FO/UWSS History

The first reunion of UWSS was held in Key West in May 1998. Neal (Pappy) Hewett and Mike Driscoll contacted as many of the former staff and students as they could locate and made all the arrangements. At the Key West reunion it was decided to meet again in two years. Erasmo Riojas (Doc Rio) volunteered to arrange the next reunion in Panama City. Rio sent out periodic notices to keep us informed and enlisted help from members in Panama City.

1998 Key West Reunion

At the YK2 reunion in Panama City, May 2000 the Fraternal Order of Underwater Swimmers School was formed. The first officers were President: Don Stone, Vice Pres: Andy Anderson, Sec/Treas: A. Dee Clark. Don and Art Stone volunteered to publish a quarterly newsletter to be called the Buddy Line. Dues were set at $25.00 bi-annually.

  Andy

A. Dee

Don

2000 Panama City Reunion

Reunion 2002, held at Little Creek, Virginia, was set up by Don Stone and A. Dee Clark. They were assisted by the onsite help of Bob Clark and Bob Rieve, whose experience and base connections helped us have a great reunion. Thanks to Berny Diggs getting reunion notices in numerous publications and Chris Seger mustering up a number of his UWSS 1961 classmates, we had 70 attendees! Don Stone was reelected president and  Chris Segar became vice president. A. Dee Clark continued in his four year term as treasurer. Erasmo Riojas was named historian.

2002 Little Creek Reunion

Segar’s Class of ‘61

Reunion 2004, Coronado California, got off to a great start with “Lunch with the Shark” at Consolidated Divers Unit. and a tour of CDU. The group enjoyed seeing both the historic displays and the modern equipment.

The icebreaker Friday evening, the business  meeting Saturday morning, and the banquet Satuday evening were held in the Amphibious Room at Club Coronado. Banquet speakers were Jim Tucker, UWSS plankowner, Mark Hoffer, UWSS medical officer,  and Linda Hubbell, first female Navy diving officer. A highlight of the reunion was a visit to Navy Special Warfare Group 3 on Saturday. An outstanding presentation by Cmd Rick May was followed by a tour of the boats.

At the business meeting A.Dee Clark was elected Vice President,  Roger Lynch,  Secretary/Treasurer and Don Stone, President. Key West, Florida was chosen as the location of the 2006 reunion

Reunion 2006, Key West, Florida, took us “Back to Our Roots”. We welcomed a number of new members from Army, Air Force and Marines. Total membership has reached 204. We had a great tour at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School on Fleming Key with a presentation from Maj. William Herbert. FO/UWSS member, Earle Petty, one of the first group of instructors at the school, was invited to sign the old timers wall.

Muster at the Sunset Lounge featured .... the sunset, of course. Cameras were busy!

At the business meeting Don Stone was reelected president, Bob Holmes was elected vice president and Roger Lynch continued his term as secretary/treasurer. To avoid conflict with EOD reunions, it was decided to hold FO/UWSS reunions on odd numbered years instead of even number years. The members unanimously decided on a return to Key West in 2007. Our featured speaker at the banquet was Clell Breining, Force Master Chief of Navy Special Warfare. The group photo shows as many as we could round up at one time.

Reunion 2007, our sixth reunion, held May 10-13 in Key West, Florida, got off to a great start with the Icebreaker in the Flying Conch Lounge. The Diving History Museum in Islamorada was very trusting and loaned us some valuable old diving rigs that included a Navy Mk5 hard hat and a Miller-Dunn hat and pump. The old rigs and the FO/UWSS archives were displayed at the icebreaker and the banquet.

The snorkel trip on Friday was underway by 0900 with a full boat of snorkelers and riders. The weather was ideal and the waters calm and clear. The visit to Sand Key Lighthouse revealed that very little live coral is left, but there were many beautifulfish to enjoy.

That evening we mustered at Sunset Lounge for a Cuban style meal and sea stories.

At the business meeting Saturday morning new officers were elected: President, Bob Holmes, Vice President, Gerry Flowers, Secretary/Treasurer, Don Stone. Committee chairmen for the 2009 reunion in Panama City are Woody Woodward and Bill Garnett. They will be assisted by Aaron Farrior, Bernie Campoli and others from the Panama City area.

Aaron Farrior, Gerry Flowers, Rudy Boesch, Bob Holmes, Don Stone

The banquet was started off with a group photo taken by Bernie Campoli. After dinner we were entertained by three speakers. Bob Shouse told about his career in early UDT; Rudy Enders told about his memories of Key West; and Gerry Flowers spoke about Moore’s Marauders. 

 Bob Shouse

Rudy Enders

Gerry Flowers

The 2009 reunion of FO/UWSS, held the 14th to 17th of May at Naval Support Activity, Panama City Beach, was our biggest event ever. The reunion committee and the MWR staff of NSA went all out to provide an exceptional reunion for 165 members and guests.

Thursday’s ice breaker got the reunion off to a good start as members enjoyed the bayside deck.

Friday’s tours included the Dive School and the NSA and EOD Dive Lockers.

Friday night’s Fish Fry at the Marina Pavilions concluded with a very successful fundraising auction. Items donated for the auction were three glass logo discs handcrafted by Margaret Grady, and memorabilia from Rudy Boesch.

Breakfast at the general mess Saturday morning was followed by the business meeting and a special program for the ladies with speaker Dr. John Savage. At the business meeting the current officers were reelected, full membership was opened up to all military trained divers, and Branson was selected as the site of the 2011 reunion.

The banquet started with a program, MC’d by Doc Clark, that included a flag folding ceremony and an explanation of the symbols of the MIA White Table. The speakers were Cmdr Tim Richardt, CO of the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center, and Capt Norm Olson, USN (SEAL) Ret.

Kudos and thanks go to the reunion committee, headed up by Woody Woodward. He was assisted by Sue Ellen Woodward, Bill and Sammie Garnett, Clay and Margaret Grady,l Gary and Nancy Wilson, and Bob Barth. Their hard work and attention to details provided an outstanding experience for reunion attendees.
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