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Name:
Kevin Hicks

Age:
35

Hometown:
Long Beach, Miss.

Occupation:
Police Officer/ First Class Port Security Specialist, Coast Guard Reserve

Favorite Dive Destination:
The Slot, near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Certified:
June 2007

Level of Certification:
Rescue Diver

Kevin Hicks got called to service at Guantanamo Bay while honeymooning with his new wife. Determined to make the best of his location by fulfilling a lifelong ambition, he swung by his local dive shop before he left to pick up a mask, snorkel and fins. "The first thing that hit me when we got off the plane was the clear water," he says. "The visibility blew my mind." He signed up for his open-water class that first week.

The diving bug bit him hard and in a matter of months he blew through his advanced and rescue courses along with a handful of specialties. "My friends made fun of me down there because I was just eaten up with it," he says. "I'd like to be a divemaster someday--maybe even an instructor. Also, I've been doing some research about police dive teams. Hopefully I can start a dive team for our city."

Kevin ended his deployment last December with a Rolodex full of dive buddies. "I met someone from every branch of the military down there that's into diving as much as I am," he says. And he's already hard at work on making new dive buddies back home. "My stepson is going to do it, and hopefully my brother's going to get certified," he says. "I don't think I can get my wife talked into it though--well, maybe."