MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - The fate of hundreds of Navy, Army and Air Force divers rests in the hands of Jay Young.
The Mitchell native and the entire Navy Experimental Diving Unit, which he commands, are responsible for conducting tests on the diving equipment used throughout all branches of the Armed Forces.
Promoted to the gig in December, Young is settling in following his first few months in his new position with the diving unit - referred to as NEDU.
As commander, Young draws from his South Dakota ties that have helped shaped him as a person.
“But being from South Dakota, that’s where I established my work ethic and my character, and I used that work ethic and character throughout my career in Navy, and I still use it often here in my job as commander at NEDU,” he told The Daily Republic (https://bit.ly/2r4tZvi ).
Serving in the Navy was a longtime dream of Young’s. Born and raised in Mitchell, he graduated from high school in 1994. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998.
Young spent two years as a surface warfare officer with Navy destroyers before being transferred to the Navy’s engineering and diving community. He attended dive school in 2005, and became certified in air and mixed gas diving on several pieces of equipment. He’s continued his career in the engineering and diving world the last 12 years.
Being from landlocked South Dakota, becoming a part of the naval warfare branch was a different way of life.
“It was an eye-opener, and I got to experience the Naval Academy, and everything the Navy has to offer, and it has been fantastic - and a big change from South Dakota,” Young said.
The NEDU, established in 1927 and based in Panama City Beach, Florida, conducts manned and unmanned biomedical research development tests and evaluations of all equipment used by divers in the Navy, Army, Air Force, Department of Defense and Coast Guard.
“Whether they’re Navy divers, Army divers, Navy Seals or Navy explosive ordnance technicians, they’re using undersea hyperbaric equipment,” Young said. “We have to make sure it’s safe.”
They unit also conducts physiological research and development, meaning how the human body responds to situations such as a change in hyperbarics, temperature, breathing gasses or decompression plans, Young said.
“The U.S. Navy does not dive and dive safely without the work we do at NEDU to make sure their equipment they’re using and the procedures they’re using are the standard to keep the divers safe,” he said. “Without us, the Navy doesn’t have any certified diving systems for any of the underwater operators.”
Young said many of the divers are putting their lives on the line.
“The most important piece of NEDU is our people,” Young said. “They come to work every day and work in an extremely demanding environment, that’s often dangerous, and they do so very professionally, and very safely. They are always committed to each other, committed to teamwork and committed to communication within our groups here. It all comes together with trust.”
Young, whose parents live in Mitchell, makes it back to South Dakota about once a year. With a wife and two kids and a full-time job as commander, life can be pretty busy for the 41-year-old. But he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“It’s a fantastic job, and I get to work with some of the best Navy and government civilian personnel,” he said. “These are folks who day in and day out not only put their lives on their line for some of these tests, they are extremely hard-working individuals,” Young said. “They come to work and do their jobs so the war fighters, who are out on the front line, can operate safely and they have the equipment and procedures to make sure those warfighters always have the advantage. That’s what we’re here for.”
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Information from: The Daily Republic, https://www.mitchellrepublic.com
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