178 



AQUANAUT TRAINING 



Fig. 77. Diver wearing Mk-VI 

 semiclosed breathing apparatus 

 showing gas bottles and COj ab- 

 sorbent canister 



Fig. 78. Diver wearing Mk-VI 

 semiclosed breathing apparatus 

 showing inhalation and exhalation 

 bags 



Sealab, and became busily engaged in learning her functions — valving procedures, mechanisms, 

 etc. —and idiosyncrasies. Under the critical eyes of this crew, and those of Captain Walt 

 Mazzone of the Submarine Medical Center and Joe Berkich of the Naval Ordnance Test Station 

 (NOTS), many design changes were proposed and incorporated. Serious deficiencies in the de- 

 sign and fabrication of both decompression chambers, which could have caused the loss of the 

 entire crew of ten men, were uncovered and corrected. Testing procedures had to be devised, 

 and operating instructions had to be drawn up, all by trial and error, before training in the 

 proper use of the PTC and DDC could be conducted. Throughout this period, much time was 

 spent doing the labor required to get our home ready for the sea floor. The time might have 

 been spent better in study of procedures, blueprints, system operation, and continued on-site 

 deep-water exposure with the Mk-VI. This, however, would have required more men, more 

 time, and, of course, more money than we were allotted. 



Throughout this four-month training period, each day was started with 30 to 40 minutes of 

 compulsory physical training in the form of running and calisthenics. 



The training schedule and a breakdown of the Mk-VI portion of the schedule are shown in 

 Tables 4 and 5, respectively. 



