I have just uploaded a new webpage ‘Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diving Teams‘ under the main page ‘Australian Elite and Special Forces‘

What does the new page tell us?

• What is clearance diving.
• A brief history.
• The role of clearance divers.
• Women and clearance divers.
• Outline and organisation of the clearance diving branch.
• Entry standards and applications.
• Outline of clearance diver training (the bit most people are after).
• Miscellaneous, such as: pay and allowances; return of service; rank structure; useful links, books; and documentaries.

There is debate as to whether the RANs clearance divers are special forces, I will leave it to the Royal Australian Navy to explain, as described in the Australian Maritime Doctrine published in 2010 (p.153):

“Navy clearance divers are the human face of undersea warfare. As the RAN’s own elite special forces they undertake minewarfare, reconnaissance, salvage and covert operations.”