OUR TEAM

Don served 20 years as a US Navy Diver Chief Petty Officer. During his tour in the Navy, he served as the lead diver and supervisor onboard two salvage ships deploying to the western pacific on 5 different occasions. He has conducted diving and salvage operations across the western and South Pacific Oceans. He also served as Chief Diver at two underwater repair activities performing waterborne repairs to both surface and sub-surface US Naval vessels. His career then turned to instructor duty at the Naval Special Warfare Center, teaching diving to US Navy Seal candidates. Upon his retirement he returned to his home in Oregon and pursued a career in inland commercial diving from 1995 -2001 where he worked on various inland diving projects. Working a US Army Corps of Engineers project on Lower Granite Dam in eastern Washington State for Advance American Diving, he was the chamber supervisor conducting over 800 Sur “D’ O2 Dives during this 6-month long project. He also supervised the treatment of a seriously injured Diver during that project with the diver having a full recovery. He was the ROV pilot and Diving Supervisor for the US Army Corps of Engineers Cougar Reservoir project in Blue River, Oregon. Conducting 60 Mixed Gas dives to 275 Feet Without incident. In 2001 he then went back to teaching, working for the US Navy at the center for anti-terrorism teaching small arms marksmanship and defensive tactics from 2001-2004. He then returned to the Naval Special Warfare community as Diving instructor and Diving equipment Manager from 2004-2018, teaching diving physics, diving medicine, open circuit scuba, oxygen closed circuit UBA, hyperbaric chamber operations along with oxygen medicine. He currently holds qualifications as US Army Corps of Engineers unlimited diver, diving supervisor, Recompression chamber supervisor, US Navy Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor, Air diving supervisor, open/closed circuit diving supervisor, hyperbaric supervisor, inside tender and chamber operator. Also holds ADCI certification as Mixed Gas Diver/Supervisor, Nitrox diving supervisor. Also holds an Aqualung certification as open circuit repair technician /instructor, DOT certified scuba cylinder inspector, Oxygen Clean Instructor, Diver’s life support system operator and repair technician. Quality assurance inspector. He also holds instructor certification for 1st aid/CPR, AED, O2 provider, open water scuba and Nitrox instructor, Dry Suit diver instructor, and Full Facemask diver instructor also holds Hyperbaric Chamber Operator and Intermediate Hyperbaric and Diving Medical Technician Instructor certifications from the International Board of Undersea Medicine. And is a US Navy certified high-risk instructor and Master Training Specialist.

Mark Allen graduated from Divers Institute of Technology in 1985.

His first Commercial Dive job was offshore at American Oilfield Divers. Things died down in the gulf, so he went inland. He has since worked in Salvage Diving, Treasure Diving, Haz-Mat, Ecological Surveys, Movie and TV industry Production and Safety Diver.

Mark has been able to teach Scuba and Commercial Diving throughout the years, including being an owner of a Scuba shop on South Padre Island, Texas and in the Caribbean on Curacao. He brings his vast commercial and recreational diving experience to the program.

Since 1998 Joshua has held many positions while in the US Navy. His experience includes but is not limited to Diver, Underwater NDT (Supervisor), Underwater Welding (Supervisor), Assistant Quality Control Officer, Hull Technician, Shipfitter. He holds an Associates of Science Degree in Marine Technology from National Polytechnic College of Engineering and Oceaneering.

Joshua applies all his military experience as an Instructor in all the topics of commercial diving as needed. He has 2nd Class Diver Training and is a 1st Class Diver for the US Navy. As PDTC’s Maintenance Manager he ensures that all diving equipment is tested, maintained, and inspected according to all applicable standards and requirements.

Mike Hardgraves is a 25 year Chief Navy Diver veteran. He has military experience in ship and submarine husbandry, salvage and submarine rescue, deep submergence life support systems, and recompression chamber operations. Mike became involved in hyperbaric medicine at the end of his military service and directed a hospital based hyperbaric wound care center for nine years. He is a certified hyperbaric technician performing thousands of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments during his tenure in wound care. He holds a BS in business administration, ADCI commercial diver supervisor cards for air and mixed gas diving and specializes in teaching diving physics, diving medicine, and recompression chamber operations.

