The USMC Combatant Diver Course is taught at the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center, Naval Support Activity Panama City

Naval Support Activity Panama City

The United States Naval Support Activity Panama City , is located just outside Panama City, Florida and is a United States Navy military base. It is located within Bay County. Among other commands, it houses Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division and the Navy Experimental Diving Unit...

, Panama City, Florida

Panama City, Florida

-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...

. Both of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force

Marine Air-Ground Task Force

The Marine Air-Ground Task Force is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined arms task organization of Marine Corps forces under a single commander that...

 reconnaissance assets, FMF Recon and MarDiv Recon, widely use combatant diving. During this eight-week course, trainees are introduced to open and closed-circuit diving (using the Dräger

Dräger

The Drägerwerk AG is a German company based in Lübeck which makes breathing and protection equipment, gas detection and analysis systems, and noninvasive patient monitoring technologies. Customers include hospitals, fire departments and diving companies....

 LAR-V rebreather

Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...

), diving physics

Diving physics

Diving Physics explains the effects that divers and their equipment are subject to underwater.- Laws of physics for diving :The main laws of physics that govern the physics of the SCUBA diver and of diving equipment are:...

 and medical aid. Most of the training in combatant diving is done at night.

The course provides underwater tactical training and the skills needed to successfully conduct underwater navigation for infiltration and exfiltration. The candidates negotiate long distances in open water, infiltrating by surface and sub-surface, learning to deal with the hazards of a surf zone

Surf zone

As ocean surface waves come closer to shore they break, forming the foamy, bubbly surface we call surf. The region of breaking waves defines the surf zone. After breaking in the surf zone, the waves continue to move in, and they run up onto the sloping front of the beach, forming an uprush of...

 tangle and simulated equipment malfunctions.

The combatant divers course combines lecture, demonstration, and practical application in nitrox charging procedures using the USMC Oxygen Transfer Pump System, or USMC OTPS. Upon the completion of this course, the Marines (of any MOS that attends) are given the Special "B" MOS 0324 Reconnaissance Man, Combatant Diver Qualified (NMOS) [formerly 8653].

History

The Combat Swimmers Course was previously taught at the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's Amphibious Reconnaissance School, Troop Training Units (TTU)s at either Expeditionary Warfare Training Group (EWTG); Pacific (EWTGPAC) or Atlantic (EWTGLANT). It was first formed during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 to teach selected reconnaissance Marines and sailors the fundamentals of advanced swimming. They were located on both of United States's coasts, at the naval amphibious bases, NAB Little Creek

Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek

The Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek is the major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. The base comprises four locations in three states, including almost 12,000 acres of real estate. Its Little Creek location in Virginia Beach, Virginia totals...

 and NAB Coronado

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado is a naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, CA. The base, situated on Silver Strand, between the San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, supporting over 30 tenant commands, and is the West Coast focal point for special...

.

By the late 1980s, some combatant swimming courses were taught using the Marine Corps's own infrastructure, by experienced Marine combat divers. Because of the lack of facilities on Marine Corps bases, the Navy continued to provide the necessary training grounds for such training activities. The USMC Combatant Divers Course was established some time around the late early 1990s at the navy training center in Panama City, FL.