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BOARD MEMBERS BIO:
GySgt JASON SEPEDA
Jason
comes from a family of those who have served. Dad, Mom, and two of three siblings have served
in the Military. When he graduated from High School and he joined the Marine Corps in March of
1996 Tallahassee, FL.
Jason did his boot camp at Paris
Island, SC, Combat School in Jacksonville, NC,
and Tank School at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.
Between 2003 and 2007 he did
four rotations in Iraq (his brother did two as
well). After his last tour he worked a year with Marine Corps Casualty
making notifications to family members.
He has been working with Wounded Warrior Battalion here in Tampa since November of 2008. In December of 2009
he was promoted to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant.
His first diving experience was in December of 2002, he went diving in Hawaii while he was there for some training missions.
In November of 2007 when things finally settled down from all the deployments
he received an Open Water certification through NAUI. In
April of 2009 he became Advanced Scuba Diver certified and Nitrox Diver
certified. In May of 2010 he was Advanced Scuba Rescue Diver certified
and has just completed his Dive Master certification.
Jason's goal is to one day become
an Instructor with Divers 4 Heroes. He's been working with Divers 4 Heroes for over two years now. Although he finds diving alone to be quite enjoyable, he finds it
truly more enjoyable when he uses dive skills to help out the Veterans.
He hopes to be able to continue giving back for years to come.
Dr. KARI PEDERSON-KIRK
Dr. Kari
received her medical degree at The Chicago Medical School in 1996. After
Medical school she was certified to dive in Belize. She traveled around
the world while she completed my residency in Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation at University of Colorado.
While in Denver, she also became a PADI Divemaster and completed a Handicapped
Scuba DM/Instructor course through A1 Scuba. She had the opportunity to
complete several HSA Discover Scuba classes at Craig Hospital, a top spinal
cord injury facility in the country, located in Englewood, Colorado.
Dr. Kari then moved to Florida to begin my medical career at Bayfront Medical
Center where she stayed until 2008. At that time she made the jump to Bay
Pines VA Healthcare System where she is the Medical Director for the Inpatient
Rehabilitation Unit.
Since moving to Florida, she also was part owner of a local dive shop and
became a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Over the years she has had the
opportunity to teach many people with disabilities how to scuba dive and it
still is one of the great joys of her life.
"My
favorite part of diving is being able to float effortlessly through the
water."
"My
favorite place to dive is wherever I am going next."
"My
favorite part of teaching diving is seeing peoples’ eyes get really wide and
the smile that appears when they “get” what diving is all about".
Darrell Seale
Darrell served his country for
almost 10 years as a US Air Force officer. After graduating as a Distinguished Graduate of the Oregon
State University ROTC program, he entered into the Air Force in 1991. His assignments included Lowry AFB CO,
Hanscom AFB MA, Hill AFB UT, and Wright-Patterson AFB OH. He separated from the USAF in 2000 and
entered civilian life as a defense contractor working for United Defense LP,
Black Ram Engineering, and Lockheed Martin. He is currently a Senior Program Manager for Lockheed Martin
Missiles and Fire Control AH-64 Apache program in Orlando FL.
Darrell has extensive scuba
experience. In addition to his
almost 1,000 dives, he is a certified PADI Instructor and an active tec diver. Darrell regularly cave dives, dives on
his closed-circuit rebreather, performs deep wreck penetrations on trimix, and
ice dives.
JOHN CONLEY
John lives in Maine. He is married has two children John and
Chris. His son John IV is currently serving overseas as an EOD
technician in Kuwait.
John Sr. served forty years in the US
Army and recently retired from his position as the Senior Enlisted
Adviser for the Join Reserve Unit at the Joint Special Operations
University. Prior to that he had served as a team sergeant on
Operational Detachments, he has served also multiple tours in Vietnam
where he was wounded, and in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
He is a partner in CSG, Fayetteville, NC and an Adjunct for the Institute for Defense Analysis in Alexandria Virginia.
BUCK BUCHANAN
Buck has 28 years Scuba diving experience. PADI, NAUI, SSI,
HSA, SDI ERDI, UDT,AQUATIC SOCIETY, Instructor Trainer, and Technical
Instructor Trainer with over 5000 lifetime dives.
He was the
safety officer on two world record teams (worlds longest dive), and CNN
contracted consultant for Dive Operation/Conducted the first ever live
worldwide broadcast interview while underwater(Gulf oil spill).
He is currently the Team Leader for Cherokee County Dive Rescue for 11
years, and has served USMC 1979-1984 Dive Locker NCO, Combat swim
Instructor.
