33 Facts About Bret Gilliam

Bret Clifton Gilliam was an American pioneering technical diver.

Bret Gilliam was most famous as co-founder of the certification agency Technical Diving International along with Mitch Skaggs, and as the one time holder of the world record for deep diving on air.

Bret Gilliam formed the consulting service Ocean Tech in 1971 and provided expert witness testimony for diving and maritime related legal cases.

Bret Gilliam was born at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to Commander Gill Gilliam and Jeanne Gilliam.

In 1959, the YMCA developed the first nationally organized course and certified their first skin and scuba diving instructors, and Bret Gilliam began his diving training with Lt.

Bret Gilliam remained at First Colonial High School until 1967 when his father was transferred to Brunswick Naval Air Station as Senior Executive Officer.

Bret Gilliam graduated from Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Maine, in 1969.

Bret Gilliam was sponsored as a surfing competitor for Hobie and Hansen surfboards and participated in contest events on the east and west coasts as well as promotional sales activities for those manufacturers from 1965 to 1970.

Bret Gilliam then went on to attend the University of Maine and Bowdoin College where he studied history and political science.

Bret Gilliam won a National ROTC Scholarship in 1968 and was scheduled to be commissioned as an Army officer when he was recruited to do alternate service on a Navy deep diving project filming nuclear fast attack submarines.

Bret Gilliam left his undergraduate studies early to join the Navy project and then went on to pursue a business career by starting Ocean Tech.

Bret Gilliam held several diving jobs and competed as a semi-professional surfer while in high school and college.

Bret Gilliam was cited for heroism by the Virgin Islands' Governor for his attempt to save Temple when he broke off his decompression and swam back into the attack.

Bret Gilliam survived an out-of-air free ascent from extreme depth and had to be evacuated to Puerto Rico to be treated for decompression sickness.

In 1977, Bret Gilliam served as the founder and president of AMF Yacht Charters Ltd.

Bret Gilliam began conducting research on dive computer safety during this time and remained with Ocean Quest until the company was sold to Sea Escape Cruise Lines in the fall of 1990.

Bret Gilliam performed a deep air dive on February 14,1990, at a site named "Mary's Place" in Roatan to 452 feet.

Bret Gilliam later reached 475 feet in October 1993 to better his own record.

From 1990 to 1992, Bret Gilliam was the President of SEA VENTURES LTD as well as CEO and Master of the 142-foot motor yacht P'zzaz.

In 1993 Bret Gilliam was elected as a Fellow of The Explorers Club, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of field exploration and scientific inquiry which is headquarter in New York city.

Bret Gilliam co-authored two books over this time period in addition to his work on the training materials used in IANTD courses.

Bret Gilliam remained in this position with IANTD until 1994 when he joined Mitch Skaggs and Tanya Burnett and formed the training agency Technical Diving International as part of the corporation International Training Inc TDI quickly grew to be the largest technical training agency in the world with offices in 26 countries.

Bret Gilliam remained President and chief executive officer of International Training Inc until February 5,2004, when it was sold to investors backing Brian Carney who had been serving as the General Manager.

Bret Gilliam took over as president and CEO of UWATEC USA in 1996.

Bret Gilliam was instrumental in assisting UWATEC's founder and owner, Heinz Ruchti, with the sale of the company to Johnson Outdoors the following year for nearly $50 million.

Bret Gilliam stepped down in November 1998 when Johnson Outdoors merged UWATEC USA with ScubaPro and relocated the company to El Cajon, California.

In 2000, Bret Gilliam served as the president and CEO of a medical program for divers, DiveSafe Insurance Inc and later sold the company in 2004.

Bret Gilliam served as the publisher or editor of several magazines over the years.

Bret Gilliam continued to serve as a contributing editor for diving periodicals such as Diver, Journal of Diving History, Tech Diving Mag, Undercurrent, Asian Diver, ADEX, Asian Geographic, International Society of Aquatic Medicine and Unterwasser.

Bret Gilliam was the author or contributor to 72 books, over 1500 magazine articles, and over 100 magazine cover photos.

Bret Gilliam was elected to the Board of Directors by the National Association of Underwater Instructors membership in 1992.

Bret Gilliam formed the philanthropic Diving Legacy Foundation as vehicle to make donations to various worthy recipients and projects in the diving industry.

Bret Gilliam died from complications of a stroke on October 8,2023, at the age of 72.