Joseph Dituri

CDR Joseph Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He has served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in saturation diving and ship repair. In 1995 he made his way up through the ranks after earning his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina and was commissioned into the Special Operations Officer pipeline. He was a Diving Officer at Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One and the Operations & Salvage Officer onboard USS Salvor. Following a change of designator to Engineering Duty Officer (Diving Officer), he served at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard as a Nuclear Project Superintendent, Project Manager, Docking Officer, Diving Officer and Business Operations Officer. He then transferred to Naval Post Graduate School where he earned his Master's degree in Astronautical Engineering. His master's thesis topic was in Orbital Determination. He is an invited speaker on space related topics. During this tour he also completed Saturation Diving Officer school in preparation for his follow on assignment. Following completion of his masters he was assigned as Officer-in-Charge Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) Diving Systems Detachment (DSD). Under his command DSD won the white "DS" award for deep submergence excellence and certified the 2000 fsw Atmospheric Diving System for fleet use. Concurrently he was the Program Manager's Representative for NAVSEA PMS 394 the Submarine Rescue Diving & Recompression System (SRDRS). Upon fielding and initial testing, the team introduced the SRDRS into Naval service and took it on two international engagements. During this tour Joseph earned the DAWIA certification of Level III in Program Management. He transferred from DSU after fleeting up to become the Executive Officer and designing the transfer under pressure saturation diving template for Navy Submarine Rescue. His final position in the US Navy was at Special Operations Command in Special Operations Research Development and Acquisition Center Program Executive Officer - Maritime Systems where he served as the Chief Engineer, Program Manager for Undersea Systems Technical & Certification Program as well as deputy Program Manager for Combat Craft. During this tour Joseph earned the DAWIA certification of Level III in System's Engineering. CDR Dituri's personal awards include three Navy Achievement Medals, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, and four Navy Commendation Medals. a Joint Service Commendation Medal and a Joint Meritorious Service Medal. In a civilian capacity Joseph is the author of numerous diver-training manuals, a co-author of the book "Tao of Survival Underwater", a contributing author to the Navy Diving Manual, and has been published in several journals including those produced by the American Society of Naval Engineers and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. CDR Dituri was also a member of the prestigious Para-commandos SOCOM parachute demonstration team. Now that he is retired from almost 28 years of active service to the United States, he is a governmental consultant for the International Board of Undersea Medicine and also enjoys writing books, skydiving and has a long-term goal of being a civilian astronaut.