Working underwater | PO 1 Rebecca O’Keefe
Video / August 21, 2024
Transcript
My favourite thing about diving is the peacefulness of it and being able to go underwater.
The outside noise of the world no longer there and you can continue just doing your work.
It's extremely peaceful, but gives you a lot of adrenaline at the same time.
I was in university and I was playing volleyball.
A teammate of mine was thinking about joining the military and the reserves, so I decided to join and go to boot camp that summer and was able to continue playing a sport that I grew up playing through the regional, national and CISM level, which is an international opportunity to play against other military teams.
So the story of the photo behind me is when we were at Operation NANOOK. All five female divers that are in that photo are from HMCS Queen Charlotte in Prince Edward Island.
We all joined roughly around the same time in the reserves, so we all kind of travelled as a pack to Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) and were employed here for several years together.
My most memorable experience in the CAF is participating in Exercise TRADEWINDS, where we partner with Caribbean nations and teach them new diving techniques.
In 2022 we went to Belize, and then a few years before that we went to Saint Kitts and to Belize again.
Absolutely, It's different working with other nations as you learn about their culture and how they do things.
I'm Petty Officer Rebecca O'Keefe and I'm a Port Inspection Diver.