from the beginning...
David J. "D.J." Mansfield was born in the small town of Houston, Texas County, Missouri. As a young child, his father transferred his family to St. Louis, Missouri where he would spend weekends floating down the Meramec River or getting into trouble like every other teenage boy from the Midwest. At 17 years old, D.J. graduated from Jackson High School and hopped on a plane to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. This was his first time on an airplane and the start of a 21 year adventure with the United States Marine Corps.
D.J. would experience his first dive in Sasebo, Japan with his best friend, Ryan. That is where the passion for scuba diving began. Never really aware of underwater activities, D.J. found this world amazing and relaxing. As time would go on, D.J. would slowly begin to climb his way up the educational ladder for the Professional Association Diving Instructors. From Open Water Diver to Advanced, then on to Rescue; D.J. decided to go for the professional level of certifications. He began to dabble in technical diving and explore through specialties as well. Some notable ones are cavern diving, tri-mix diving and many others. As he completed his Instructor Development Course, he realized scuba diving was becoming a lifelong dream. In 2009, D.J. attended PADI's Course Director Training Course (CDTC) and began to work as an instructor trainer in many facets of the dive community. He is part of a small elite group or Technical Diving Instructor Trainers on the west coast and continues to discover wrecks all along the coast.
After retiring from the Marine Corps as a Master Sergeant (Enlisted-8 or E-8), D.J. assumed his role as the Director of Operations for Beach Cities Scuba Centers. Managing the Service Department, marketing for the company and communicating on a near hourly basis with the customers of the company; these are just a few of his many duties. He is well-versed in website development, managing cloud based systems for coordination of mass efforts and Amazon/EBay merchant/warehouse operations. D.J. is responsible for the creation of the largest, best-producing Groupon in Orange County for the last four years.
A community volunteer and coordinator, D.J. has volunteered many hours of his time to community coastal clean-ups as well as underwater clean-up activities through his 25 years of diving. He was featured in numerous articles about the diving community as well. A good steward and lover of the water, he plans to continue this effort well into his golden years as a community diver. Most recently, D.J. was featured and highlighted by numerous news outlets as a coordinator for the Dana Harbor Underwater Clean Up, giving advice about local diving and snorkeling as well as highlighted for confirming the location of local wrecks. He currently serves on the board for the Newport Harbor Underwater Clean Up and the Chamber Day/Chamber Eve board.
In the future, D.J. plans to become a more well-versed diver within the technical diving community as well as continuing his love in teaching professionals about their duties and responsibilities to the underwater realm. He is full of energy and always ready to accomplish the next large task at hand as a goal oriented individual.
For divers looking for quality instruction, D.J. puts his best foot forward every single day. It is his goal to provide you with quality instruction.
D.J. would experience his first dive in Sasebo, Japan with his best friend, Ryan. That is where the passion for scuba diving began. Never really aware of underwater activities, D.J. found this world amazing and relaxing. As time would go on, D.J. would slowly begin to climb his way up the educational ladder for the Professional Association Diving Instructors. From Open Water Diver to Advanced, then on to Rescue; D.J. decided to go for the professional level of certifications. He began to dabble in technical diving and explore through specialties as well. Some notable ones are cavern diving, tri-mix diving and many others. As he completed his Instructor Development Course, he realized scuba diving was becoming a lifelong dream. In 2009, D.J. attended PADI's Course Director Training Course (CDTC) and began to work as an instructor trainer in many facets of the dive community. He is part of a small elite group or Technical Diving Instructor Trainers on the west coast and continues to discover wrecks all along the coast.
After retiring from the Marine Corps as a Master Sergeant (Enlisted-8 or E-8), D.J. assumed his role as the Director of Operations for Beach Cities Scuba Centers. Managing the Service Department, marketing for the company and communicating on a near hourly basis with the customers of the company; these are just a few of his many duties. He is well-versed in website development, managing cloud based systems for coordination of mass efforts and Amazon/EBay merchant/warehouse operations. D.J. is responsible for the creation of the largest, best-producing Groupon in Orange County for the last four years.
A community volunteer and coordinator, D.J. has volunteered many hours of his time to community coastal clean-ups as well as underwater clean-up activities through his 25 years of diving. He was featured in numerous articles about the diving community as well. A good steward and lover of the water, he plans to continue this effort well into his golden years as a community diver. Most recently, D.J. was featured and highlighted by numerous news outlets as a coordinator for the Dana Harbor Underwater Clean Up, giving advice about local diving and snorkeling as well as highlighted for confirming the location of local wrecks. He currently serves on the board for the Newport Harbor Underwater Clean Up and the Chamber Day/Chamber Eve board.
In the future, D.J. plans to become a more well-versed diver within the technical diving community as well as continuing his love in teaching professionals about their duties and responsibilities to the underwater realm. He is full of energy and always ready to accomplish the next large task at hand as a goal oriented individual.
For divers looking for quality instruction, D.J. puts his best foot forward every single day. It is his goal to provide you with quality instruction.
