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The Yahoo group that rmediver gave above has a wealth of information, so by all means, use that if you’re considering enlisting or reclassing for Diver. What you can’t seem to find much of online is info from the MANY people who don’t make it through Dive School. I’m one of them, so I’ll share my experience:
I enlisted for 21D back in 2006; no bonus and “needs of the Army” if I didn’t make it. I read the posts on that Yahoo group dozens of times over and I trained hard for six months. I had a 300 APFT, could do 13 perfect pull-ups, swam the 500m in 10 minutes and ran the 1.5 mile in about 9 minutes. I was totally motivated and dedicated, and I thought I was *ready*. I wasn’t. I DOR'ed (Dropped On Request) on Day 5. I couldn’t tread water or hold my breath anywhere near well enough, and I would have drowned otherwise.
Aside from how difficult the school is, there are a lot of additional obstacles. Although the instructors are extremely fair and actually treat the recruits like Soldiers and human beings, there are still hardcore Drill Sergeants at the barracks and at chow, and even prior-service Soldiers get a lot of sh*t from them. People constantly tell you that you’re going to fail. There’s written homework every night, even though you’re dead tired. You don’t wear goggles in the pool, so your eyes burn and you’re walking around in a fog. You get smoked in and out of the pool. PT every morning is tough no matter how good you are.
Everything about the school is hard, but nothing compares to what happens if you drop. I (and 16 others from my class) spent six weeks as a holdover at A/169 (which is more strict than Basic) constantly getting smoked and doing the most ridiculous details, before being reclassed to 21W (carpentry and masonry) with no choice in the matter, then stationed in Alaska and shipped off to Iraq six months later. I want very badly to train up and try again for Diver, but I’m still here in Iraq with no access to a pool, swinging hammers and carrying lumber for 12-hours a day. We don’t even do PT here because the work is so physically demanding, so I get up two hours early everyday to work out alone and stay in shape. We’re finally heading back to Alaska soon, but today is the first day I’ve had off in about a month and a half and there won’t be many more until we go home, so real training has to wait.
I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from trying and I’m not bitter about any of it. I just thought I’d tell my story as a caveat. Unless you were born in the water, the school IS as hard as people say it is. If you’re thinking of reenlisting to reclass, be very careful if you don’t like your current MOS because you may very well be sent back to it. If you’re coming in off the street, my honest advice is to pick an MOS you’ll enjoy, apply for Diver later, and be prepared to be a SOLDIER and spend a year over here (or in Afganistan) before you get to go. And by the way, deployment isn’t too bad—just long. I like it better than being in Alaska.
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