The MAC Wreck came from Pensacola after being used as a training platform for air crews.  It replaced the ACCOKEEK at NDSTC as a salvage diver platform.  It was formally the LITTLE DOG and acquired for training purposes in Pensacola.  Like all our local wrecks the MAC Wreck is performing well at its final job.  Attracting marine life, divers and fishermen this is a great asset to our local marine environment.  Cleaned and prepped in Orange Beach by Walter Marine it was then towed to its resting place in Panama City for divers and fishermen. 

MAC Wreck: In 2007, the Panama City area received another gift from the local Navy Base.  The NDSTC (Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center) donated a training hull to the reef program through a local alternative school.  The wreck was named in honor of Dick “Mac” mcCullen, a longtime local resident.  Dick retired from the Air Force in Panama City and was an avid diver and “old school” NAUI Instructor.  Dick taught many classes over the years through Divers Den, a local dive shop located near the Air Force Base.  

Originally, the 65 Little Dog was used in the Pensacola area training air cre members on the fine art of getting out of a parachute in the water.  This was a two-step process that involved a trainee getting pulled into, and dragged over, water while he/she got free of the chute and lines.  The other process involved another vessel similiar to a parasail boat coming alongside and allowing the chute to inflate from the top deck and lifting the crew member airborne.  A release was then activated and the chute would bring the crew member back to the water for another release drill.  This was usally accomplished in less than ideal sea conditions and a full load of approximagely twenty students would sit, cramped in the lower deck area, nervously waiting for their turn.  Obviously, this was an activity that was enjoyed better as an observer rather than a participant.  After being deemed surplus, the Little Dog was picked up in 2003 by NDSTC to replace a pier side training hull that was being sent offshore as a reef (ACCOKEEK).  The wreck was cleaned and transported to Panama City by Walter Marine and served the rest of its career being sunken, and then raised, at the dock by students in the salvage program.  The sinking marked the third wreck given to the local community by the NDSTC.  At 65 feet, the MAC is a bit smaller than the other two but, nonetheless, is an excellent addition to the local reef program.