 What is your current job and what does it entail?
I am a captain in the U.S. Navy and serve as director of the Navy Ocean Facilities Program, located at Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington Navy Yard, DC. My command includes about 500 Navy officers and enlisted personnel as well as civilians and contractors, and we are responsible for the Navy's waterfront, underwater construction, and all fixed ocean and seafloor systems. These facilities are worth over $9 billion. We build and maintain waterfront structures (piers, wharves, etc.), but we also build things on the ocean bottom. To do that, we invent and discover new ways to work deep in the ocean (ROV's, AUV's, new materials that will last longer in the ocean environment, new procedures to minimize a divers exposure, better ways to anchor and fasten things on the ocean bottom, new ways to locate items on or beneath the seafloor, etc.). This takes teams of all disciplines (marine geologists, marine chemists, hydrodynamicists, marine biologists and a bunch of very skilled technicians).
Before this tour, I have had many other jobs that gave me the training and background to be the senior Navy Ocean Engineer. I did a tour of duty with the Naval Medical Research Institute at Bethesda, MD. My job there was to maintain an extreme hyperbaric facility so we could simulate diving to depths of over 1000 feet of seawater (fsw). We studied the effects of temperature on divers, how the immense pressure at 1000fsw affects the human body, and how to better work at those depths. We developed new breathing apparatus for divers and created new and improved dive tables.
I did a tour with the Naval Sea Systems Command, where I helped to develop new tools for divers to use (ROV's, hydraulic tools, hand tools, etc.). The focus was on ship maintenance and repair -- to be able to do more and more in the water so that we could avoid having to bring a ship into dry-dock.
I also did three tours at Port Hueneme, CA. One was with the Naval Construction Training Command, where we teach enlisted personnel how to inspect, maintain, repair and construct waterfront and fixed ocean facilities world wide. Another was with the Underwater Construction Teams, combat units that provide waterfront and underwater construction. We traveled all over the Pacific and the world, performing contingency (wartime) construction, humanitarian assistance (earthquake relief), and civil actions (building channels to remote islands so the island natives could get their fishing boats out during low tide). We also went to the Arctic, where we established a camp and performed diving operations under the ice cap. In almost all our jobs, we used very sophisticated bathymetric and hydrographic equipment to study the water column and seafloor. The other tour was with the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, which is our research and technology center of expertise for ocean engineering. It is there that the next generation of bathymetric, hydrographic and geotechnical tools, equipment and procedures are developed, tested and then issued to the Navy and the commercial sector for use.
I have also completed the Navy's Deep Sea Diving School and undergone advance training in saturation diving (staying within a hyperbaric environment for days and weeks at a time). I have had training in tactics for land warfare in support of the Navy's expeditionary construction force (Seabees). Further, I have demonstrated competency in the knowledge, handling, running and maneuvering of naval ships, in peacetime and within a tactical environment. I have also jumped out of perfectly good airplanes and completed the training and performed the required jumps for free fall parachuting.
With all these tours and my training, and a lifetime in or on the water, I have over 250,000 minutes of bottom time diving all over the world, in depths to 1000fsw. And each time I enter the water it is like the first I am full of awe and wonderment of how magnificent the ocean is. It is the best place in the world to have an office and a job as it is always changing, always challenging and always rewarding.
What was the key factor in your career decision?
The ocean is one of the most extreme environments to work in. It is a tremendous engineering challenge to do the simplest things. It is a harsh and unforgiving environment, and one where there is very little tolerance for failure. That is what makes it exciting and rewarding.
What do like most about your career?
The people I get to work with, within the Navy and within the commercial and private sectors. Since there are so few of us (in and out of government) who actually work in the ocean's water column, there is a bond amongst all who venture into the depths of the ocean and solve what appears to be insurmountable problems.
What do you like least about your career?
That I will not be around for the future. Ocean engineering is still a developing field, and the next generation will be able to do things on the seafloor and in the water column that we can only dream of today.
What do you do to relax?
I like just about anything to do with water (as long as it is not frozen): surfing, diving, water skiing, just hanging around at the beach. But most importantly, I have a great family and enjoy being with them as much as possible.
Who are your heroes/heroines?
Mostly, the people I work with. Their dedication is infectious, and their passion for what they are doing is contagious. Others include my teachers and mentors, and especially my dad for his inspiration.
What advice would you give a high school student who expressed an interest in pursuing a career in your field?
Go for it! It is a young field and is making tremendous advancements. It is our only frontier -- we know less about the oceans than we do about the moon -- so it is new and extremely rewarding. Be it engineering, marine biology, marine chemistry, just about any ocean science or engineering is truly on the frontier. There is so much we have yet to learn about our oceans.
Are career opportunities in your field increasing or decreasing and why?
Absolutely increasing. There are not enough ocean scientists or engineers to meet all the demands of tomorrow. I believe that tomorrow's greatest discoveries in science, medicine and life knowledge will come from the oceans.
What will you be doing 10 years from today?
I'll probably be retired from the Navy, but hopefully still infecting another generation with the enthusiasm and passion to take up the ocean sciences and engineering.
Salary:$125,000+
Email:david.balk@navy.mil
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