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The Roat Deal
Each month John Roat will furnish this page with a new column. Feel free to email him with your questions,
comments, or accusations. This guy's the real deal and he definitely has his very own groove.

Born 11/16/42. I am currently a working diver, surface air/gas and a saturation supervisor. I was a member of Underwater Demolition Teams 21, UDT 11 and SEAL Team 1. I went to work for Taylor Diving and Salvage the end of 1969 as a tender and broke out at Taylor Diving in 1970. I have also worked for Sub Sea, Comex, J. Ray McDermott, Tennessee Valley Authority, Global, Martech, Offshore Petroleum Divers, Cal Dive and too many small companies, some of them very good, to name. Taught rigging, open tanks, harbor and burning for one year at the College of Oceaneering. I authored “Oxy-Arc Underwater Burning Class”, a 90-minute training video and manual, for Oceans Technology.

If I were evaluating myself in this business it would be: good divers, that will leave the next diver well, burn with the best of them. I am proudest of having never bent or injured a diver. I have been running dive’s from 1969, when the tender did the job. I have been supervising since 1977.

I do believe there are more then one good way to do things.
The following are a couple of my opinions, let me know what you think:

Taking Care of Your Two Main Tools

- or -

Me and My Hat

I think the two facts that qualify me to write on this subject are: I have been diving the same hat since 1978 and I’m still able to work with the young guys at sixty-one.

Your Hat
I have noticed over the years that to many divers don’t do even the basic maintenance on their Diving Helmet. More surprising, even a greater number, do no maintenance on themselves. We’ll talk about our hats first.

Today all new Diving Helmets come with maintenance manuals. Many who spend the thousands to buy a new hat don’t even bother to read it. If you bought a used hat you may not have received a manual. It’s this simple, we where not made to breath underwater, if something goes wrong with your hat while you’re working, you can die. The truth is, I personally don’t care if you want kill yourself, just do at home while I’m not around. I’ve done the mouth to mouth on a dead diver, it’s not my idea of a fun day.

You guys that do take care of your hats think about this: Those divers that don’t take care of their Diving Helmets, are your Stand-By Divers. That ought to make your wife and kids feel all warm and fuzzy. You work with them, exert a little on the job peer pressure. If a diver has a hat they aren’t keeping up, Refuse To Dive With Them As Your Stand-by. I promise, it will make a bigger difference then bitching about it in a bar.

Read you hat manual if you have one, if you don’t, get one and read it. I know some of them call for changing parts that still function. Just like everything these days THE LAWYERS have a big part in writing them but at least you will have a basic understanding of how your hat functions. For most hats, the basics are: Keep it CLEAN, rinse it with fresh water after use. Make sure you back off the tension on your adjustable regulator, when not in use. All valves should turn freely, no sticky or rough spots. Pay close attention to how your Neck Ring mates to your Helmet. The condition of all Cams, Locking Pins, O-rings, everything that mates your Neck Ring to your Helmet. This includes the Chinstrap in your hat and the rubber in your Neck Dam . Keep GOOD COMMS in your hat.

Your Physical Condition
As I see it there are more divers in bad shape then there are diving helmets. The truth is if your not doing some form of Cardiovascular Exercise you are not going to stay in the shape you need to pass your Dive Physical. If you are Hand-Jetting everyday you probably don’t need to worry about. Most of the time we work hard for very short periods, not long or frequently enough, to stay in good shape. Below you will find my Routine, admittedly more then you will need to stay in shape.

1)    100 Jumping Jacks
2)    40 push-ups, 40 set-ups
3)    Neck Rotations, 30 each way
4)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
5)    Arm Circles 3 min.
6)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
7)    Hello-Jack, Hello-Jill, 30
8)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
9)    Press-Press Fling, 30
10)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
11)    Front-up, Back-up, 30
12)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
13)    Side-benders, 30 each way
14)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
15)    Body Rotations, 30 each way
16)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
17)    Flutters Kicks on stomach, 100. Flutter Kicks on back 100
18)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
19)    Setting Front Stretch. Down 10 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 20 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 30 sec.
20)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
21)    Hurdlers Stretch, Down 10 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 20 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 30 sec. Left leg then right.
22)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
23)    Setting V Stretch. Down 10 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 20 sec. up for 5 sec. down for 30 sec.
24)    20 push-ups, 20 set-ups
25)    Toe Risers, 100 each way, In, Straight and Out
26)    50 push-ups, 50 set ups.
If you’ve read this far I hope your saying, BS he can’t do that. Well just ask the guys that have tried to do it with me, and had to buy me dinner when they couldn’t. The truth is you don’t need to go that far to stay in good shape. Take my Routine and cut it in half, do it every other day. It will get your Cardiovascular System in good shape. If you don’t like that, every vessel we work on offshore, has nice steep stairs, try walking them for 30 minutes, three or four times a week. That will get your heart rate up.

Sincerely

John Carl Roat

PS Next Month I’ll give my thoughts on The ADC and IMCA. I’ve read them both, have you read either?

What do you think?

click here to email Roat

Sincerely,
John Carl Roat

I will do my best to answer any response to the things I say. That is, if you put your name and e-mail address with it. If there is no name and e-mail address, I won’t post your e-mail and I won’t respond. If you just want to let everyone know how you fell about what I say, without putting your name on it, post it on the discussion board.

John's previous columns are archived here:

Roat 1 Roat 2

John has also authored a book on his experiences in SEAL training.
Click on the cover image to read reviews and order the book .

Real Deal SEAL Team website: <http://sealstrike.com