Citizen Aqualand - An Underrated Legend In Military Service

How An Unusual Japanese Dive Watch Became A Preferred Tool For Special Operations & The Military 

By Benjamin Lowry

Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, 25 November 2001

As Tony, a British Special Boat Service (SBS) operator, took a break from the heated battle, he picked up a satellite phone, presumably to contact higher headquarters. The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi was a six-day prisoner uprising in November 2001, where Taliban and foreign fighters revolted at a fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif, leading to intense combat, U.S. airstrikes, and the death of CIA officer Mike Spann. 

In stark contrast to his civilian clothes, the keffiyeh wrapped around his head, and a black carbine, was a large stainless steel dive watch.

Tony, a British SBS operator, on 25 November 2001, in Qala-i Jangi, Afghanistan, wearing a Citizen Analog Aqualand. (Photo Credit: Toby Harnden)

But what was a watch intended for diving doing on the wrist of an SBS operator deep in landlocked Afghanistan in one of the earliest battles of what would become known as the Global War on Terror? What may seem like an insignificant detail (“It’s just a watch, right?”) is actually the culmination of decades of shared history between an unsung dive watch hero and numerous special operations units around the world. 

Lake Michigan, United States, 12 July 2025

Leaving the surface, the dive boat quickly faded from view. The visibility was good for Lake Michigan in the summer, but not that good. I descended through the shades of green, following the downline to the wreck of the Tacoma, a 76-foot tugboat that became buoyancy-challenged in 1929. With a maximum depth of around 35 feet, I left the fancy diving computer at home and, like countless divers before, entrusted my safety to a Citizen Aqualand. 

Ben ascending from the wreck of the Tacoma in Lake Michigan with the 40th Anniversary Aqualand on the wrist. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens)

Reaching the wreck, the ridiculousness of the moment sank in. A bunch of dudes with “real” jobs and curated LinkedIn profiles wearing unnecessarily expensive scuba gear, invited by Citizen to take one of history’s most legendary dive watches on one of its tamest dives to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Aqualand has been used by Australian Clearance Divers, US Navy SEALs, Danish Frogmen, and countless other commercial and government divers. Who were we to cut the underwater birthday cake?

Don’t get me wrong. If the broader world of watch marketing should return to its former experiential glory, I’m all for it. That said, the Aqualand is and always has been one thing first and foremost: a tool; a utilitarian, relatively attainable dive watch that earned a passionate following among serious divers. If the Aqualand is something else, it’s modest, quietly getting the job done without Citizen so much as mentioning one of the most impressive records of military service of any watch. 

A Danish Frogman wearing an Aqualand during training operations.

In a conversation dominated by Rolex MilSubs, Tudors of Espionage (T.O.E.), Seiko, and G-Shock, it’s (finally) time to shine a light on the Aqualand, an underrated military dive watch with strong connections to the W.O.E. community. 

Birth Of The Diving Robot

In 1985, the landscape of dive watches in military service was in transition, with sweeping change spurred by the introduction of the first G-Shock, the DW-5000C, in 1983. In the wake of the Quartz Crisis, where many consumers moved to the cheaper, more accurate timepieces, the military led the charge. Digital Tool Watches (D.T.W.) presented a more affordable, equally reliable option; and mechanical analog watches, including the Tudor Submariner, were deemed too expensive for military service. 

US Air Force Combat Controllers prepare for a jump in 1994, with one wearing a Citizen Aqualand C023. (Photo Credit: US National Archives) 

When the Aqualand was unveiled in ‘85, it bridged a crucial gap, offering much of the digital functionality of something like a G-Shock while still providing the look, feel, and utility of a traditional analog dive watch. For real divers, especially those in the military, the Aqualand also had just enough diving-specific functionality, including depth measurement, rapid ascent and depth alarms, and a printed no-decompression limit (NDL) table on the strap, in an era where dedicated diving computers were still prohibitively expensive and delicate. 

Even as technology improved, the original Aqualand and its successors, the Analog Aqualand of 1992 and the Aqualand Duplex of 1995 or so, managed to maintain a lane juxtaposed against an increasingly digitized world, and nowhere was this more true than in military circles. 

Danish Frogmen & Pingo - The Commando King

Danish Frogmen in training, all wearing the Aqualand JP2000-08E. (Photo Credit: Soldaten)

Perhaps the longest-term military user of the Aqualand is the Danish Frogman Corps or Frømandskorpset, the southern Scandinavian country’s maritime SOF unit, which has issued the Aqualand to its combat divers from the watch’s earliest days until modern times. Rather than following the evolution of the Aqualand model family, evidence suggests the Frogman Corps pivoted from the C022/C023 to the JP2000-08E, essentially an updated recreation of the original, when it was released around the year 2000, continuing its use to this day. 

For combat divers like the men of the Frogman Corps, most of whom utilize pure oxygen rebreathers limited in their depth to around 10 meters or 30 feet, the Aqualand makes even more sense, as the more complicated decompression calculations facilitated by a diving computer simply aren’t necessary. 

