An Cosantóir

13 By Tony O'Brien Photos provided by Lt Cdr Stephen Stack LT CDR STEPHEN STACK, DIVER and Clearance Diving Officer's Course in 2016. "It was a brilliant experience and I really learned a lot," said Stephen adding: "It was very intense, physically and mentally demanding. But it was an invaluable experience." All aspects of diving – SCUBA, Re Compression Chambers (RCCs), Mixed Gas Diving systems, Explosive Ordnances Disposal (EOD) etc – were covered. "It was fantastic from the point of view of what you were learning, but it also gave a chance of training with people from other Navies and being able to bring that experience back to Ireland and our Diving Section." That experience has been put to good use over the years. Stephen has been involved in a number of Search and Recovery operations. The biggest one was in January 2020 when he co-ordinated the recovery operation for a missing fisherman onboard the fishing vessel, the "ALIZE", which sank off Kilmore Quay, County Wexford. "Unfortunately, often by the time we are brought in it is a Search & Recovery operation. But what gives you a sense of achievement is being able to bring a loved one back to the family. As you know, that is very important to Irish people, to bring closure to a tragic situation," he recalls. The Diving Section is the primary diving team in Ireland. It is a fully operational unit of the Naval Service and provides assistance to An Garda Síochána and the Irish Coast Guard when requested. Stephen recalls that their first Irish Naval Diver was Commodore Joe Deasy (who passed away recently) in 1964 when he was a Naval Lieutenant. He had to train with the Royal Navy in the UK, something that was happening up to the early 1980s, before the Service developed its own course. The Section has an establishment of 27 but, as with all areas of the Naval Service, they could do with more recruits. Stephen is hopeful that the Commission on the Defence Forces will bring good news with a recommendation for improvements. His recent promotion to Lt Cdr was a great personal achievement for Stephen. Looking to the short-term future, he is hoping to stay on with the Diving Section but would ultimately like to go back out to sea as a Ship's Captain. Meanwhile, he is enjoying his work with the Diving Section and a happy home life in Ballilncollig, Co Cork, with wife Aisling and five-month-old daughter Peigí. If you hail from an inland county in Ireland, a maritime life may not be a career choice that springs to mind. But it didn't make a difference to Lt Cdr Stephen Stack who is now Officer in Charge, Naval Service Diving Section. Originally from just outside Portlaoise, Stephen and his family (including Mam and Dad Philomena and Eamonn) had no seafaring links. "Coming from an inland county, the Navy wasn't exactly on my horizon when I was at school," he recalls. Then one year when he was in 5th year there was a flyer for place on the Naval Sail Training vessel, the Asgard II. "My brother Tadhg went on a trip on the Asgard; there was an age limited of 16 so I had to wait a year, but I got on the following year and it opened my eyes to maritime life". He signed up when he was 17, joining the Naval Service as a Cadet in 2004, then was commissioned in 2006. He studied in the National Maritime College for a degree in Nautical Science. Stephen qualified as a Naval Watchkeeper in the Operations Branch in 2010 before being posted as Gunnery Officer on board the LE EITHNE. As to his future specialisation, Stephen says: "I didn't know anything about diving when I joined. I didn't even know they had a Diving Section. But over the years, interacting with divers and seeing the range of operations they were involved in, piqued my interest." This led him to undertaking the Naval Diving Course in 2014. "The diving course is physically and mentally tough: there is a 70 per cent failure rate. It's 15 weeks long but everything we were learning was important. You could be working under fairly claustrophobic conditions and in very, very cold weather. The course is run from January to May in order that the trainee divers experience the winter weather conditions," he explained. But as with all such courses, Stephen admits, it's only afterwards looking back on it you realise how rewarding they were. There was a further spell at sea on the LE EITHNE as Navigation Officer before being sent to Canada for 12 months on the Minewarfare v Graduating as a Naval Diver in 2014 Promotion from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander Jumping from a SEAKING Helicopter with the Royal Canadian Navy Diving Operations with Chief Petty Officer Seaman John Fenton

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