FORCE BLUE – Puerto Rico from Working Pictures on Vimeo.

Jim Ritterhoff talks about FORCE BLUE and its latest mission in Puerto Rico to preserve and restore coral reefs. “FORCE BLUE is an effective approach to supporting our veterans so they can continue serving and help preserve our oceans, bays, lakes and rivers.

FORCE BLUE’s dive team, made up of members from across the U.S. military and British Royal Marines, returned to Puerto Rico in March 2018 to continue critical coral reef recovery and restoration work that we began last October in the wake Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

For this second deployment we again joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea Ventures and the Ocean Conservancy.

This underwater work can be extremely difficult. But, it is precisely the type of work and service at which our veterans excel.”

“Its like a construction site. It’s amazing to see. And, after all that damage … it’s incredible what these guys are doing,” said J.P. Booker of Ocean Conservancy. “Clearly, we got the right guys doing it.”

Puerto Rico’s coral reefs are an important part of the ocean ecosystem and their health is critical to rebuilding Puerto Rico’s vibrant tourism industry, providing jobs, and protecting lives and its valuable coastal infrastructure.

“It feels good to actually take the training that we had and implement into real world use,” says Geoff Reeves, Team 1 Diver and U.S. Navy Seal. “That was one of the things I loved about the military. We had mission. We had purpose. There was something that we were doing every day and there was reason behind. It feels good.”

To donate to the Force Blue cause and support their mission to restore purpose and a sense of honor to our returning combat veterans, while at the same time helping to preserve precious marine resources, visit here.

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