Seth enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2006. His MOS was 11B (Infantry). His unit was A co. 1/68 CAB, 3BCT, 4ID. He deployed with his unit twice to Iraq between the years of 2007-2011. He was diagnosed with PTSD in 2022 in connection to with an IED attack while operating in Baghdad, Iraq in 2008. He was honorably discharged from the army in 2011.

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Seth was introduced to Underwater Soldiers in 2019 (Just before the covid-19 pandemic) by a member of the board who was working at the Vet Center of Kalispell, where Seth was a client. The board member invited Seth to try therapeutic scuba diving, sharing that it might help him with what he was going through. Upon arrival, he discovered that he was actually Underwater Soldier’s first veteran to attend a therapeutic scuba diving session. He went through the basic introduction to scuba diving (PADI Adventure Scuba) and was diving on his own before the session was over.

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At the time of Seth's first dive night, he had not yet been diagnosed with PTSD and was seeking out ways to help manage the difficulties he was having in his personal life. He described having moments of rage at home and struggled communicating with his spouse. After diving, he shared that he felt more relaxed. While under the water, he was able to clear his mind and just listen to himself breath. This feeling of relaxation would stay with him beyond the dive sessions while at home and engaging with his family. His spouse also noticed that he was much more calm when coming home from a session and that would last for a few days after diving. This positive feedback and his own feelings of relief kept him coming back to the therapy dive sessions and contributed to him became a better husband. The more he kept diving, the less he would have outbreaks of anger towards his family.

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Today, Seth still attends dive nights regularly. Since his fist dive with Underwater Soldiers, he obtained certification for open water diving and has participated in many of the Flathead Valley clean-up events sponsored by Underwater Soldiers.

 

Seth's PTSD diagnoses came after his discovery of Underwater Soldiers therapy diving, and while he still struggles with it, he strives to continually improve upon himself with diving as one of his tools. He believes that scuba diving therapy has helped him become a better person and advocates for helping veterans that are seeking help for physical and/or mental injuries inherited from serving in the United States armed forces.