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Bret Gilliam
Bret Clifton Gilliam (February 3, 1951 – October 8, 2023) was an American pioneering technical diver. He 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. He is also one of diving's most popular writers. Gilliam is the author or coauthor of 72 books, over 1500 feature magazine articles, and over 100 magazine cover photos. In his diving career he has logged over 19,000 dives[citation needed] since 1959.
Gilliam was a multimillionaire from the sale of several businesses that included Technical Diving International (TDI), V. I. Divers Ltd., AMF Yacht Charters, Ocean Quest Cruise Lines, G2 Publishing (Fathoms Magazine), Sea Ventures Ltd., and Uwatec. Several of his companies grew into multi-national conglomerates and two were taken public in major sales while others were sold to private investment groups. The aggregate value of his companies when he sold them was over $80 million.[citation needed]
Gilliam formed the consulting service Ocean Tech in 1971 and provided expert witness testimony for diving and maritime related legal cases. Since 1973, he has appeared in over 400[citation needed] legal cases nearly exactly evenly divided between defense and plaintiff litigation. (A case in which he appeared as the maritime and diving expert witness for the plaintiffs resulted in a $12 million settlement in May 2015.) Gilliam has also testified in criminal trials and been Congressionally appointed to military court martial proceedings for the U.S. Marine Corps. Special Consultant in various capacities for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[citation needed]
Bret Gilliam was born at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to Commander Gill Gilliam (retired as Captain) and Jeanne Gilliam. He was the first of three children. His younger brother Chris was murdered in 1972 at the age of 16 while attending an outdoor concert in Puerto Rico.
In 1959, the YMCA developed the first nationally organized course and certified their first skin and scuba diving instructors, and Gilliam began his diving training with Lt. Chuck Brestle while his family was stationed at the Naval Air Station Key West that same year.
From 1965 to 1967 he attended Virginia Beach High School until the school system split students to attend the newly created First Colonial High School. He remained at First Colonial High School until 1967 when his father was transferred to Brunswick Naval Air Station as Senior Executive Officer. He graduated from Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Maine, in 1969. While in high school, he was a stand-out athlete playing football, ice hockey, and baseball while also swimming and running track. He also was sponsored as a surfing competitor for Hobie and Hansen surfboards[citation needed] and participated in contest events on the east and west coasts (and Caribbean) as well as promotional sales activities for those manufacturers from 1965 to 1970.
Gilliam then went on to attend the University of Maine and Bowdoin College where he studied history and political science. He 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.[citation needed] Gilliam left his undergraduate studies early to join the Navy project and then went on to pursue a business career by starting Ocean Tech.
Gilliam held several diving jobs and competed as a semi-professional surfer while in high school and college.
Bret Gilliam
Bret Clifton Gilliam (February 3, 1951 – October 8, 2023) was an American pioneering technical diver. He 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. He is also one of diving's most popular writers. Gilliam is the author or coauthor of 72 books, over 1500 feature magazine articles, and over 100 magazine cover photos. In his diving career he has logged over 19,000 dives[citation needed] since 1959.
Gilliam was a multimillionaire from the sale of several businesses that included Technical Diving International (TDI), V. I. Divers Ltd., AMF Yacht Charters, Ocean Quest Cruise Lines, G2 Publishing (Fathoms Magazine), Sea Ventures Ltd., and Uwatec. Several of his companies grew into multi-national conglomerates and two were taken public in major sales while others were sold to private investment groups. The aggregate value of his companies when he sold them was over $80 million.[citation needed]
Gilliam formed the consulting service Ocean Tech in 1971 and provided expert witness testimony for diving and maritime related legal cases. Since 1973, he has appeared in over 400[citation needed] legal cases nearly exactly evenly divided between defense and plaintiff litigation. (A case in which he appeared as the maritime and diving expert witness for the plaintiffs resulted in a $12 million settlement in May 2015.) Gilliam has also testified in criminal trials and been Congressionally appointed to military court martial proceedings for the U.S. Marine Corps. Special Consultant in various capacities for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[citation needed]
Bret Gilliam was born at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to Commander Gill Gilliam (retired as Captain) and Jeanne Gilliam. He was the first of three children. His younger brother Chris was murdered in 1972 at the age of 16 while attending an outdoor concert in Puerto Rico.
In 1959, the YMCA developed the first nationally organized course and certified their first skin and scuba diving instructors, and Gilliam began his diving training with Lt. Chuck Brestle while his family was stationed at the Naval Air Station Key West that same year.
From 1965 to 1967 he attended Virginia Beach High School until the school system split students to attend the newly created First Colonial High School. He remained at First Colonial High School until 1967 when his father was transferred to Brunswick Naval Air Station as Senior Executive Officer. He graduated from Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Maine, in 1969. While in high school, he was a stand-out athlete playing football, ice hockey, and baseball while also swimming and running track. He also was sponsored as a surfing competitor for Hobie and Hansen surfboards[citation needed] and participated in contest events on the east and west coasts (and Caribbean) as well as promotional sales activities for those manufacturers from 1965 to 1970.
Gilliam then went on to attend the University of Maine and Bowdoin College where he studied history and political science. He 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.[citation needed] Gilliam left his undergraduate studies early to join the Navy project and then went on to pursue a business career by starting Ocean Tech.
Gilliam held several diving jobs and competed as a semi-professional surfer while in high school and college.
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