BRYAN HOOD
Bryan has served in the Army for 18
years. He is currently in the Army Reserve. He graduated high school in 1993
from Glendale high school in Springfield, Missouri. Two days after his last day
of school he left for Basic Combat Training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. After a
short stint in the Army Reserve he enlisted into the Active Component as an
Artilleryman sending him to Ft. Stewart, Georgia. Bryan spent 6 years on Active
Duty which took him to Virginia, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia and other places as
an Artilleryman and an OH-58D(I) helicopter crew chief. In 2000 he left Active
Duty, came home and enlisted into the Reserves once again. In 2003 Bryan’s unit
took part in the invasion of Iraq. After returning home in 2004, he had decided
to take a job for the Federal Government as a contractor to continue his
service while remaining in the Reserves. Bryan has served in Artillery,
Aviation, Cavalry, Transportation and Special Forces (not tabbed) units. He has
numerous trips to Afghanistan and other places.
While working together with Bo overseas,
he worked on his Open Water Diver Certification, and completed his
certification dives in Florida, along with like-minded brothers who
understand “Service, Camaraderie and Es Spirit de Corps”.
Bryan went on to earn his Advanced
Open Water Diver with Nitrox and all the other qualifications allowing him to
dive to great depths and in many places. Bryan’s wife is also an Open Water
Diver and his “Dive Buddy”. Bryan has dove in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico,
Florida and of course back home in the lakes of Missouri. His goal is to become
a Dive Master and Dive Instructor. He LOVES working with other veterans
because, “we all get each other”. It’s a brotherhood that can’t be broken.
Major DAN & CHARISMA HENZIE Former WO2
Major Dan Henzie, US Army, has 17 years of diving
experience. He is PADI Rescue,
Search and Rescue, and Ice Diver certified receiving his training while serving
as a Rescue Diver, Firefighter, and Paramedic with the Coal City Fire
Department in Coal City, Illinois.
He has logged over 350 pleasure, training, and rescue/recovery dives in
all types of conditions. He hopes
to work towards his Divemaster Certification in the future.
Dan is currently a US Army CH-47F Chinook pilot and
Acquisition Officer assigned to the Boeing CH-47 Plant in Philadelphia,
PA. He lives there with his wife,
Charisma and two daughters, Caitlyn and Carissa. He has served one combat tour in Iraq from 2003 to 2004
flying over 220 combat hours while assigned as the Company Operations Officer
for what was F Co. 159th Aviation (Big Windy) out of Gieblestadt,
Germany. Following this assignment
he was posted at the US Army Aviation Center, Ft. Rucker as both a Brigade
Training and Operations Officer and later as the Company Commander for B Co.
1-223rd Aviation Regiment in charge of planning, developing, and
executing all CH-47 training for the US Army.
Having begun his diving career in the murky waters of the
rivers, lakes, and ponds of Northern Illinois and Indiana, Dan has a great
appreciation for warm water, gentle currents, and visibility beyond “arms
reach.” He enjoys the quiet alone
time that zero visibility and a tether line provide but prefers the vibrant
colors, active wildlife, and interaction with other divers that diving in clear
water provides. His favorite place
to dive is off of the beach in Rincón, Puerto Rico. His favorite part of diving is going places underwater that
mere mortals cannot venture. “There
is only so much you can see snorkeling.
You never get to truly relax and enjoy your surroundings like you can
while diving.” When his Army
career permits, he hopes to be able to attend more dives with the combat injured
veterans and help them experience the joys of diving and the weightless feeling
it provides.
Patrick Wickens Former US Army Field Artillery Mechanic
Patrick joined the Army in August 2001. While serving our country,
he became a mechanic. Not only was
he good at it he loved it. One month after Patrick joined the Army,
September 11th changed the world.
While still in basic training he was informed that he was to be deployed.
Patrick was sent to Baumholder Germany. After his training, he found himself working
nonstop. His unit deployed to Iraq in March of 2003 to replace 3rd
Infantry Divisions Field Artillery. They were in Baghdad for 1 year and
got and additional 6-month extension. After the extension they were moved
to the airport for a few weeks, and then to an old Marine base outside Karbala
so the Marines could move north and take Fallujah. While Patrick was on
guard duty almost ready to end his shift and go to and re-enlist, they were
attacked. There were about 10-15 insurgents who
ambushed him and his team. Patrick
took a direct hit by 120 mm Swiss rocket that completely removed his right leg
and severed both his lower arteries.
Patrick was sure to bleed out but the medics made sure that would not
happen. After the short 5 second
firefight where the Bradley removed the threat, he was sent to the Army
hospital in Washington DC. Patrick
spent 3 months in and out of surgery, Patrick eventually lost his right femur
completely. Patrick then had to endure intense therapy for almost 2
years, and eventually medically retired in January 2006. He moved home to Montana. After trying to endure a few months of
cold, he decided to move to Orlando Florida where the weather is always
sunny.
Because of
location and finances Patrick had never had opportunity to experience Scuba, until his free intro
to Scuba session with Divers 4 Heroes.
“Nothing compares to being able to breath underwater! The scenery is UNBELIEVABLE”. Patrick has finished his Open Water
Certification and is working on his continuing education with diving. He will continue to assist Divers 4
Heroes in any way possible.
“I would like to say thank you for what you guys have done for me and
fellow veterans. Not only for the diving but your genuinely good
friendship, there are not a lot of people in the world you can trust, but you
guys are two of the best”.
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