pulling the late Nic Icorn, LA County UW instructor, off the drafting tables and promoting him to the first Director of PADI and installing him in a tiny office on 17 Street in Costa Mesa California.
Membership was created by filling out a form mailing it in for a rubber stamp and presto! PADI hero- The word got out so John Gaffney of NASDS certified his dog and some one in Texas certified his duck as a PADI Instructor - I doubt if either one ever taught a class, but the war had begun NASDS vs PADI
The member ship and instructional forms of that era had been created LA County which were in public domain so the were copied and sold to PADI instructors.at a handsome profit Nic and his dear wife Marilyn worked diligently 24X7 to establish PADI as a accepted member of the UW instructor community.
Nic was rewarded for his expertise and hard work by being dismissed from US Divers/PADI and slapped with a 11 million dollar law suit for all documents including Nic's never printed book generated while at US Divers/PADI.
Paul Hill, LA County UW instructor, was next to be hired by John and US Divers/PADI as the second Director of PADI. Paul held that position for several years and was responsible for PADI acquiring a toe hold in the UW instrurors world
So PADI was created by LA County UW instructors.
John retired from US divers which allowed him to devote his time to enlarging the instructor base and creating step marketing diving programs which were instigated about 1984 ---the rest is history
I suspect this is news to
@boulderjohn, the defender of PADI and especially that supper hero I met at the "Blue hole" who stated with a straight face "there was no diving or dive instruction before PADI !
But now we know!
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Samuel Miller,III
