How Hard is the SPECIAL FORCES SCUBA School? 

6:13 I love how he mentions that he's thankful that you don't get harassed when you eat food.

So this guy is a green beret, ranger, and went to dive school? Hot damn.

I was in Airborne school with someone who had a dive badge. I knew by reputation already that diving school is one of the toughest in the Army. He wasn’t in SF, he was a support guy for SF. I asked him how tough was the diving school. He shrugged his shoulders, had a slight grin on his face, and said “we had fun everyday.” He thought it over and corrected himself. “Well, I had fun” he said. I think he was a bit of an anomaly. It did not seem difficult for him. He must have been part fish.

I'm Navy. I went to Afghanistan with a SEAL team doing Intel support. Most SEALs have mad respect for Army guys who complete this course.

Even bad asses need their cookies

to all the guys who tried but failed much respect for even trying out matt from canada

What many do not know is, that at the end to qualify, every single one of them has to befriend a shark

I attended pre scuba at Ft. Bragg. Hands down one of the hardest schools in the Army. I thought I was good in the water until I got in the pool at Pope AFB. By the end of first week I was afraid to even get in the shower at home. Hahaha the smell of chlorine to this day brings back horrible memories.

Night diving is the ultimate haunted house - not for the weak

"Life is a Special Operation." ….deeper than I expected.

This was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I graduated from CDQC in 1984 (Class 4-84) even though I already had my SF tab and later earned my Ranger tab, SF Scuba School was the hardest 8 weeks of my life and I was super proud to wear the 'bubble badge!' Bobbing and Crossovers gave me nightmares for months afterward. Thanks for posting this video - it brings back lots of memories!

Great respect for those bringing the fight from the depths of the sea.

I was stationed in Key West in 1974/1975 (regular army). The instructors at the SF school provided dive training for the local GI's in order to get PADI certified. They were a great bunch of guys and provided this training as a service to military personnel. They were tough SOB's but were very patient with us non-SF students and they provided top notch training. I have a lot of respect for them. I still remember my dive instructor's name (along with my DI in basic training). Some things you never forget.

Wow. You have ranger, special forces tab and combat diver qualified. 💪🏼

Probably the coolest badge in the army.

I love how just the cook is tabbed to the max also..

I can't even fathom the level of confidence someone would need to have to even start this school. Jesus christ that looks hard.

This course really says quite a bit about the men who graduate from it.

Ranger, Special Forces, Combat Diver, Airborne?! Dude WTF, you're badass.

My step father. MSG (Ret) Harry Denny was one of the head instructors @ the Key West SF Dive School back in the 1970's. He also did three tours of duty with 5TH SFG in Vietnam. Airborne!

All I’ll say is this. My utmost respect to those men who went through special forces training and served as operators. I never served but my grandfather fought in WW2, my dad fought in Korea and my brother was Marine Force Recon. My hats off to anyone who served in our military. This civilian respects you.

Dude you're one on the most badass men alive like damn and thank you for your service.

It never occurred to me SF do similar dive training as SEALs. I'm enjoying learning the ins and outs of Army SF training regiments you've been talking about on your channel.

You have earned my utmost respect! Thank you for your service, and sacrifices, in protection of this great country!

Good explanation. DOL

Thank You for service, I have the up most Respect for our Men/Women in U.S. Military. Great info.

You guys are the real superheroes...RESPECT!

“.... LUNG CRUSHING....” ‘Nuff said

I went through some of this in Norway... the commercial diving school has very similar selection process 50 meters one breath and 8 km in the open seas and so on were the requirements to advance further... much respect to you bro...nice vid

I'll stick to trading and being a financial adviser. Thanks for all you do. I mean that.

Lol when I was training with ODA at Ft. Hood one of the guys said, "Once you get through Selection and Q-Course, and you're showing up to your unit for the first time, if you really want to give the SGM a hard on tell them you want Dive School." Then everyone chuckled darkly lol.

Very interesting, I went through the British boarding school system(for 10 years) which strangely enough had a similarly rigorous and intense schedule. If you got a punishment you got over it, however if the cook screwed up the whole day was ruined. I can imagine the one man comp involving finding out that the main regulator does not work and having to find the octopus - it's fascinating seeing how people panic when something goes wrong underwater. Respect for you getting through all of this.

