The Special Forces scuba badge indicates the one who wears it can complete any underwater operations. You can get the badge after undergoing the combat diver qualification course (CDQC). You can learn more about school badges from different badge makers worldwide. The students wearing these badges always remember the training days that are parallel to none that they have ever done in their lifespan!
The one located in Florida has the 7 criteria:
Duration and Phasing
The duration and phasing are done in 2 phases, pre-scuba and scuba. Days of pre-scuba are as follows:
Morning physical training. Then you have breakfast. After that, you get 4 hours in the swimming pool practising CDQC skills. These skills include proper side stroke techniques. Proper kicking techniques, drown proofing, certain tye knots, swimming 15 metres underwater in one breath, treading water without using your hands, a weight belt swim and many more.
After lunch, you spend 3 to 4 more hours in the water, sometimes in the pool, practising the previously mentioned skills. But most of the time, you go to the local lake or ocean conducting 500 to 3,000 metres swims to get the students to swim long distances in open water. Once you pass pre-scuba, you are eligible to go to the CDQC.
Physical Training
The morning physical training might be the hardest PT of your life. After breakfast, you spend 3-4 hours in the pool, of which every minute is physically demanding. After lunch, you do a 1000 to 3000 open water navigation dive. For the last week at the school, you do a night-time open water navigation dive (1000-3,000m). As a result, you get 6-8 hours of high-intensity exercise every day.
Twin 80’s because it holds 80 cubic metres of air. Each of the latter tanks weighs 14 kg, so the rig weighs around 28 kg. You have to carry the twin 80’s everywhere. You do push-ups with them on; you do flutter kicks, etc.
Harassment
If someone in the class makes a mistake, everyone is punished with push-ups or flutter kicks. The rule is that each time someone screws up, everyone has to do several flutter licks decided by the navy instructors that are most of the time miserable.
Sleep
Because you have your evenings and weekends free, the wise person takes advantage of every spare minute to allow his body to rest. You can do 12 hours of sleep every Saturday and Sunday.
Food
The food at the CDQC is very delicious but can depend on the cook. The dining facility is a lifesaver. You can eat as much as you want without any harassment. You must normally stuff in as much food as possible for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also take some food to your room after dinner. You can set your alarm very early in the morning and eat something to have more calories in your body. It is easy for students to get worn out at the CDQC. You get prone to injury, so you must take advantage of every available calorie and every minute of available rest. Sadly, if you get an injury, you will likely be licked out because you cannot meet high standards.
Performance measures
During day 1, you perform a high-performance fitness test, including your pre-scuba skills. Students should pass the one-man competency test. They give you a blacked-out mask so you cannot see anything and have to deal with dozens of equipment malfunctions underwater. The test validates that combat divers do not panic underwater but instead use approved troubleshooting techniques to get their underwater breathing apparatuses functioning again.
During the first day of the CDQC, you have a high-level fitness test, and then you go to the pool, where the instructors systematically test you on all the skills you have mastered during pre-scuba. Suppose you fail to complete one of the skills you are given a re-test. If you fail a second time, you are sent home. By lunch on the first day, the tests for every skill practiced in pre-scuba probably, a thousand times, are tested.
After passing all the training, you are awarded the special forces scuba school badge, which is very prestigious. Not many people in the world can pass this training successfully. Congratulations if you are one of them!