Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Over 35 years of direct responsibility for complex diving, salvage, and open ocean recovery operations within the U.S. Navy. Expertise encompassing the following areas: • Dive Program Management. Participated in a complete reevaluation of all USN diving policies and publication of a new OPNAV 3150 Navy Diving Policy instruction. Revised USN Diving Manual (Rev. 7) to reflect new policy. Chairman of the Chief Warrant Officer Advisory Team (CWOT) tasked with advising Navy leadership on all aspects of diving, salvage, and special diving operations. • Dive Instruction and training. High Risk Training Officer for USN dive program. Navy Personal Qualification Standard (PQS) manager for entire Navy Dive Program. Updated and published Navy safety program and qualification manual. • Dive Safety enforcement. Dive Safety Officer for three (3) Naval Repair activities, and three (3) Mobile diving and salvage teams; published fleet wide dive safety policy/procedures. • Dive Inspection/Assessment. Navy Inspector General (IG) lead dive inspector. Completed over thirty (30) operational capabilities inspections on active fleet dive teams. • Dive Maintenance Management. Qualified at the highest levels for diver life support equipment maintenance, repair, and Quality Assurance (QA) certification. • Incident Investigation. Conducted over thirty (30) Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigations into dive injuries, equipment failures, and procedural non compliance incidents. • Dive Safety Oversight. Training and Safety Officer for five (5) USN Mobile Dive Teams, USN Dive School, and various operational civilian/USN fleet diving teams. • Operations Management. Readiness and/or Officer In Charge (OIC) for over thirty (30) complex and extremely dangerous military diving and salvage missions. • Associate of Arts Marine Engineering • Bachelors Occupational Safety and Health • Masters Occupational Safety and Health • Level two Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspector (expired). • Diving, salvage, demolitions, and recompression chamber Officer/Supervisor. • Qualified Dive Station Diving Safety Officer • Qualified Officer of the Deck (underway) • Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist, Aviation Surface Warfare Specialist, and Diving and Salvage Warfare Specialist • Qualified Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) • Qualified SCUBA, Surface Supplied, Closed Circuit, and Mixed Gas instructor • Lean Six Sigma event facilitator • Root Cause Analysis investigator • US Army Corps of Engineers Dive Safety Inspector (DSI) Combat veteran, retired CWO5 (Navy Diver) with 33 years of active-duty service effective November 1, 2019. VA disability rating of more than 30 percent, I am available to travel as required.