Today we are looking at the US Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School (SFUWO), AKA “dive school.”   US Army Special Forces have been carrying out maritime and underwater operations for their entire existence.

Army SF birthed the first true Special Operations Combat Divers in the early ’50s, way before those newcomer Navy SEALs. They carried out underwater demolition operations, underwater infiltration and even mastered submarine lockout procedures.

Currently, each company in a Special Forces Group has a 12-man Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) trained in SFUWO, with their designated primary means of insertion being underwater.

A soldier jumps out of a raft.
Why anyone would ever jump out of a perfectly good raft, I’ll never know. And with sunglasses on, no less. This particular photo is of a soldier attending the Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course. My guess is that the water here is less than waist deep, or he’d lose those shades and possibly get a face full of his weapon entering the water that way. Photo by Robert Lindee, June 7, 2018

Inside the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course