This video comes from “The Big Picture” Television Program Series created by the U.S. Army. The original decription is:
Soldiers with an unusual occupation shown on “The Big Picture” — “The Big Picture” has come up with a neat little documentary in “Army Divers’ School,” filmed on location at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
The diving student learns and becomes a jack-of-all-trades: welder, carpenter, mechanic all rolled into one. He must also be an explosives expert – at home with such items as blasting machines, plastic explosives gelatin dynamite and TNT.
Playing down the dramatics usually seen in underwater work, the skillful photography by Finnerman results in a documentary featuring generous use of all camera angles. It takes 17 weeks in the Divers’ School for young soldiers who had never been under the water to become qualified salvage divers and fledgling members of one of the highest paid trades in the world.
You can also watch this video in our main National Archives online catalog.
