On July 4, 2023, we lost Mark Phillips, a public safety diving “LEGEND.” Mark’s diving and PSD accomplishments are numerous, some of which include being a retired fireman and public safety diver with 35 years of service, editor/publisher of PSDiver.com Monthly Magazine, author of the “Consensus Standards for Public Safety Diving in Zero or Low Visibility.” Mark was a member of SDI/ERDI’s Training Advisory Panel and an SDI/ERDI, PADI, IDEA, PSDA, and IAPSD Instructor. Mark was also a former faculty member of the Underwater Institute at South Texas State University and a former instructor and co-developer of the Galveston Police Department Diving Academy. “What some of you do not know is Mark was a UCI graduate and my good friend. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. God bless! –Mike Berry – Owner Underwater Criminal Investigators

Mark has dedicated his life to educating and improving the public safety dive community in every way possible and why he is the first person to be inducted to the PSD hall of fame. To say Mark has set the bar high for future inductees would be an understatement. Mark is not the only one who spent a lifetime contributing to our PSD family and why in his honor we wanted to make this hall of fame. The PSDiver Global Hall of Fame will only welcome in those people who have truly contributed to the PSD community as a whole! This will NOT be a popularity contest and candidates will have to be the real deal to be excepted by their peers into the PSDiver Global Hall Of Fame. All Requirements can be found at the bottom of this page.

EOW November 15, 2004

Corporal Robert (Bob) Teather (1947–2004) was a 28- year veteran of the  Royal Canadian Mounted  Police (R.C.M.P.) Bob was born in  Hamilton,  Ontario where he joined the RCMP in September 1967. During his career with the RCMP he worked in Uniform Patrol and as a Hostage Taker-Barricaded Person Negotiator. He also had 18 years of police diving experience with over 200 recovery missions as a RCMP Diver with 7 years as one of their diving instructors. With this experience as his foundation, he lectured on diving techniques, underwater investigations, underwater crime scene photography, ice diving procedures and many other dive related topics to public safety divers throughout Canada and the United States. Bob was recognized worldwide as an authority in underwater investigations and was declared an expert witness in the Supreme Court in Canada and the Superior Court in the United States. He was in high demand as a public safety diving lecturer and loved to share his stories, and experiences incorporating humor, magic, and his love for his profession and his fellow man.

Mike Berry is considered one of the most experienced public safety divers in the world with over 45 years of active experience with the Virginia State Police dive team, and over 3000 dive operations. Recognized internationally as a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator, Mike has written the standards for underwater criminal investigations that are now being used Worldwide

Hired by the Virginia State Police on December 1, 1980, Mike made his first dive for his department in February 1981, where he recovered a stolen handgun. As part of the VSP Dive Team, he quickly made a name for himself by developing new evidence-recovery and search techniques. In 1986, Mike graduated from the PADI Internation College in California and became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. After returning to Virginia, he was asked to become the State Police Dive Team’s Operations Coordinator and instructor. He quickly started implementing his new procedures for recovering underwater evidence, including body recovery and vehicle recovery techniques. He also implemented underwater criminal investigative standards for his team to follow.

Other dive teams started noticing the high standards and advanced recovery techniques being used by the VSP and asked if he could start teaching others. Those requests led to the creation of Underwater Criminal Investigators® (UCI) in 1987, which is a public safety training agency that specializes in teaching public safety rescue diving and underwater criminal investigations.

Mike uses his 45 plus years of experience as a Virginia State Police diver, 40+ years as the team’s Operations Coordinator and instructor and over three thousand underwater criminal investigations as his training foundation. Mike has not only been a state police diver his entire career, but he also served for 12 years on the road as a road Trooper, 10 years at the Virginia State Police Training Academy as an Academy Sergeant and 12 years as an “Area Commander” in charge of a field office in Emporia Virginia.

In 2015, the Governor of Virginia made his SRT position full-time, creating a new First Sergeant/SAR Coordinator position for the Virginia State Police.

Mike is a lecturer, teacher, business owner, dive consultant and author. His books include: The Water’s Edge, The Underwater Criminal Investigator, The Public Safety Diver, The Advanced Public Safety Diver, Underwater Body Recovery, Underwater Vehicle Recovery, Crime Scene Metal Detector Operations, The Public Safety Rescue Diver, The Public Safety Dive Commander, Now I Know, and The Gospel Story of a Bottom Dweller. Mike has written over 20 public safety diving courses he and his UCI instructors teach for his company. He is also the author of PADI’s (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Public Safety Diver and Advanced Public Safety Diver courses. 

