Sereď-based divers trained search ops at Lake Black Water

Members of the Reconnaissance Diving Section, Sereď-based Engineer Battalion, were undergoing training in a former dredging lake, called Black Water, preparing for a training exercise to test the swimming capabilities of combat vehicles and the deep water fording capabilities of tanks at the Lešť Training Centre later in May. The first group of divers used a skirmish line formation to search for underwater objects. With the water temperature at 3 degrees Celsius, the divers were tasked with clearing a distance of 400 m. The mission was accomplished in about 80 minutes. Before the diving ops at Lake Black Water, which is 40 m deep at its deepest point, they had undertaken numerous preparatory assignments. “We began training in a swimming pool. There, we practised executing today’s mission. Then, gradually, we made the conditions even more difficult. Our divers would conduct the ops with their diving masks blindfolded, while using just hands. It was an excellent preparatory training for the search ops at Lake Black Water,” explained SSgt Ščepko, Reconnaissance Diving Section Leader.