Frederik X, who became Denmark’s king in 2024, served with the Danish Frogman Corps, a maritime SOF unit that has issued the Citizen Aqualand for decades.

Earning more recent respect from the W.O.E. community for wearing an Omega Seamaster unit watch at his coronation, the Danish King, Frederik X, served with the Frogman Corps starting in 1995. Nicknamed “Pingo” for an incident where his diving suit filled with water, forcing him to waddle like a penguin, Frederik X famously wore an Aqualand during his service, and the watch in Denmark today is also lovingly known as the “Pingo”. 

United & Undaunted - RAN Clearance Divers & Citizen 

RAN Clearance Divers prepare for a surface supplied dive while wearing the original Aqualand.

Among the earliest official military adopters of the Aqualand was the Clearance Diving Branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), which started issuing the original C023 and C022 Aqualand models soon after their release. Functioning much like the US Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Clearance Divers combine skillsets in explosives with comprehensive diving capabilities, making the Aqualand an excellent all-around tool for their unique use case. 

An RAN Clearance Diver wearing the Aqualand Duplex during training operations. (Photo Credit: Defence Imagery)

When we spoke with former Clearance Diver Hugh O’Brien, who graduated from the Clearance Diver Basic Course in the early 2000s, he remembered arguing over an Aqualand with the Chief Petty Officer in charge of supply. After some back and forth, the salty Chief acquiesced, saying, “You’ve earned it. Now fuck off before I change my mind.” More than just a tool, the Aqualand was a tangible representation of graduating from the RANCD’s grueling training pipeline. 

Typically worn on pull-through nylon straps, RAN Clearance Divers followed the Aqualand’s evolution through various model iterations up until the early 2000s and beyond, with anecdotal evidence as recent as 2019, showcasing the Aqualand’s staying power in a military context. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

British Special Boat Service & RN Clearance Divers 

Ben wearing a British MOD-issued Analog Aqualand, AL0004-03E, along with the 40th Anniversary model on his recent dive in Lake Michigan. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens)

More commonly associated with the CWC SBS and more recently, the Elliot Brown Holton, the British Special Boat Service has also been known to issue and utilize Citizen’s Analog Aqualand, albeit on a smaller scale. Where the CWC and Elliot Brown models have been more broadly issued, the role played by the Aqualand for the SBS was more specific, relegated only to certain squadrons, including the secretive operators of Z Squadron, which specializes in underwater attack and insertion using Swimmer Delivery Vehicles or SDVs. Of note, Tony (mentioned above) was reportedly a member of Z Squadron, which would explain how he wound up wearing the dive-oriented Citizen in Afghanistan.

Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer Lt Cmdr Sean “Central” Heaton wearing an Aqualand Duplex after being made an MBE in 2021. (Photo Credit: Royal Navy)

Like their Australian cousins, anecdotal evidence suggests that some Royal Navy Clearance Divers also opted for various Aqualand models, though some were likely privately purchased or procured on a unit basis as opposed to being more broadly issued. That said, the aforementioned Analog Aqualand, reference AL0004-03E, was awarded an NSN in the United Kingdom in 1995 (6645-99-219-3069), meaning the watch could have been purchased through proper military channels. 

US Navy SEALs, Divers, & The Aqualand 

Retired Navy SEAL Dave Hall wearing an Aqualand during his time in the Teams. (Photo Credit: Dave Hall)

It doesn’t appear to have been an officially issued item in the United States, but that didn’t stop the Aqualand from creating a core following among US SOF and conventional forces. Friend of W.O.E. Dave Hall, a retired Navy SEAL, purchased an Aqualand before joining the Navy and wore it extensively after becoming a Team Guy. Hall rated the Aqualand highly but said most SEALs of the era relied on the Seiko Turtle or G-Shock watches, typically issued by the Teams. 

US Navy Divers also widely purchased and used various Aqualand models during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, some of which are still up and running today, further evidence of the watch’s popularity among practitioners diving for their livelihood and country. 

The Aqualand’s Legacy

A JP2000-08E on the wrist of a Danish Frogman. (Photo Credit: Soldaten)

While watch dorks scrutinize caseback engravings and debate the provenance of rare examples of more celebrated military dive watches, the Aqualand has been quietly building its legacy on the wrists of real practitioners around the world. From the RAN’s Clearance Divers to Danish Frogmen, the British SBS to the US Navy, the Aqualand was issued as a tool, as essential to the task at hand as a mask or a pair of fins. 

Many of the watches discussed on W.O.E. are celebrated because they were used as tools, but the Aqualand still is, continuing to do the hard yards on the wrists of elite maritime SOF units like the Danish Frogman Corps to this day. 

For those in the W.O.E. community, the Aqualand isn’t just an underrated legend; it’s a reminder that sometimes, the real icons don’t have to be expensive, Swiss, or sexy; they just have to get the job done.

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