KURE BEACH, N.C. — On Thursday, visitors at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher got a chance to see a branch of military that civilians typically don’t have an opportunity to see. Why? Because it’s underwater.
U.S. Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal technicians made a special visit to the aquarium to showcase their work and equipment, and hopefully inspire a next generation of divers.
These divers conduct missions in shallow coral reefs, the deepest ocean depths and the coldest seas.
Chief diver Kyle Weiss says his life changed when he had one simple conversation.
“He asked me, he goes, ‘What do you know about being a Navy diver?’ and I said, ‘A Navy what?’ And he goes, ‘Diver!’” Weiss said. “And so he showed me a promo video and here I am!”
He’s been diving with the Navy for 16 years and says it’s been an incredibly rewarding career. When your office is the ocean, you get to see some pretty interesting things — from submarines to sea creatures and everything in between, every mission brings a new adventure.
“Diving off of the shelf in the Bahamas, that was really cool,” Weiss said. “So it went from 80 feet to like 5,000 — that was kind of an eerie feeling as we walked out on that one.”
As a diver with the Navy, Weiss does a variety of missions, including search and rescue operations, underwater repairs and waterway projects.
“If it’s in the air and then it hits the water and then we have to go get it, that’s one of the big things that we do, harbor clearance. If it sinks we’re gonna go try to get it, evidence recovery,” Weiss said. “Really it depends — we do a lot of support.”
But at the aquarium, his mission is to inspire.
“We are raising awareness of what it is to be in the U.S. Navy and hopefully inspiring some people to want to come do what we do,” Weiss said.
He and other Navy divers are showing off their skills and equipment while educating the public on what it means to be a diver. Weiss is hoping to make an impact on kids so that one day, they might want to serve their country as a diver too.
“We want ‘em to look at us and go, wow look at that, and we want them to remember that and go, wow, I remember that guy who got to dive in the tank and go, hey yeah, we get to do that in real life as well,” Weiss said. “So that’s hopefully trying to inspire people is really what we’re trying to do.”
The visit is part of Navy Week in Wilmington. The week will continue through Sunday with museum visits, Navy band concerts and home builds. You can view the full schedule of events here.
If you would like to learn more about Navy divers, click here.
If you would like to buy tickets to the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, click here.