Joe Dituri
Clinical Researcher, Public Speaker, Naval Officer (retired), Author and Dad
CDR Joseph Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was later commissioned into the Special Operations Officer pipeline. Currently, he is on active duty in the U. S. Navy and is a Saturation Diving Officer with 25+ years of service.
Joseph earned a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina and a Master's Degree in Astronautical Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. His current assignment for the Navy is as Chief Engineer for Special Operations Command Program Executive Officer Maritime Undersea.
He is one of only 27 qualified 2000 fsw ‘Hardsuit’ pilots and has worked in every facet of diving. A few of his former duties in the USN include: 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, SUPSHIP Project Manager, and Business Operations Officer. CDR Dituri is a member of the Acquisition Professional community and is a Level III Program Manager capable of managing programs of $4B. His personal awards include three Navy Achievement Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, and four Navy Commendation Medals.
Joseph is an avid technical / rebreather diver who owns part of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers while serving as their Vice President (Training). He is also an Instructor Trainer for Diver's Alert Network and a Hyperbaric Physician Instructor for the International Board of Undersea Medicine (IBUM). Joe is also the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Association for Marine Exploration (AME) which is a non-profit corporation. Their mission is to conduct and facilitate innovative scientific exploration of undersea environments. Through the novel application of advanced diving equipment and techniques, we provide unprecedented opportunities for research and discovery in ways not possible by conventional means. AMEs overriding goal is to foster increased knowledge about the ocean and its inhabitants, enabling better understanding and more effective preservation of a wide range of marine habitats. In a civilian capacity, Joseph has trained hundreds of technical divers to dive and physicians in the use of hyperbaric medicine. He is a contributing author to the Navy Diving Manual and has been published in several journals and magazines, including those produced by the American Society of Naval Engineers and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Joe is a veteran of numerous deep diving expeditions and has an affinity to explore the undersea environment.
A sample listing of training materials Joseph has developed include Tao of Survival Underwater, IANTD Rescue Diver, IANTD Dolphin and Ray Training manuals, IBUM & IANTD Diving Medical Technician Manual as well as the revolutionary series of IANTD ‘FUNdamentals’ DVDs for Rescue Diver, Divemaster and Rebreather Diver. He has assisted in production of IANTD standards and procedures, numerous training slides used in IANTD programs as well as the IANTD Nitrox Diver Manual, IANTD Public Safety Diver Manual, IANTD Azimuth Rebreather Diver Manual and IANTD Overhead Diving Manual.
Now that he is retired from almost 28 years of active service to the United States, he is a consultant for the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration and is pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of South Florida with a concentration in life support equipment. He is also a member of the American Bureau of Shipping Special Committee on Building and Classing Undersea Vehicles and Hyperbaric Systems and the National Offshore Advisor Committee for Commercial Diving Safety. Joseph enjoys writing books, skydiving, and has a long-term goal of being a civilian astronaut.
