Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) divers assisted Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Helena (SSN 725) and Virginia-class attack submarine USS John Warner (SSN 785) collateral duty divers in repairing dive equipment inside MARMC's Helmet and Dress, Aug. 10.

Helena Sailors came to MARMC to rebuild first and second stage regulators, while John Warner Sailors used MARMC's facilities to perform visual inspections on their scuba tanks.

"The first stage regulator regulates bottle pressure -- it takes high pressure and reduces it down to low pressure, so by the time you get to the second stage its breathable air," said MARMC Navy Diver 3rd Class Joshua Correa. "You aren't getting 3,000 pounds per square inch; you are getting a much more reduced pressure, so the divers can breathe off of it comfortably."

Regulators have to be checked every 24 months.

"We have to break into the regulators, swap out all the soft goods that go in there, clean, reassemble, and perform an operational test to make sure that everything we just put inside works perfectly and is safe for the divers to breathe off of when they're done," said Correa.

MARMC divers provided oversight and knowledge for Helena and John Warner divers during their visit, as submariners don't have the facilities MARMC divers utilize.

"We provide subject matter expert advice," said Correa. "Any questions that they have or tools they need, we are here to help. They bring the equipment, and we bring the knowledge and the tools and anything they don't have to assist them in putting everything back together safely to maintain operational readiness."

Ship's force divers, when in Norfolk, visit MARMC's Helmet and Dress regularly to charge scuba cylinders, receive assistance in repairs or ask questions about their equipment.

"We need to have all of our diving equipment ready to go for deployment," said Fire Control Technician 2nd Class Josh Knaak, assigned to Helena. "We are also going through an inspection soon, so all of our equipment has to be up to date."

This was the first time Helena divers had to rebuild their regulators because these Sailors serve collateral duty -- diving is only a small part of what they do when out at sea.

"It's not something we've spent a lot of time on, so a lot of times we need outside support from MARMC divers to facilitate us breaking away from our normal day-to-day jobs and focusing on the dive portion of our jobs," said Knaak. "We don't dive on the same level as MARMC divers do. We are only scuba divers, so this is the only portion of diving we deal with and we don't dive very often."

When overseas, Helena cannot take Navy divers with them. Ship's force divers have to perform their own maintenance. If anything happens while they are on a mission, they have to stop and do things like untangle the screw from fishing line, as well as perform hull inspections.

"Whenever we have questions or need to perform some maintenance, we'll come down here (to MARMC) and talk to these guys," said Knaak. "They are always willing to support in helping us jam our tanks and do maintenance."

According to Correa, MARMC divers are always willing to share their knowledge and if they cannot answer a question from a ship's force diver, the information is readily accessible and they will provide the answer in a timely fashion.

Helena is scheduled to deploy in the fall.

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