U.S. Navy divers and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department Dive Squad exchanged best practices during a training exercise June 7.

This was the second interaction between Navy Special Warfare community Sailors and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office during Navy Week Syracuse.

"These trainings give us an idea of what is working for us and not working for us," said Matthew Cary, a full time patrolman and part time diver with the sheriff's office. "It was good to see how different units use different equipment, and it was awesome just to have a chance to hop in the water with those guys."

During the exercise, Navy divers demonstrated a SeaBotix Remotely Operated Vehicle -- a tethered underwater mobile device -- and a towable sonar array. These tools allow Navy divers to make a positive identification on submerged items they have an interest in diving for or recovering. Immediately following the demonstration, Navy divers and members of the sheriff's office dive squad hit the water to recover a mannequin.

"The Navy benefits from [having] trainings like this because many people in the public don't have the know that we have the capability and the experience to conduct dives like this," said Navy Diver 1st Class Robert Johnson. "By conducting these trainings we raise the public's awareness about our mission and have the opportunity to share knowledge with other dive teams. It's really nice to travel to new places, meet great people and make our team and their team better."

Navy divers will continue to educate the public on their role in the Navy's mission during events scheduled throughout the week.

Navy Weeks are events held throughout the United States to help raise public awareness of the Navy in areas that are not typically exposed to a large naval presence.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more information on Syracuse Navy Week and a full schedule visit http://www.syracuse.com/.

For more news from Navy Recruiting District Pittsburgh, visit http://www.navy.mil/.