A former Athabasca resident has graduated in the top percentile of an extremely challenging program: the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) program with the United States Navy.
Lt. Dan Hawryluk has served with the Canadian Armed Forces since 2002 and currently works as the administrative assistant for the Director of Diving Safety in Ottawa. He is also training to become a maritime surface officer.
While classified as a foreign student, Hawryluk trained with the U.S. Navy’s EOD program as part of his initial instruction as a clearance diver.
He ended up finishing in the top one per cent of graduating foreign students.
“Yeah, I was happy. You have to achieve a minimum of 85 (to get a) passing grade. It’s already a pretty high standard, some of the tests can be pretty challenging,” he said.
Hawryluk added his graduating mark in August 2016 was a high 98.86.
Initial training for clearance divers with the Royal Canadian Navy is broken into two phases, the first of which includes a yearlong course in British Columbia learning dive physics, medicine and systems employed in the Canadian Forces.
“Then as an officer you also learn how to supervise those things and you get a little bit of basic underwater demolition exposure,” Hawryluk said.
The second aspect of the training is seven months in Florida with the EOD program.
“As part of our job, we have to be required to conduct Explosive Ordinance Disposal. Because of the resources the U.S. has, it’s better for us to go down and do the course there,” Hawryluk said.
His military career began a year after graduating from Edwin Parr Composite School in Athabasca, and Preston gave a shout out to one of his teachers, Terry Korman, for the part he played in the opportunities Preston has received.
“He wrote two letters of recommendation for me that were quite instrumental in presenting opportunities to me. Him going out of his way to do that for me is very much appreciated,” he said.
Korman, now a retired teacher from EPC, said he is “so proud” of Hawryluk’s accomplishments.
“It is just amazing to look at the transformation, both physical and mental. He has become in the finest sense — and I’m loath to use the phrase because I don’t for a minute want it to seem trite — an officer and a gentleman,” he said.
He added it is a delight to follow Hawryluk’s military career and to know he played some part in it.
Hawryluk’s father, George Hawryluk, said he is pleased to see his son rank amongst the few Canadians who have completed the elite course.
“(It’s) very strenuous, physically and mentally. Very few actually graduate from it, and he was one of the people who successfully completed it,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of his academic and professional achievements ... who wouldn’t be?”
