The Green Ranger | Check 1,2, Check

The days are counting down, my journey to Truk Lagoon is only a few days away now. I am beyond excited. I’ve started to watch more videos and learn more about Truk Lagoon. The military operation was called “Operation Hailstone”. It consisted of two days of bombardment crippling the Japanese military.

During recon, over 400 planes were spotted and plenty of warships were in the harbor. The Allies launched a surprise attack two weeks later catching the Japanese off guard. The Japanese only managed to get a handful of planes in the sky as people were either scattered across the various islands or planes were waiting to be repaired. This attack was retaliation for Pearl Harbor and some even claim it was bigger. It was a crucial turning point in the war against Japan. It forced Hideki Tojo (the Japanese Prime Minister) to admit to the people of Japan that they were in trouble and bad things were coming to the mainland.

What really caught me off guard was learning that there are cargo ships with complete construction equipment. I guess when we think war, we think of ammo, guns, planes, tanks, cars, etc… We over look the fact that they need machines/tools/supplies to build the actual base. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of this in the cargo holds as I hopefully explore the ships.

Here is a little breakdown of the gear I’ll be bringing with me:

BCD: Halcyon Explorer – This is my inflation system. It helps me stay neutrally buoyant in the water and allows me to float effortlessly.
Regulators: Atomic M1’s– I LOVE these regulators. They breath as if you were on the surface. I’ve tried others and it can feel like you’re breathing through a straw.
Fins: Scuba Pro Jet Fins. These fins are great, nice and heavy so it keeps my feet from being too floaty.
Primary Light: Halcyon Focus. I can’t wait to test this light out on the wrecks. I can control the spread of the beam which will hopefully allow me to get evenly lit images with my GoPro as well as lighting up the way!
Secondary Light: Halcyon Scout Light x 2. It can’t hurt to be prepared. From all my training, I’ve learned redundancy. The last thing I want is to be inside a wreck and have my primary light fail. Although my back up lights aren’t as powerful, they are good enough to get me out of any situation.
Exposure Protection: I am bringing with me a Bare 3/2mm wetsuit. The water temp is roughly 26-28°C all year round. I’m used to diving 0-5°C so this will be a nice change.
Camera: GoPro Hero 3+ Silver Edition for underwater, Nikon D7000 with a few different lenses while on land and for any shore excursions.
SMB (Surface Marker Buoy): Halcyon open bottom surface marker. This will be handy in surfacing or if I get separated from the group. Deploying this will allow boats on the surface to see where I will be ascending from. Its great for making sure you don’t get hit by a boat when surfacing.