Prime Minister Boris Johnson has visited the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG) at the Defence Diving School, Horsea Island this week (2nd August 2022).
During the visit he was briefed on the current activities of the Royal Navy’s Mine Clearance Diver specialisation and also given a capability demonstration.
The Defence Diving School is a Joint Service Training Establishment providing military diving training to both Royal Navy and Army personnel.
All Navy clearance divers and Army divers carry out their basic training at the school’s headquarters on Horsea Island on the north shore of Portsmouth Harbour.
The facilities are first class and include a 1,000m (1km) salt water lake, a 5m diving tank, recompression chambers, surface and underwater engineering facilities, classrooms, conference rooms, catering facilities and a specialist diving clothing store.
Royal Navy divers were rebranded and rebrigaded to form new small, elite mission teams earlier this year, able to deal with the latest threats, in the biggest shake-up since 1996.
Operating under their new banner of the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG) – which replaces the long-standing Fleet Diving Squadron – the expert frogmen/bomb disposal experts are more agile, while using the latest tech, in order to keep the Navy’s fleet and the public safe, globally.
Based in Portsmouth, Plymouth and Faslane, Royal Navy Divers can be called to a range of tasks, including explosive disposal of historic ordnance and the rendering safe of improvised explosive devices around the UK as well as clearing sea mines in the world’s seas and oceans and deterring terrorists across the globe.
They are also capable of carrying out emergency underwater maintenance on warships including the Queen Elizabeth-Class carriers and delivering discreet special operations.
The recent changes have enabled these elite diving teams to be able to carry out more missions while also continuing training with NATO and other allies on global exercises.
This year they will deploy to the United States, France, Norway and Iceland as well as continue their presence in the Middle East alongside partner nations and deployed ships, such as Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose, minehunters Middleton, Bangor, Chiddingfold and Penzance and RFA support ship Lyme Bay.
Commander Sean Heaton, commanding officer of the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group, said:
“This once-in-a-generation transformation has enabled the Royal Navy’s Clearance Divers to be the most agile, lethal and technically advanced they have ever been.
“Capable of locating, exploiting, and disposing of threats to the Royal Navy and the UK’s interests, all while remaining ready to conduct emergency underwater maintenance to our ships and submarines.”
For the members of the elite squadrons, it is an exciting time with the changes also embracing use of new technology and opportunities.
Lieutenant Commander Tom Forbes, of Echo Squadron (DTXG’s explosive exploitation experts), said:
“For my unit this transformation means we can focus our attention on becoming experts in the field of maritime exploitation of conventional and improvised explosive devises and munitions – a capability that doesn’t exist anywhere else across UK defence.
“It will give us great flexibility to explore new exercises in countries we haven’t worked in before.
“It’s a really exciting time for us to develop new skills and evolve the way we contribute to future operations.”
Able Seaman (Diver) Ian Sanderson deployed last year with HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group. With the return of a carrier-led Royal Navy and the change of the diving squadron, divers will now have the opportunity to routinely embark on the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers. AB Sanderson, of Delta Squadron said:
“This new way of working means we aren’t remaining static and we’re moving with the times.
“My unit started evolving last year but it’s good to see the second phase coming into play now and the new opportunities that come with that.
“We are expanding on what we can currently do, while looking at the future roles we can play within the fleet. With the navy undergoing changes, it’s important we remain relevant and this transformation shows we can have significant impact.”
Chief Petty Officer Carl Thomas, of Alpha Squadron (DTXG’s special operations squadron) added:
“This is the biggest and most exciting transformation period for the diving squadron in a generation.
“The Diving & Threat Exploitation Group continues to evolve and move with the times. We recognise and embrace modern, innovative technology such as autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles (known as AUVs and ROVs) to deliver operations and enhance training.”
Pictures by Kyle Heller / No 10 Downing Street
Photos licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
Source: Royal Navy
So pleased you are continuing to do a grand job. We need you as our PRIME MINISTER. Ashamed of the tory traitors . They handed the next election to labour, what a nightmare that will be.
Boris Johnson for Prime Minister. Boris should be staying and the 60 backstabbing MPs should be leaving with the outdated 1922 committee members!