SUDS Founder John Thompson Named September/October '25 Sea Hero

John Thompson, SUDS

Year Dive Certified: 1987

Dive Certification Level: SDI Dive Instructor

Expertise: Working with disabled veterans through high-adventure sports

Social Media

Instagram: @suds_inc

Facebook: facebook.com/SUDSUSA

John Thompson is the founder and executive director of Servicemembers Undertaking Disabled Sports (SUDS). Since 2007, the backcountry guide, veteran and scuba instructor’s program has helped hundreds of disabled veterans and successfully helped over half a dozen disabled veterans go from open water certification to scuba instructors working in the dive industry today.

Q: For someone who isn’t familiar with your program, what is SUDS?

A: SUDS is Servicemembers Undertaking Disabled Sports. We are a nonprofit organization working with disabled post-9/11 veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. We use high-adventure sports to help with the rehabilitation process. You can learn more at sudsusa.org.

Q: How did a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., back in 2005 inspire your vision for the SUDS program?

A: In the summer of 2005, my wife had just started her medical residency at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I went to Walter Reed to meet her for lunch, and as soon as I walked into the main lobby of the hospital I encountered many, many servicemembers with severe injuries. I knew at that moment that I wanted to get involved and help, but I wasn’t certain how to go about it. I gave it some thought and decided to volunteer with the American Red Cross at Walter Reed, and that eventually led to the start of the SUDS program.

Related Reading: How to Succeed As a Scuba Instructor

Q: Why was it important for you to expand beyond scuba diving?

A: I had been a backcountry guide in the Rockies and Desert Southwest for many years. I would spend part of the year guiding in Colorado and Utah and then the other part of the year down in the Caribbean working in the dive industry. As a professional guide, we follow the seasons. Once I got the SUDS program going, I would occasionally meet a disabled veteran who couldn’t dive because of their injury or just wasn’t interested. Because of my background in high-adventure sports, I felt we could reach more veterans by offering more sports. Today, in addition to scuba, we offer snow skiing, mountain biking, canyoneering, rock climbing, fly-fishing, backpacking and paddle sports.

Q: Can you share a story of an individual who has been positively impacted by scuba diving with SUDS?

A: That’s hard to narrow down to one individual. I’ve had several veterans tell me that diving saved their lives. After surviving the devastating effects of war, many came home with severe depression and PTSD along with their physical injuries. We would often get them in our program four months off the battlefield. I would see a change from when we first met during dive academics and pool work to completing their scuba certification down at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or Puerto Rico. I felt like diving was often the catalyst to climbing the next mountain. I believe some thoughts: If I can get scuba certified as an amputee or with a traumatic injury, what else can I accomplish? I think it helped and can help a lot of veterans move forward and get that confidence back.

Q: What do you view as the greatest challenges in marine conservation today? How are these challenges reflected in your own work?

A: I was in Central America last year on a SUDS dive trip, and it was so sad to see all the debris and trash that had washed up on the shoreline. It’s a worldwide problem, and we’re not immune to it here in the United States. The trash that goes into the water in one part of the world can harm marine life anywhere and also end up on our supper table through microplastics. We do a lot of international travel with veterans in the SUDS program, and they see firsthand what our oceans and marine life face through the effects of pollution. But I also feel it can make them greater stewards of the sea. If they hadn’t been introduced to diving, they may have never seen the challenges our oceans face today.

Related Reading: A Post-Injury Return to Diving

Q: What's been your most satisfying moment?

A: In the 18-plus years that the SUDS program has been around we’ve had over a half dozen disabled veterans go from open water certification to scuba instructors and working in the dive industry today.

Q: What's been your most surprising moment?

A: That so many people over the years have wanted to help…often complete strangers. People have offered their time, money and expertise to help us help our nation’s wounded, ill and injured servicemembers. We’ve definitely been blessed throughout the history of this program.

Q: Who are your "sea heroes"?

A: Capt. George Purifoy (deceased). George was the owner of Olympus Dive Center in Morehead City, North Carolina, and one of the founders of the World War II German submarine U-352, sunk off the coast of North Carolina. I worked several summer seasons for Olympus, and though George never knew it, I looked up to him as a father figure. George was such a knowledgeable, accomplished and humble man who ran a successful dive operation on the Crystal Coast of Eastern Carolina.

Q: Is there anything we did not ask that you would like readers to know?

A: Tell us what's important to you! The SUDS program is 100 percent free to qualified post-9/11 disabled veterans and first responders. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and you can find more information at sudsusa.org.

Each month in Scuba Diving, we feature a Sea Hero who has been nominated by their community members for their commitment to the advancement of conservation, education, and exploration. In our December issue, judges select a Sea Hero of the Year. Nominate a Sea Hero at scubadiving.com/seaheroes.