Exercise ‘Tartan Maltese’ was a sub aqua adventurous training expedition that took place from 15 – 24 August 2013 on the small island of Gozo off the coast of Malta. The expedition comprised an intensive week of shore and boat diving with up to 3 dives per person per day. The aim of this expedition was to give UGSAS students training in accordance with the BSAC training syllabus, to build experience and further develop their knowledge as divers as well as their skills and proficiency in dive planning, organisation and management. It also allowed the UGSAS students to improve their diving and dive leading through experiencing a wide range of adventurous, challenging diving activities and conditions in unfamiliar locations.
UGSAS personnel travelled with the majority of dive equipment from Glasgow Prestwick Airport to Malta, meeting the following day with the instructors who arrived from London Gatwick Airport. Once in Malta, transport around Gozo for daily duties took the form of 4 hired off road vehicles. All expedition members were accommodated in self catered apartments in Marsalforn, the ideal base location offering access to a vast range of dive sites of all natures and difficulties. This allowed for a learning curve to suit all of the expedition members’ abilities.
Under expert supervision the initial dive phase conducted over the first days saw all divers of all levels and experience immersed in shallow sheltered water. The aim here was to demonstrate the basic signalling skills along with mask recovery and loss of air supply or injury, allowing the students to put what they had learned in pool training prior to travelling into action. This phase also encouraged the new divers to get into a dive routine that encompassed all the planning and safety aspects of the dive whilst also looking out for others. Whilst a challenging time for the students, who under pressure were required to carry out a large number of unfamiliar tasks. In this phase the students communication and organisational skills were put to the test, and they had to show a high level of responsibility in order to progress.
The next phase of the expedition involved moving into more open water and the students were now exposed to a wide array of marine life as well as underwater caves and steep coastal shelves. This stage began to develop self reliance, and while still monitored by the diving instructors, the emphasis was now on self supervision. At this stage the expedition also progressed from the 5m depth that had been used previously to 15m bringing its own challenges in terms of safety and awareness. Many of the students were now working at high intensity, as whilst still mastering the basics of buoyancy control and underwater navigation, mistakes at this depth could prove dangerous with decompression sickness now a threat. This however brought forward a strong team spirit with all group members pulling together and developed communication and organisational skills, as the students were now learning, the importance of organising the dive well prior to submerging was key in it’s success.
The final two days of the expedition saw all members of the group attain the BSAC Ocean Diver qualification. This allowed everyone to now dive alone in pairs together to a depth of 20m whilst supervised from the surface. This was a demonstration of the development that had taken place in the few short days since arriving in Malta. This also coincided with the opportunity to dive wrecks and caves from a chartered boat, introducing new challenges and considerations. By this stage all students were competent to a level where they would be planning and conducting all personal safety and navigation aspects of the dive and briefing the surface supervisor accordingly.
In summary the expedition was an opportunity to teach the selected students how to dive and all achieved the qualification of Ocean Diver. In the process however the students gained a better awareness of leadership, discipline and self reliance along with the importance of teamwork and effective communication essential in the maintenance of a safe dive. All of these skills will be invaluable in their future careers be it within the Royal Air Force or otherwise.
On behalf of all expedition members and the University of Glasgow and Strathclyde Air Squadron, I offer my thanks to the Ulysses Trust in aiding in this opportunity.
Flight Lieutenant Glen Malaney, Expedition Leader