Attended the earlier version of this course in 1977 while assigned to 7th SFGA. I personally think the two weeks of pre-scuba were the most physically challenging. You are correct in your summaries - morning PT, breakfast, pool time, lunch, class room and then open water swims. Our open water swims began with long distance surface swims and we progressed to underwater navigation swims. Just a couple of points from my time - the only time we were allowed to be out of arms reach of our dive buddy was during chow and time off. In all other cases, regardless of the event we had to be within arms reach. Naturally, there was a bit of give when we ran to the toilet. Our surface and sub-surface swims we were graded on time and on sub-surface accuracy. Once off the boat, we took a compass heading, dove and didn't break surface again until we hit the beach. At that point our time was recorded and distance from the target measured. For both these swims, we were tethered to our swim buddy. Whomever was designated the "navigator" was the one graded. The other was along for the ride. We trained on two rebreathers - the CCR-1000 and Dredgers. Understand in 1977 both rigs were new technology so the learning curve was steep. I thought the CCR-1000 too complicated as you had to constantly monitor a wrist mounted monitoring system with a series of lights that would tell you your CO2 level, etc. It was a huge pain and several guys during pool training blacked out. Fortunately, when it came to the open water swim we used the Dredgers. Chow for us was at a nearby Navy facility. We rode the bus wearing swim trucks and camo tops and covers. It was the designated uniform for students. Our final PT run was 10-miles and the route took us through downtown Key West. The date/time for this run was well known by locals so it was no surprise to see citizens along the street cheering us on. I'll say Key West has it share of colorful characters and I think everyone of them was out putting on a show as we ran by. I thought I was in great shape when I started but it was a butt kicker but boy could I run like a deer after I graduated. Do they still have the class boards displayed in the barracks?

I just love hearing you talk honestly

Great video as always! Solid salute to your achievement during the course!

Respect to anyone who completes this course

Except the physical fitness portion, harassment, and timed events, many of these skills learned and demonstrated are also part of dive leadership in the civillain side. As a deep technical diver I've had to do many of these same events mentioned, with exception of environment(military), as a divemaster, and instructor trainee, and deep technical divemaster. Still much respect to the guys that complete this course.

Thanks so much for the advice! This is my last video before shipping out to Fort Jackson as a 92 Yankee. June 4th. I love you man

Best days of my life. At 6:10 in this video explains why I remember eating So well. I was there in 2003. Thanks for putting this up so I can relive those days.👍🏼

Really interesting to hear what u guys go through first hand. Much respect and thanks for ur service.

Gotta be street smart and think on your toes when working in water environments. I've been a Rescue Diver for 6 years. When I get out of college I'm considering SF and definitely perusing CDQC.

I want to be a navy FMF corpsman and you don't know how much I respect people like you! I COULD NEVER BE AS GOOD AS YOU GUYS! Ya'll give me the drive to excersice and stay in shape so after high school I'll be able to make it!

My high school econ teacher is on a dive team within sf and his stories about the various courses, especially this one, make the class so much fun. His drown proofing was unreal

Glad for this video I’m fixing to try to go into the navy as a diver and seal tryouts. So all this helps me so thank you.

Respect, friend. I didn't make the cut for CDQC. You have to be truly good in the water to make it. Again... respect

I always thought special underwater operations was the domain of the Navy and Marines. Learned something new today.

Cool, Calm, and Collective..... Wow dude, so much training. Very intense not only for this training but as a Jump Master, the acceptance to get the GB.... thank you for your service. Semper Fidelis!

I’m just glad they fed y’all so well during those weeks.

My Class Captain at Law Enforcement Academy in Key West was a Combat Diver Trainer at Sigsbee. I finished the course in the best shape of my life. Be safe Dave and Thanks.

Impressive how much this training/facility has evolved since I went through in '67. Excellent.

Y'all make me proud, thanks HEROES, appreciate you

Thank you for your service. That was a well put together video. Thank you for sharing.

Nothing but respect

Holy shit what haven't you done yet. An great inspiration

Total respect to those going through this program.

Wow. I’m former Army, 11B. Much respect. Worked with 5th Group in Iraq. Class act all of SF.

1993 graduate- "chicks dig abs".

Excellent video on an often overlooked aspect of maritime special forces selection and training courses!👍

Its nice to see the branches diversify their terrain more, makes them so much more effective and competitive.

Went through Air Force Combat Dive school in 2015. Hands down one of the best time of my life besides HALO School.

Please do one for Military Free Fall school or Pathfinder school. I really love your videos.

Excellent video! Thank you very much for your service!

Shout out to my hometown.. born and raised. After Ranger School I would love to test myself with this course

I did 12-B OSUT / SAPPER at FLW, was friends with a RANGER with a CD pin, wanted to "expand" into CDQC but didn't know all that much about it. Learned to swim at the YMCA young, grew up on the Great Lakes, grew up with pools at friends / family. He said "I learned to swim in HS, and I made it." he was teaching me some of the "core" requirements at FLW's pool, only thing I was "stressed" about was the PT he talked about, I was a already a long distance runner with great lungs, This was early 2001, later events changed my plans and the world, never got to go, but I got retired 00-06... the more ..painful way . Lost opportunity, I wanted "Deep Water" because it's a bit scary to me, and I like that shit!

As a Australian sapper I went through a similar course the clearance divers do land warfare centre 7 times in my career and jungle warfare centre in Tully , SAS savival and tactics course and other heart warming courses dreamped up by sadistic crazy bastards, and I was only a combat firefighter

Thank you so much for your service. Very tough training. I appreciate your videos. They are very eye-opening.

what a flawless video. great job man. DOL

My son heads to Key West in 6 weeks.

Can you please do some Canadian military training, like some stuff about Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) or something like that.

This is my new favorite channel.