Mike also specializes in organizing and leading large multi-jurisdictional dive operations and has had the honor of being called upon to manage some of the largest and most dangerous underwater criminal investigations in the world.

In the winter of 2002 and 2003, he was asked by the FBI to lead the FBI’s Anthrax diving operation, code named “Amerithrax” in Frederick Maryland searching frozen ponds for evidence relating to that case. The operation became one of the Country’s largest and most dangerous public safety diving operations involving a terrorist act ever attempted due to the hazardous conditions and the size of the overall operation. As a result of his contributions, he received letters of commendation from the FBI as well as being awarded the Virginia State Police Superintendents “Award of Merit.”

Mike has been recognized for his contributions in public safety diving and for his expertise in underwater criminal investigations from teams around the world and in 2021, the Virginia State Police presented Mike with the Virginia State Police “Superintendent’s Award of Excellence” for his outstanding commitment to excellence and extraordinary leadership demonstrated as the Department’s Search and Recovery Team Coordinator. 

Mike is a Master Instructor for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator Instructor, Master Public Safety Diving Instructor, an Emergency Medical Technician, a Land Search and Rescue Instructor Trainer, a Ropes Rescue Instructor and a Swiftwater Rescue Instructor Trainer to name just a few of his qualifications. Mike is currently a First Sergeant with the Virginia State Police and serves as their Search and Recovery Team (SRT) Operations Coordinator, Head Diving Instructor, Operational Medical Support Unit (OMS) Commander and SAR Coordinator.

Steve Linton is recognized as one of the early pioneers of public safety diving and he coined that term in the 1970s. He defined Public Safety Diving as underwater rescue, recovery, and investigation conducted by divers working for or under the authority of municipal, state, or federal agencies. He also coined many other public safety diving terms, titles, and definitions that are still being used today. Many search techniques and methods were developed by Steve, who quickly recognized the need for organized training and standards.

With that as his motivation, Steve co-founded Dive Rescue International (DRI) in 1977 and, co-founded the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists (IADRS) in 1979, both highly respected organizations in the public safety diving community. 

In addition to those accomplishments, he co-authored the first Dive Rescue One manual and was a founding member of the Larimer County Dive Rescue Team.

Steve’s humble demeanor and friendliness towards others were always appreciated and promoted trust and the need to work together in the public safety diving community.

Butch Hendricks is a legend in public safety diving and specializes in teaching and developing rescue equipment and water rescue techniques. Butch founded Lifeguard Systems in the 1970s, which is a highly respected global public safety diving and surface rescue training company and is recognized as the oldest PSD company with the same continuous owner and President in the United States. Butch has over 52 years of experience in teaching public safety divers, rescue and recreation diving in over 18 countries.

Butch made his first dive in 1954 at the age of 7 and had his boat Captains license before he had his driver’s license. By 1960 he was running snorkeling trips in Puerto Rico from his family’s boats in one of the world’s first dive resorts and as a teen, he ran injured divers through hyperbaric treatments in the Caribbean’s only non-military chamber installed by his family and started a busy offshore water rescue team.

Butch and his family were innovators, pioneers, and leaders in the sport diving industry.

Over the years, Butch develop many rescue procedures, courses and equipment now being used worldwide such as:

• The diver do-si-do and in-water ventilation procedures

• The Rescue Rope Throw Bag – which has saved thousands of lives, and as a result, he received the Leonard Greenstone award

• Created the first Rescue Diver certification program and it was recognized by NAUI and PADI

• He created the Right-Hand-Release standard for weight belts

• Butch created the two-divers up – backup diver and 90 percent-ready-diver per 1 diver down safety standard for public safety diving that OSHA later recognized

• He wrote the first book on oxygen administration for scuba diving accidents

• And he created the first Field Neurological Evaluation Specialty program recognized by PADI, NAUI, and ACUC

Other notable accomplishments include:

• At age 17 he worked as a safety diver for Jacques Cousteau on the Calypso during the filming of the turtle hatching off Aves Island.

• He was a safety diver for Hydrolab and was the Training Officer and Safety Coordinator for the Puerto Rico International Undersea Laboratories.

• In 1978 Butch was the Safety Coordinator for the Green Beret Diver Trainer Program.

• 1978-88 was the Trainer for the FDNY Rescue Companies Dive Team.

• The NAUI Eastern Regional Manager for 8 years starting in the late ‘70s.

• 1981-86 was Regional Director for the National Association of Search & Rescue.

• Butch developed the water safety protocols and did the training for Howard Hughes when he did worldwide ballooning expeditions.

Published over 300 times, with books, articles, and training programs, and is a noted International public speaker, and subject matter expert.

