Life as a mine clearance diver

Charley (right) in her navy uniform

Charley Davies, 34, first joined the royal navy when she was 16 years old. After working her way up through the ranks she now leads her own team of 60 people. Currently living in North Dorset, Charley has been able to visit places all over the world with her job and now she’s giving some insight into what her life is like.

What does your job involve?

My primary role is to support with clearance dives to deactivate things like old mines and bombs on beaches left from World War 2. I also deal with anti-piracy and there’s a lot of work with IED’s too. Essentially, we are the bomb disposal of the navy, the only difference is we can dive incredibly deep down. I’ve have done humanitarian aid in the Caribbean, weapons testing, helicopter surveying and I’ve also trained Ukrainian soldiers and new recruits.

How did you get into your current role?

I joined the navy at 16 as a weapons engineer, then in 2015 I decided I wanted to do an all arms course because I wanted to get my green beret. To do the course you have to be at peak fitness, and after I completed it, I was asked whether I would ever consider going into diving, and I’ve not looked back since really. When I was an engineer there was a lot of training involved, but with diving everything is real life which is what really excited me. I was a bit of a daredevil at the time and wanted to do something different, but I do feel like I’m getting too old for this now, so I’m transferring out to the welfare team in a couple of months.

Where are you based?

I can be attached to any ship or unit, it just depends where we are needed. We are primarily based in either Portsmouth or Scotland, but that doesn’t really work for me because I have a family, so I normally just commute to courses when I’m not deployed. I’ve spent a lot of time in the gulf and Bahrain, there’s a lot of risk out there in terms of piracy and as an engineer I spent a lot of time in the Falklands. I’ve also done time in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s been incredible to be able to travel around the world for the past 20 years, I’ve managed to see six continents with the navy, including the arctic.

What’s good about the job?

I love the people. The people I work with are incredible. I consider myself the mum of my unit, a lot of people have come from really troubled upbringings and the navy has been a place where they’ve managed to find a family. There’s been so many benefits; the pay is good and the travel is amazing, I’ve been able to get my master’s for free, and they’ve helped us to buy a house.

What’s not so good about the job?

Family time is really hard. There’s this thing called the emotional deployment cycle where you start to distance yourself from your family when you know you’re about to leave. I have a six year old and three year old twins and I just find it really hard when I have to go away. You miss so much at home. The other thing I don’t like is the drinking culture, I only drink at social events, so for me the heavy drinking culture just isn’t something I enjoy.

What does a typical day look like?

Every day is different but typically you’ll have 4 hours on/4 hours off working. The first thing you do at the start of a shift is check all of the suits and oxygen tanks as they always need to be ready to go. I’ll also check how rough the seas are, check any reports that have come in in the 4 hours I’ve been off, and check in with my team that are coming off shift to see if they’re okay both mentally and physically. Then after that it can be anything from diving and disarming bombs or sitting in a crew room drinking tea and watching movies. There’s also paperwork to do and sometimes we will go out surveying ships for piracy and drugs too.

Do you ever get scared?

When I first started, I used to be the first one in, I found it really fun and exciting, but since getting married and maturing a bit, I’ve started getting scared more now. I find myself always thinking about ‘what if my children get a knock at the door to say that mummy’s not coming home’, which makes it hard to focus on what I’m doing. We lost someone about 4 years ago and I think since then that’s when that though has started to appear. Once I’m under the water I’m fine, its normally the anticipation of putting the suit on and not knowing what you’re going to find. I also worry a lot more now because I have a team underneath me and as much as I want to go home to my children, I also know there’s parents out there who want their children to come home too.

What challenges have you faced?

I’ve been pretty lucky that most of my dives have been quite smooth, it’s mainly the outcomes that I’ve found most difficult rather than the diving itself. When it’s been a long day and your running on pretty much two hours of sleep and you don’t know what time you’re coming back, that’s when it gets tough. We lost someone a few years ago which made everything seem a lot more real and I struggled with that a lot. The things I’ve seen, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq are what stick with me. I’ve seen over eight people loose limbs and at the time I was only about 22/23, having to see that was really challenging. There was nothing I could have done in those situations, we didn’t even know there was a bomb there, but it’s the thought of ‘oh if we’d have seen that we could have done something’. In 2011 in Afghanistan I saw a marine lose all four of his limbs, he nearly died 3 times and we did CPR on him for over an hour. We managed to get him medevac’d in a helicopter, but we didn’t know the outcome of that situation for over 3 weeks because of being out in the field. I remember being so on the ball and really cautious for the rest of the trip because of it.

How do you prepare for a shift?

I’m big on reading. I always take a kindle on board and read 10-20 pages in the morning. I get up a little earlier to make sure I have time to do basic hygiene things like showering and having a set skincare routine, things like that make me feel like I am still human. I then head to breakfast, have a coffee and catch up with people before the start of my shift. I’m big on to do lists, so I always flick through my diary and have a mental mind map of everything that’s got to get done for the day.

How do you unwind from a shift?

I don’t really have a routine to be honest. Sometimes I’ll go into the mess deck or sometimes we all watch a film together. Normally, I like to go and spend some time alone, read a book and then let my head hit the pillow. I make time to do a little 20 minute night time routine, like showering and doing my skincare etc, and sometimes I’ll try and call home but that’s not always possible.

What has the job taught you?

That people matter. My number one priority is looking after my team. Knowing that shit happens, but also making sure you have a voice is really important, especially as a woman in the navy. I joined in 2006 and the rights back then were not great for women and they still aren’t now to be honest. To have a voice as someone who is a higher rank, I take that seriously and I always encourage people to come to me if they’ve got a problem that they may not feel comfortable addressing themselves. The mental toll the role can take is tough so being open and honest with each other is all you can do really. Relationships also move really fast in the navy, me and my husband met when I was 18 and then we were married by the time I was 20. Life just moves so much faster than it does in the outside world.

What advice would you give to someone looking to join the navy?

My advice would be to remember that it’s a lifestyle, not a job. You may join for one reason and 10 years later decide that it doesn’t suit your lifestyle anymore, especially when it comes to relationships and family. If you’re willing to work hard and stay focused, it’s easy to go far.