Navy names top diver at Brashear Warrior Toughness event

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, D.C. – Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Diving presented Navy Diver First Class Bryan Myers with the Navy’s 2019 Diver of the Year Award during a July 10 ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard recognizing Warrior Toughness.

NAVSEA’s Supervisor of Diving, Capt. Robert Marsh, joined Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Phillip Brashear, representing the Carl Brashear Foundation; and retired Chief boatswain’s mate Tony Palm in presenting the award for superlative performance of duties while serving as the Leading Petty Officer and Diving Supervisor for Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center & Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center Detachment, Bahrain.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Myers grew up in an Army family and moved often. One motto that sticks with him, he said, is “control what you can and everything else will fall into place.” Myers was always a swimmer and wanted to be a rescue swimmer with the Navy. Today he is a First-Class Diver and Diving Supervisor, qualified to supervise the full spectrum of military diving operations, including: surface-supplied air, SCUBA, Dynamic Positioning shallow-water diving, and hyperbaric chamber treatments and operations.

The Carl Brashear Foundation presents the Diver of the Year award each year to recognize a Navy diver in the Fleet whose actions espouse the dedication, strength, and principled actions of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear to underscore the urgency of enabling and sustaining resilient 21st Century Sailors to combat 21st Century challenges. Brashear was the first African-American Master Diver whose life is depicted in the movie Men of Honor. He was a pioneer who deeply impacted the diving community and is revered to this day for his tenacity and courage by the U.S. Navy.

Brashear’s son, CW5 Phillip Brashear, 80th Training Command, U.S. Army Reserve, cited words from the Chief of Naval Operation’s 2021 Navigation Plan. “Our collective security—and way of life—are under threat. The urgency to create and sustain a dominant naval force that can outthink and outfight any adversary is tangible. A key pillar in this fight, is you, the Sailor.”

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