WHO ARE WE?
The Defender Performance Diver Training Team
PH
ABOUT
PH is a former UK military, Diving Supervisor and Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Operator and has delivered an extensive list of rebreather and Tactical Diving Vehicle (TDV) training packages over the last two-decades.
Upon leaving the military, PH worked for Divex (now JFD), the world’s largest manufacturer of professional diving equipment and was the original designer of the Shadow rebreather that went on to become one of the world’s most operationally successful tactical diving life support systems. As a consequence, for over two decades PH has remained at the forefront of defence underwater life support systems development, design, test and training. This work also includes test diving and supervision of manned free flooding TDVs and the authoring of various underwater rebreather technical studies on behalf of the UK Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
Diving HISTORY & EXPERIENCE
As a maritime specialist, PH has been the Diving Officer for a number of companies and developed corporate diving procedures and governance policy in accordance with UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Diving at Work Regulations (DWR). Active in the media diving industry, holding a Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) Ships Master Certificate of Competence for vessels up to 200 tons, PH provides media diving supervision and marine safety management. This includes escorting film production companies on diving expeditions to remote and challenging locations worldwide and as a former Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) Inshore Lifeboat coxswain, provides maritime safety and Search And Rescue (SAR) operations training for various international Coastguard / Lifeboat organisations.
As the former British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) Technical Training Officer, civilian advanced mixed gas rebreather Instructor Trainer and deep shipwreck explorer to a depth of 100m, PH is a respected civilian technical diving educator and has authored rebreather training manuals for civilian diving training agencies and numerous safety related articles for print and on-line diving publications. This includes the peer reviewed and critically acclaimed academic paper ‘Improving The Probability of Surviving Loss of Consciousness Underwater When Using a Rebreather’, published in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine that has since become a safety reference document for civilian and military rebreather diving. PH is a member of the Rebreather Training Council and as an acknowledged Subject Matter Expert (SME) in tactical diving and associated life support systems and has contributed to the recently published book, Combat Diver. PH is also a founding member of Life Support Investigations, a not-for-profit organisation that provides accident investigation rebreather expert advice to US law enforcement.
Following participation in the discovery of numerous deep shipwrecks in the North Sea off the East coast of Scotland and contribution to technical diving training and safety, PH is an invited member of the prestigious Explorers Club of New York. In addition, PH has been the diving safety officer on a number of high-profile diving expeditions such as for example the UK Ministry of Defence sanctioned 2016 survey of HMS Hampshire, sunk in 70m out on the exposed Atlantic side of Orkney and participated in the 2001 joint UK Royal Navy / civilian diving expedition to recover of the ship’s bell from the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales sunk during WWII in the South China Sea that lies at a depth of 75m.
Over the last decade he has run numerous adventurous wreck diving expeditions to remote locations in the Pacific such as Truk (Chuck) Lagoon and Palau and as an acknowledged rebreather SME amongst the global special operations diving community, he remains fully engaged in military underwater life support and TDV development, whilst frequently delivering Operator, Instructor and Supervisor training for defence organisations to a depth of up to 80m on the full range of mechanical / electronically controlled underwater LSS used by SOF, Mine Countermeasures , Secret Service, Paramilitary and Law Enforcement diving organisations.
He is an Instructor Trainer on the full range of military rebreathers, and a qualified Diver / Instructor Trainer in range of civilian rebreathers that include the AP Classic, AP Inspiration, Drager Dolphin & Ray, ISC Megalodon, ISC Pathfinder, JJ-CCR, Submatix, xCCR and Lungfish Orca.
WHY CHOOSE US
Defender PDT, led by internationally respected dive educators, specialising in the delivery of advanced diver training to civilian, scientific, military, law enforcement, and government agencies.
Our expertise in civilian technical diving is seamlessly applied to the tactical diving operational environment, providing defense and government agencies a low-risk solution for developing and sustaining an advanced diving capability. Defender PDT's unique experience and training capability make it a preferred choice for Advanced Tactical Diver professional development.
PT
ABOUT
PT is an internationally respected technical diving Instructor Trainer Examiner with a reputation for technical diver training excellence. He started diving in mid 90's and quickly qualified as a Scuba Instructor and dive centre owner.
Soon after he qualified as an Instructor Trainer and began to pursue his technical diving training and exploration career. After extensive training he qualified as both a closed and open circuit mixed gas (hypoxic trimix to 100 metres), cave and technical wreck Instructor Trainer. He was offered the position of Director of Technical Training for an international training agency. He was responsible for writing diver and instructor manuals and training standards.
Diving HISTORY & EXPERIENCE
In 2014 he became a co-owner of his own training agency. He originally held the position of company President, but his desire to get back in the water, and on the ‘tools’ led to him again taking the position of Training Director, developing state of the art programs in the recreational and technical area (open circuit, closed circuit and overhead). He has dived caves and wrecks all over the world and also safely planned and executed many 100 metre plus ocean dives to a maximum depth of 150 metres and is a regular speaker at major dive conventions around the world. He has also contributed to many dive magazines and publications. In 2018 he became a member of the prestigious Explorers Club, which was awarded for the participation in numerous significant historical and scientific research expeditions, some of which include:
- The survey of HMS Hampshire in 70m, West of the Orkney Islands.
- The survey of HMS Vanguard and HMS Royal Oak, Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands.
- Repatriation of a lost WWII airman from a B24 bomber, Malta.
- Recovery of, and photogrammetry of, artifacts from a 2,700-year-old Phoenician wreck in 110 metres, Malta.
PT not only explores, teaches, dives and works with the agency team, but he also represents them and the diving community with his work with inter agency groups.
He spends a lot of time exploring new technologies and is currently pioneering the use and training of a side-mount bailout rebreather to augment the main back-worn rebreather instead of conventional open circuit bailout. He is certified as an Instructor Trainer on multiple rebreathers including the Divesoft Liberty (back and side-mount versions), Poseidon, Lungfish Orca, xCCR, Hollis Prism 2, AP Inspiration and JJ-CCR to name but a few.