Salvage diving portion of Korea’s exercise Foal Eagle concludes

U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy diving and salvage experts on March 30 wrapped up nearly two weeks of salvage training as part of the broader bilateral exercise Foal Eagle.

SALVEX, short for salvage exercise, began on March 21 and featured joint diving and salvage operations, both in-port and at-sea.

During the underway phase, U.S Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1 embarked on the salvage ship ROKS Tong Yeong (ATS 31) alongside their Korean Navy counterparts, a first for this annual exercise.

The training focused on combined diving and salvage operations and subject matter expert exchanges. Divers from both navies also operated together under complex, realistic training scenarios in waters near the Korean peninsula.

“SALVEX enables our divers to become familiar with each other’s equipment and capabilities; making it easier for us to work together in the future if a real world contingency operation were to happen,” said Master Chief (Master) Diver Joshua Dumke.

SALVEX 2017 marks the year of the bilateral SALVEX, dating back to 1985.

The 33rd edition of SALVEX Korea 2017 is part of exercise Foal Eagle, an umbrella of regularly-scheduled, annual exercises that are the culmination of months of planning and based on realistic training scenarios. The naval portion of the Foal Eagle exercises take place in international waters around South Korea.