This is an awesome and no bs video. Well done! I am a CDQC, CDS and CDMT graduate

If i ever join the military i want to do this it may be hard as hell but I'm willing to work my ass off to pass

I once made a PB&J without tearing the bread.

man you must be a beast dude...just one of these schools require the best of us

Damn that’s some crazy stuff man. I give my full respect and thanks for the mens and women who does this job.

The food and sleep you get is so important, you can swim, run, and workout all you want, but if you don’t get proper fuel and rest, you will fail this course

I lost it with "...even if you're a civilian taking selfies with the fishies" lmao

This is great. All completely out of my league by a universe...I'm only advanced open water, lol. I'm busted up now, but your vids are really great and get me undersea again. Thank you.

He's extremely knowledgeable and disciplined. The training is a lot of endurance, strength and conditioning. It's a challenge. It takes time. I definitely need to check out about the training.

US ARMY THIS WE'LL DEFEND

That training is basically the same as BUD/S ....Great location at Key Weird- West 😂 Beats San Diego any day { better 🐟} Been there done that . Closed circuit , mainly draegers beat scuba any day - in some ways as long as the correct position is taken 😂 All in all a good video. 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸

Log In Christopher, I enjoyed your video, and the info within. I went through the training in 1967, one of the "Old Timers," as the current guys call those of us from so very ago. I did not realize that they are still using the (now upgraded, I am sure) old Frogman school on Fleming Key, FL. Like you, I graduated at the top of my class on 20 July 1967. My ODA designation was combat engineer, or simply Team Demolition Specialist, as we were known at that time. A small piece of info that some may find of interest. One of my training NCOs (he had switched over to the Army from the "Dark Side"...Navy Frogman), was Sgt. Campbell. He was one of the 6 Frogmen who swam into the Tokyo Bay ahead of the battleship USS Missouri, on which Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender. They had the Frogmen in the water to be sure that no mines had been missed by the mine sweepers that had come in first. They did not want anything bad to happen at the end of hostilities. BTW-although I would like to claim that I went through training as tough as you did, I do not think that is so. I am very careful about stolen valor, and never try to claim anything that I did not earn. Perhaps I did not earn accolades for completing a course as difficult as you described...perhaps I did. I believe that keeping up with you would have been a challenge, and I would have been honored to have you as my swim buddy. I did have a 1st Lt, since he and I were the two fastest in our class in non equipped surface swims (not even fins). When we got to the open water, equipped ocean swims, we were the fastest and most accurate swim team on day and night training. We were very well trained and conditioned (I was 23 at the time), including the fact that our class voted to do the PT before breakfast, before the heat of the day had begun. That may have set the precedent for all of the following classes. You did not mention the free ascent to the surface from the deep diving bell in the pool (was it 200 feet down?). Is that still part of the training? From your video, I would say that the training today is a lot more comprehensive, and complete. Still, I was very competent, and very much at ease working, swimming, and using all equipment under water. I enjoyed it all immensely. Ken Davis SSgt, 3rd SFG(A)

I'll be honest. You have helped me so much with all your videos. I stumbled across you when i became interested in TACP for the Air Force and after watching your videos and working I feel once I enlist and possibly get into the TACP school I will succeed and become that which i am training for. Thank you for all of your help and your service. Godspeed to you sir.

Great subject and clip, as it's not "Rambo's" that get through this kind of training and selection, and it's not like the movies, etc.

Thank you for those insights. I have a basic question: what is the role of SpecOps combat divers in combat? What circumstances or missions would employ the services of a combat diver, over that of other military units?

These guys are hard-core! I appreciate them. Coming from being airborne myself. Those guys are tough!!!

You sir, are a beast. And I thank you for your service.

Do a video regarding pathfinder, special forces sniper course, and sapper leadership course please......

1 man comp. "I wont give away too many details about this but I will say *literally every detail*"

I'm glad there are people that want to do this.

Dammit man. Thank you for your service.

Really hard. There. I saved you 11 minutes

I was in The Corps in the early/mid 70's and made it through the Corps' Recon selection process (Now called Recon school) and shortly thereafter was sent to Benning for jump school and then Pre Combat Dive school. I grew up in Cocoa Beach and was a pretty good surfer (and football player) and could swim like a fish so I didn't have too many issues at Pre Combat Dive school, but lots of selectees did and we had lots of drops...the word was Combat Dive School was an order of magnitude more difficult with an extremely high drop rate....I never was sent to Combat Dive but I did go to Ranger School...I arrived there in other worldly shape and actually enjoyed Ranger School...I wouldn't call it easy but it was much easier than Recon selection or pre combat dive (again both those "schools" place a large emphasis on swimming and as I mentioned above, I swam like a fish.

When you retire you get too live on a boat and dive everyday. Great video, thanks for sharing you wisdom.

Thank you for your service!

Looking to be a green beret some day, love these videos for their great advise, would love to talk to this guy or another special forces soldier.

When you were going through these advanced schools what would you tell yourself, that made you keep going?

Thank you for your service, Brother.

This is inspiring just to push my self more, train harder and be more disciplined in my life as a civilian. It's amazing what people are capable of.

Can a Marine or Sailor attend if their combatant diving course is full?