A dozen U.S. Naval Academy and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) midshipmen visited Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 as part of their summer cruise on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, July 6.

The summer cruise is a mandatory phase of pre-commissioning training for prospective Navy and Marine Corps officers. During this evolution, midshipmen are attached to various ships, aircraft squadrons, or shore-based commands.

"These guys are here today to get an overview of how a mobile diving and salvage (MDS) company operates," said Lt. Matthew Cowan, assigned to MDSU 2 MDS Co. 2-3. "We discussed life as an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officer, how it fits into running a dive company, and their role in this community."

The midshipmen were shown a variety of diving equipment such as the KM-37 diving helmet and tools used during dive and salvage operations such as the Seabotix remote operated vehicle (ROV) and the Mk18 Mod. 2 unmanned underwater vehicle. The midshipmen were given the opportunity to drive a Seabotix ROV and view an anti-terrorism force-protection dive training evolution.

"Since this is one of the smallest communities that commissions line officers, there's a very limited amount of exposure in the ROTC world outside of the academy," said Midshipman John Buckland. "Because of that, it's especially important to get a hands-on look at what it takes to be an officer in this community."

The midshipmen are in their second week of their summer cruise after spending one week at Fort Pickett with EOD Training and Evaluation Unit 2, conducting team-building exercises and expeditionary skills training.

MDSU 2 provides combat ready, expeditionary, rapidly deployable mobile diving and salvage companies to conduct harbor clearance, salvage, underwater search and recovery, and underwater emergency repairs in any environment. MDSU 2 is the only East Coast-based mobile diving and salvage unit and is headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

For more news from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2, visit www.navy.mil/.