Master Diver Fernando Lugo discusses how his life changed after joining the military and attending Navy boot camp in San Diego, California. Fernando enlisted as a Machinist Mate, unaware of the undersea journey that awaited him in the future. MDV Lugo's career, Deep-Sea Stories, is about him and the Deep-Sea Divers he served with, pioneering a Navy Dive capability that contributed to the end of the Cold War.
These riveting Deep-Sea Stories center around MDV Lugo's time on the Navy's Sea Lab III project. He discusses how he and his experimental dive team contributed to the development of deep-dive decompression tables and schedules, as well as the engineering of dive system valve placement to maximize human dive system operational performance. A few of his team members that he mentions are Don Risk, P. A. Wells, Bob Barth, Jay Meyer, Jack Smith, Billy Kaughman, Pete Rugdon, Frank Reando, and Berry Cannon.
Fernando gives great credit to his parents, who instilled into him a strong work ethic that he needed to endure his challenging career. "I never thought of myself as a pioneer in saturation diving. We wanted to prove that it could work," stated Master Diver Lugo, paving the way for the future of Navy Saturation Diving. Read more about Master Diver Fernando Lugo and his dive team aquanauts in a myriad of publications, including Sea Lab III: A Divers Story by author Kevin Hardy.

Deep-Sea Stories podcasts are available on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, and Spotify.

Master Diver Milford Buzbee, also known as "Buzz," began serving his country in the Army from the ages of 15 to 19. Like many other young men who wanted to serve in the military, Milford lied about his age to enter military service. Milford was a welder in the Army. The attack on Pearl Harbor drove Milford to join the Navy in 1942. He retired from the Navy in 1961.
Son, Lewis Buzbee, collected photos and artifacts and documented recollections of his father's Navy Diving career in his published book, "Diver," by Lewis Buzbee. Lewis said Master Diver Milford Buzbee attended boot camp and dive school in San Diego, California, followed by Seabee school in Oxnard, California. After Seabee school, Milford was sent to Naval Base Espiritu Santo in the South Pacific Ocean. Master Diver Buzbee's other commands were Deep-Sea Diving School in Manhattan, New York; Navy Base Norfolk, Virginia, where he deployed to conduct harbor clearance missions in the Mediterranean; Bayonne, New Jersey, where he was selected to Master Diver; and Key West, Florida where he retired from the Navy. Milford worked on off-shore oil rigs and for General Electric after he retired from the Navy. Son Lewis recalls his dad Milford taking him on a tour of Sea Lab II docked at Hunter Point, California. Lewis was with his dad when they met astronaut Scott Carpenter. Lieutenant Dole, a submarine officer, was the only name Lewis remembered. His dad was a good friend in the Navy. "My dad had a passion for Navy Diving. I don't think he was the same person after he retired from Navy Diving." said son Lewis Buzbee.

Deep-Sea Stories podcasts are available on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, and Spotify.

HMC DMT/Independent Duty Corpsman Len Starbeck joined the Navy in 1977 and retired in 2005. You can read about his incredible Navy journey in his self-published book "Medical Diver, What is a Medical Diver?" Len has a potential television mini-series in the works. Len served 24 of 28 years of active duty as a medical diver. Len vividly describes his journey, saying they are awash in extraordinary adventures that await future medical divers. He speaks of the inherent dangers involved in diving and the detailed intricacies of diving medicine, physiology, and hyperbaric medicine that embraces the role of a medical diver and in training his fellow divers. Doc Starbeck served deployed with the Marines. The duty stations he mentions are Puerto Rico, Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida for 1C and Dive Medical Technician school, Joint Task Force Central Identification Laboratory Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, USS Edenton ATS-1, Harbor Clearance Unit One San Diego, California, Underwater Construction Team One Port Hueneme, California, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3.
Doc Starbeck recalled these Sailors he served with who were influential in his successful Navy career, Navy Officer Lou Marinocci, HMC Pedro Gonzales, MDV Rafael Hernandez, MDV Bud Killbury, MDV Marty Harholser, MDV Jim Phalin, DMO Jed Morrison, MDV Mike Washington, Craig Buttons, and Kevin Wells.

Deep-Sea Stories podcasts are available on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, and Spotify.