6 new divers on MSP Underwater Recovery Unit

The Gladstone post of the Michigan State Police has additional water rescue assistance available as summer gets underway.

Michigan State Police (MSP) Director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue today announced that six new MSP divers have graduated from the 19th Underwater Recovery Unit Dive School. The last dive team graduation was held eight years ago when six members graduated in April 2005.

This graduating class brings the total number of MSP Underwater Recovery Unit members to 26, including 20 divers and six divemasters. These graduates will join the other team members who are strategically placed throughout the state for calls for service.

The department’s Basic Dive School is a four-week intense training program that is conducted in-house by members of the MSP who are certified scuba instructors and/or National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). The divers received more than 160 hours of classroom instruction, swam approximately 25 miles and spent over 20 additional hours in the water during their training. The dive school consists of real-world training and scenarios with instruction being held at the MSP training tank, inland lakes and extensively in the Great Lakes at various locations around the state.

The graduates received instruction in dive physics and physiology, decompression diving, assembly and disassembly of scuba gear, water entries, buoyancy control, air sharing, emergency ascents, rescue techniques and ditch/don of scuba gear. The class also received training in the theory of diving, methods of searching in low visibility and fast water conditions, repetitive deep diving and high winds and cold water conditions.

The Underwater Recovery Unit, housed within the MSP Special Operations Division, provides diving expertise for the department, mostly in the areas of body recovery, evidence collection, underwater inspections, recovery of stolen property and maritime security details. The unit assists other state, local and federal departments in a number of activities. The dive team responds to about 70 calls for service a year. Additional information on the MSP Underwater Recovery Unit can be found on the MSP website.

The graduates include:

Name                                     Post

Tpr. Ronald Beckett              Gaylord Post

Tpr. Shawn Reynolds            Gladstone Post

Tpr. Christopher Boven        Hart Post

Tpr. Dennis Brazaski            Jackson Post

Tpr. Joel Kuhn                       Metro Post

Tpr. Jay Kurowski                 Tri-City Post