The U.S. Navy dive computer

In 1996, at the request of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM), the Naval Sea Systems Command tasked the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) to identify, procure, and test a commercial dive computer (DC) containing the U.S. Navy-approved VVAL18 decompression algorithm. Following several years of testing, this DC, named the "NAVY Dive Computer," has been approved for use by SEAL (Sea-Air-Land) Team 1. The DC is authorized to a maximum depth of 200 feet of Seawater (fsw) and may be used with air, the MK 25 Mod 2 (100% oxygen rebreather) underwater breathing apparatus (UBA), or the MK 16 MOD 0 UBA (0.7 at a constant oxygen partial pressure rebreather) with nitrogen background. The DC has been configured conservatively to allow the diver to switch from one breathing gas to the other without having to inform the DC of the gas switch. The DC also records the depth every second and stores up to 550 hours of diving. These logged dive profiles can be transferred from the DC to a personal computer running Microsoft Windows. The first operational dives using the NAVY DC for decompression monitoring were performed. After a 6-month period to observe its reliability, NEDU will make recommendations on expanding the use of the DC among other Navy commands. To date, the DC has performed reliably and comments have been favorable. The DC has given the Team Commanding Officer added flexibility in diving operations. To allow better planning when the DC is being used, a Microsoft Windows dive planner that uses the same decompression algorithm contained within the DC has been developed.