Gabrielle has extensive experience in the commercial diving industry, she has  built a career specializing in complex underwater construction, marine infrastructure, and hazardous environment operations throughout the United States. Her project experience includes dredging operations at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, as well as the demolition and reconstruction of navigation towers in St. Croix involving pile driving, underwater welding, and concrete construction.

Throughout her career, she has worked extensively along the East Coast on major bridge and marine construction projects, including pile jacket installations, structural repairs, and underwater rehabilitation on bridges ranging from 300-foot spans to structures exceeding five miles in length. Her experience also includes dam inspection and repair projects across the eastern and northern United States, along with hazardous material and specialty diving operations from the Northeast to Arizona.

For the past four years, she has served as an Association of Diving Contractors International Dive Supervisor, leading dive teams in demanding underwater environments while maintaining the highest standards of safety, efficiency, and operational performance. In this leadership role, she has been responsible for supervising dive operations, coordinating personnel and equipment, managing project logistics, conducting safety briefings, ensuring compliance with ADCI regulations and industry standards, and overseeing complex underwater construction and repair projects from inception through completion.

Her experience as a Dive Supervisor has strengthened her ability to lead under pressure, make critical operational decisions in challenging conditions, and deliver projects safely, professionally, and on schedule while fostering a strong culture of teamwork, accountability, and operational excellence.

Ross Garcia graduated from Navy Dive School in 1991 and earned his Navy Master Diver qualification in June 2002. During his 26-year career in the Navy, he supervised surface-supplied dives and recompression operations to enable underwater missions worldwide. As a Navy Master Diver, Mr. Garcia led dive teams through victim recovery and harbor clearance following the collapse of the Interstate Highway 35 Bridge into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has led mixed-gas dive teams through the salvage of downed military aircraft, the salvage of Soviet submarine Juliet 484 from the Providence Rhode Island River, submarine rescue chamber operations, and underwater repairs to Navy warships and submarines. He also assisted Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Forces with mine clearance missions.

During his post-military career, Mr. Garcia served as a dive and hyperbaric quality assurance manager for the Naval Sea Systems Command. In this role, he managed quality assurance and life-cycle maintenance programs for eight surface-supplied dive systems and four double-lock recompression chambers. He also worked in the wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy industry for four years, operating FDA-approved monoplace chambers in wound care clinics where high partial pressures of oxygen are indicated. Throughout his clinical career, he trained medical staff, implemented hyperbaric operations safety and maintenance programs, and personally monitored over 4,300 hyperbaric treatments for Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society doctors. In total, Mr. Garcia brings 34 years of experience in the dive and hyperbaric industry to the faculty.

Today, he continues to dive and lead recreational divers as a qualified Educators International PDIC Master Diver. He is also a self-published author and a writer for the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project. You can read about the men and women he served with can be found in his published memoir, “View Through a Faceplate Window, Adventures of a Navy Master Diver.”

Jolene retired from Costco Wholesale as the General Manager to reenter the working world as the Administrative/ Compliance Director for Professional Diver Training Center, LLC

As a graduate of San Diego State University in 1982, I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Recreation Administration with an emphasis in Recreation Therapy. From September 1979 to January 2025, a span of 45 years, I worked for Price Club/Costco. I acquired many skills but most importantly I acquired the business acumen to achieve my goal of General Manager. From 1990-1994, I was a Housewares Buyer where I put together programs to increase sales and revenues. These programs earned me the Presidential Award twice for the increased sales and revenues. After returning to the warehouse in 1994 and transferring to other states, I met my goal in February 2012 where I was then transferred to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. There are many skills needed to oversee a $255 Million Dollar business with approximately 300 employees. Some of my skills are running the overall day to day operation, budgeting annual and monthly sales projections, teaching and growing employees for promotional opportunities, multitasking, troubleshooting, delegating and inventory control. In 2024, I received the prestigious award for the “Best Operated Building” in the Texas region. Retirement followed 6 months later. When not working, Jolene can be found spending time with family, crafting and quilting and hunting for antique treasures.