KEY POINTS:
TRAINING PLACE
What: Navy Defence Divers Course
Where: Devonport Navy Base
Contact: Customs ph 0800 4 CUSTOMS or website: www.customs.govt.nz; Navy www.navy.mil.nz or 0800 GO NAVY
Entry requirements: Must already be a Customs officer. A high level of fitness is required. Customs covers the cost of the medicals, which are a pre-requisite for the dive course
Course dates: January, March and September
Starting salary: between $37K-$46K plus dive allowance
Career prospects: You can work in a range of Customs roles - such as airports, trade and marine, or investigations.
Customs divers are selected from the ranks of existing Customs officers. They continue to work as officers but are on call to travel anywhere in the country, diving to check ship hulls for contraband or evidence of stowaways.
Ships are profiled according to their histories and what country they have come from. Some are targeted for searches, while others undergo random searches.
Customs officers wanting to join the dive team undergo a familiarisation period. "We see whether they suit the team and whether the team suits them. Diving is not for everyone," says Auckland-based dive co-ordinator for NZ Customs, Gene Kingi. "The course they do is physically and mentally demanding."
Team newcomers attend the four-week Defence Divers Course, run by the Navy at Devonport, training Customs, Navy, Army and police divers in military diving to a maximum depth of 30 metres.
Fitness is vital. Every morning there is team building PT that increases cardiovascular fitness, which helps negate decompression illness and fatigue.
Topics include dive illness recognition; physics and decompression theory; and compressed air breathing apparatus skills. Trainees are also taught communication under water, ships' hull searches, seabed search in zero visibility conditions, rescue diver drills and endurance swimming.
CUSTOMS DIVER
Simon Robinson (29)
Completed dive course February 07
I'm a Risk Response Officer and a member of the Operational Dive Team, NZ Customs Service. Based in Auckland, we cover the northern ports from Northland to Bay of Plenty.
Risk Response Officers' hours are dependent on what is happening. I could work a standard Monday-Friday, but we have a roster of being "on call" which means we can be at work at any time of the day or night. On average, we dive once a week, but it varies depending on the amount of alerts and profiled vessels that arrive in the country.
To be on the Customs Operational Dive Team, you must pass the Navy Dive Course. I talked to some officers who had completed the course, to find out what to expect. There was a minimum standard of fitness to pass before going on the course, this involved completing the Multi Stage (Beep) Test up to level 9.6, 30 press ups, 30 sit ups, 10 pull ups, and to swim on your back (using only fins) 400m in 8 mins 30 secs. I passed the test, and then trained through the summer for the course in February.
The course was literally non-stop. We covered all aspects of diving along with the rigorous physical training. If you weren't in the water, you were wading through mud, carrying somebody uphill, running somewhere, sit ups, press ups.
The course was intense, physically and mentally draining, so if something happened to go wrong while you were diving, you could carry out emergency drills without hesitation. They tattoo the processes and drills into your brain.
I also learnt that the human body is resilient and that the mind is the weakest link.
Working with a great team who have been through the same course, everybody knows to perform at the highest standard. Because drugs can enter NZ attached to the hull of ships, we have to be mindful that they could be booby trapped, so there is no room for error.
THE EMPLOYER
Gene Kingi
Customs Officer and Dive Co-ordinator, NZ Customs
We prefer people don't have diving experience when they join the team. That way they don't have preconceived undertaking or habits.
Simon showed good initiative, was motivated and could work under pressure. He did the course at the start of February but he has been training with us since October last year.
He was physically fit. That's a good start because, on the course, it's the mental side that you have to get sorted.
Customs divers have to be team players because the team is small..
They have to be self-motivated and mentally and physically fit tough, confident but not overconfident where they would breach the safety outlines. And they must have the ability to cope with stressful situations on their own.
The Navy training requirement helps because we all dive off the same song sheet.
All the work is done on the surface, understanding the techniques. It all helps for a smooth dive.
