Wednesday, November 24, 1999

Members of Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway’s Dive Team will provide a display and demonstration for a group of 8- to 11-year-old "Scuba Rangers" Friday in a phase of the youngsters’ program called "Rescue Rangers."

The members of the Sheriff’s award-winning dive team will display equipment they use, conduct a brief class on their search and rescue operations and execute an in-pool demonstration of underwater search techniques. The session runs from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Underwater investigation isn’t glamorous, it’s dark!

That’s one of the things members of the Caddo Sheriff’s Dive Team – formally know as the Underwater Investigation Unit – will tell the young scuba enthusiasts Friday at Scuba Ventures on Texas Avenue. The team won the Third Annual Public Safety Diver Competition last March at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. The Dive Team competed against teams from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas at the university’s Underwater Institute. The competitive portion of the event consisted of an underwater obstacle course, a physical exertion course and a simulated underwater crime scene investigation. These are some of the skills the Dive Team will demonstrate to the Scuba Rangers Friday.

In winning the competition last March, the Caddo Sheriff’s Dive Team will be the host team for the Fourth Annual Public Safety Diver Seminar and Competition next spring in San Marcos.

Run by Paul Oberle’s Scuba Ventures, Scuba Rangers teaches to be better swimmers, as well as teaching them snorkeling and scuba diving. The group of youngsters, eight to 11 years old, meets monthly and concentrates on a different specialty each month. Oberle said the program doesn’t just concentrate on scuba diving and other water-related activities. The youngsters also learn about civic and social responsibility. Oberle said one of their sessions will be spent visiting a senior citizen center.

The Scuba Rangers concept was originated by Oberle in Shreveport and is being copied in other cities around the country and will soon "go international." A 10-member Scuba Rangers demonstration team will perform at the Diving Equipment Manufacturers’ Association trade show in Las Vegas in January.

[NOTE TO VISUAL MEDIA: Scuba Ventures has a 6 x 4-foot viewing port that allows clear underwater photography and videography.]