Hawai'i dive unit worked 'out of the box' in Iraq
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The Navy's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One trained to be "expeditionary," and those skills were called upon during its duty in Iraq.
U.S. Navy
MDSU-1 Detachment Three divers spent a month in southern Iraq at the beginning of the war not only conducting the first combat salvage/harbor clearance mission since the Vietnam War, but also operating in another environment — on dry land.
Sailors with the Navy's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One, operating a British landing craft, pass near a beached vessel while on river patrol in Iraq. The Hawai'i-based unit operated on and in Iraq's waterways, as well as on dry land, something its members don't normally do.
Chief Warrant Officer Eric MacDonald said the "Deep Sea" convoy headed from Kuwait to the Iraqi port city of Umm Qasr, where the divers "walked the fence" wearing full chemical gear and night-vision goggles providing security for the forward operating base, and helped destroy weapons caches and tons of ordnance.
The Hawai'i dive unit's land and sea mission is only now being revealed in detail: crossing the Demilitarized Zone and traveling a route littered with blown-apart buildings, burned cars and destroyed fighting positions; and being confronted with the challenge of clearing more than 110 ships from the six-mile channel between the Umm Qasar port and Az Zubayr pier complex.
MDSU-1 had been conducting specialized expeditionary warfare training the past two years, learning how to operate in a hostile environment alongside other expeditionary forces including Marines and special warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, underwater construction and NATO forces.
The unit was responsible for all planning and coordination of diving operations on the Ehime Maru to recover victims after the Japanese fishing training vessel was rammed off O'ahu by the submarine USS Greeneville on Feb. 9, 2001.
"When war planners determined that an expeditionary diving and salvage unit was needed to support the Operation Iraqi Freedom Multi-National Task Force, MDSU-1 Detachment Three was trained and ready," MacDonald said.
The 16 sailors and officers followed the Marines up from Kuwait with an Underwater Construction Team One detachment.
"Entering Iraq at night and in the wake of the USMC's path of destruction was a surreal and humbling experience," MacDonald said.
Buildings and destroyed vehicles were perfect hiding spots for enemy snipers, and "everyone was 100 percent focused on scrutinizing their field of fire, mentally reviewing the rules of engagement and constantly checking the status of their weapon and ammunition," he said.
From the forward base outside Umm Qasr, MDSU-1 would head in full "battle rattle" each morning on the half-hour transit through the city to reach the port.
The team's first mission was recovering six 40-foot Iraqi patrol boats with mines, two of which had sunk, so that the ship RFA Sir Galahad could deliver humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people.
One of the boats on the bottom had four MK-145 mines and 1,200 pounds of explosives aboard. Five of the ships were towed in, and MDSU-1 with Underwater Construction Team One spent two days diving and using hydraulic grinders in zero-visibility water to cut mine deployment racks on the sixth boat so Australian explosive ordnance disposal personnel could remove the devices.
The six-mile channel-clearing mission turned out to be the most challenging. Among the ships that had to be moved were 15 oil tankers, coastal freighters and barges that blocked the channel, and 30 additional vessels that had to be removed from the Az Zubayr pier to open it for humanitarian aid and coalition use.
The dive team got a 60-foot Iraqi pusher boat going, informally christened it "ARS-60 Combat Salvage Ship," raised the American colors, and with Army and British assistance, started moving ships, MacDonald said.
Despite cable breaks and "high-seas drama" moving fully laden 300-foot oil tankers, the coalition group weeks later had completed its task.
MacDonald said the divers jumped at the chance to work in the field with explosive ordnance disposal personnel. Another mission out of the normal "Navy diver box" saw MDSU-1 divers investigate potential Fedayeen Saddam militia boats with Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents.
MacDonald said the mood of the convoy leaving Iraq was a lot different than when it entered the country.
"Our fear of the unknown was replaced with confidence in our ability," he said.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
