Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 visited kindergarten students as part of a pen pal program at Central Elementary School in Maple, North Carolina, March 8.

The visit is the culmination of a six-month friendship between the Sailors and the students who began sending letters and care packages to the Sailors during their deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. During the visit, the divers let students try on the KM-37 diving helmets, speak through the diver recall system, and try on fins and masks to show them what life is like as Navy diver.

"Today was the first time the Sailors and students were able to meet in person," said Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Andros, executive officer of MDSU 2 and coordinator for the program. "Even though they've never actually met before, the students speak and act as if they've known the divers for much longer than one day."

The program was coordinated through Andros and Kathleen Stadler, a kindergarten teacher at Central Elementary School, who has sponsored deployed MDSU or Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) platoons since 2012. The students would send weekly emails and monthly care packages to the platoon. The Sailors would write back and send photos of the class' mascot, a stuffed eagle named George, with them on deployment.

"The students have been looking forward to this day for quite some time," said Stadler. "For the past six months they've seen photos of the Sailors on deployment doing things with George like diving and flying in helicopters, and it really gave them a chance to learn about the service and sacrifice our military members make when they go on deployment. Because of that, they look up to these Sailors as if they were superheroes."

MDSU 2 is the only east coast-based mobile diving and salvage unit and is headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

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