Awards include:

• A NOGI award winner

• The first DAN-Rolex award

• NAUI Hall of Honor inductee

• Ulster County Sheriff’s Dept Lifesaving award

• Ontario Underwater Council Outstanding Recognition

• British SubAqua Club Outstanding Contribution

• U.S.C.G. Admiral’s coin

• Boston Sea Rover Lifetime achievement award

Walt Hendrick Sr. (Butch’s father) said, his greatest contribution to diving was his son. Referred to as the “Father of diving rescue,” Butch

Martin Klein a long-time leader in underwater exploration technology, developed the first commercially viable side scan sonar system in the 1960s. He began his career as a student at MIT, studying sonar and the processing of returning sound signals in a lab run by  Professor Harold “Doc” Edgerton. After graduating in 1962, Klein became a program manager at Edgerton’s firm,  Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier (later, EG&G, Inc.), while continuing to work on sonar. Klein left EG&G in 1969 to found his own firm,  Klein Associates. There, he developed, marketed, and produced a series of increasingly advanced side scan sonar systems. Klein sold Klein Associates in 1989 shortly after overseeing a switch to a digital displays but has remained active in the field.

As far back as the early 1970’s Marty would get a call from someone in need of a search, He would load up his old Pontiac station wagon to the ceiling with sonar equipment and his faithful dog Blackie and they would hit the road. These two companions would travel wherever needed with no place too far. They would arrive at a random lakes to encounter a group of grieving friends and family to deploy his sonar with hopes of bringing closure. Marty’s dedication from day one is why side scan sonar is now an invaluable tool deployed globally 

The Martin Klein collection consists of  research materials,  technical literature,  equipment manuals, business records, and images related to the development, production, and  use of sidescan sonar technology in the second half of the twentieth century. His website   sidescansonar.com has images related to the development, production, and   use of side scan sonar technology in the second half of the twentieth century. All material was created, collected, or used by Martin Klein, most of it in connection with this firm, Klein Associates Now under the name Klein Marine Systems, Inc. It is a wide-ranging and detailed record of commercial side scan sonar that begins with the earliest development of the technology.

Darrell Adams, a native of North Carolina, began his emergency service career in 1991 when he joined the Angier Black River Fire Department. In 1993 he helped develop and organize what has become the Harnett County Underwater Search & Recovery Dive Team. In 2022 he retired from Angier Black River Volunteer Fire Department and Harnett County Dive Team. In 1998, Darrell was hired by the City of Raleigh as a firefighter. While working for the Raleigh Fire Department, he has been temporarily assigned several times to the training division to help develop recruits for active service for the City of Raleigh Fire Department. Darrell’s current position is Captain on Engine 21 which operates as a technical rescue/fire company and serves as a State of NC swift water rescue asset. He is also a member of North Carolina Task Force 8 Urban Search and Rescue Team (NCTF8) and retired member of North Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (HART). He also obtained an associate degree in Fire Protection Technology from Wilson Technical Community College in Wilson, NC.

He also works with the North Carolina Community College system as an adjunct instructor in training public safety professionals in multiple discipline areas and also serves as a staff cadre instructor for the colleges’ recruit fire academy. The various North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal Instructor qualifications that are held by Darrell include but are not limited to: Firefighter Instructor, Live Burn Instructor, LP Gas Instructor, Hazardous Materials Instructor, and Technical Rescue Instructor with subset specialties in Confined Space, Vehicle Extrication, Rope Rescue and Water Rescue.

He has obtained various diving certifications including SDI Instructor Trainer, TDI Instructor Trainer, ERDI Instructor Trainer, FRTI Instructor Trainer Evaluator (First Response Training International) SSI Pro 1000 Instructor and NASE Instructor. Darrell has over 10,000 hrs. of training as a public servant and has logged over 5000 dives to which close to a quarter have been in the public safety environment or black-water situations. He has logged 40 dives to depths deeper than 200 feet and has diverse diving experience in many different environments and locations throughout the world. In addition, he has also staffed several Instructor Trainer Workshops (ITWs) for International Training (SDI/TDI/ERDI) in Stuart, FL

Darrell is the founder and partner of Public Safety Instructor Group (PSIG) which is a collective of public safety instructors teaching together with the simple mission to help facilitate quality training to public safety professionals while being committed and dedicated to providing the highest level of professionalism with an emphasis on high quality programs with safety. He has worked with several scuba diving shops in the Carolinas from 1994 through the present time. He also has served as board member at large for the North Carolina Public Safety Diving Association and associate adjunct instructor for Tactical Tracker Training School (TTTS).