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Navy NEC · Engineering

839A Submarine SCUBA Diver

Current service use not established

This code is listed in the directory. Inclusion alone does not confirm current service use.

A Navy Enlisted Classification: a skill designation sailors hold in addition to their rating.

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Overview

A submarine SCUBA diver conducts daytime and general underwater searches, detailed ship bottom searches, and routine inspections to depths of 60 feet. The diver serves as a safety swimmer, maintains and adjusts SCUBA equipment and underwater accessories, and recognizes decompression sickness and diving accidents.

Core Skills

  • Ship-bottom searches and inspections to 60 feet
  • Underwater navigation using compasses and depth indicators
  • SCUBA equipment adjustment and field maintenance
  • Decompression sickness and diving accident recognition

Civilian Career Paths

Career associations are editorial assessments of the cited evidence, not an official crosswalk unless the evidence explicitly says so. O*NET supplies civilian occupation information, not proof of a military match. Related experience does not confer civilian qualifications. Tasks and tools below describe civilian work, not military training.

Commercial Divers

Underwater searches, ship-bottom inspections, SCUBA equipment maintenance, and diving accident recognition transfer directly to commercial diving work.

How to prepare: Ask a prospective diving employer to assess your existing qualifications, military training records, and documented dives against the intended assignments before selecting gap training. For work covered by OSHA's commercial diving standard, team members need task-relevant experience or training, CPR and first aid training, and diving physics and physiology training when exposed to or controlling hyperbaric exposure; assignments must reflect their experience or training.

What the civilian work involves
  • Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
  • Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
  • Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Diving logbook software
  • Diving table software

Notes & Sources

  • If pursuing ADCI certification, its Entry Level classification requires 625 documented hours of formal instruction under ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 or a recognized equivalent; have existing military instruction assessed for equivalency rather than assuming it must be repeated.
  • Within ADCI's framework, Air Diver requires at least 100 field days and 30 working dives as an Air Diver, and only surface-supplied dives count toward its dive requirements. SCUBA experience alone does not meet that requirement; ADCI classifications are not a universal government license.
Evidence for this guidance (4 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol II (NEOCS, Jul 2026 edition): NEC 839A

    [1] NEC entry "839A - Submarine SCUBA Diver"; cached text line 21939; NAVPERS 18068F Vol II, 2026-07 edition

    Supports: Ship-bottom searches and inspections to 60 feet, Underwater navigation using compasses and depth indicators, SCUBA equipment adjustment and field maintenance, Decompression sickness and diving accident recognition, Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  2. O*NET: Commercial Divers

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  3. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.410: Qualifications of dive team

    [3] Commercial Diving Operations, paragraphs (a) and (b). Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  4. ADCI: Commercial diver classification requirements

    [4] Entry Level and Air Diver card classifications. ADCI framework, not a universal government license. Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 839A

Descriptions may be summarized for clarity. Verify all information with your branch career counselor or official military documentation before making career decisions.

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