Canadian navy divers are putting their underwater expertise to use along the sand roads of Afghanistan.

Experts trained to defuse bombs underwater have been stationed in Afghanistan since early 2006, adapting their skills to combat the deadly roadside bombs commonly used by insurgents.

The military asked bomb-clearing personnel to join the mission in Kandahar province to help counter the increasing threat of roadside bombs.

Petty Officer Luc Champagne was among the first group of divers to serve in Kandahar. He said it was a bit of a surprise, at first, to be called to the landlocked country.

"I was like, 'OK, what am I going to do over there,'" Champagne told CTV News. "There is not that much difference between under water and surface."

Most commonly, navy bomb handlers use their demolition expertise to defuse unexploded ordinances left over from the Second World War.

It's a dangerous job offered only to elite divers. Most often, navy divers are noted for their role responding to civilian tragedies.

They helped recover bodies and wreckage following the Swiss Air crash in 1998, and made waterways safe in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"When you see naval divers it's generally things like Swiss Air. It's in doing rescue-type operations," said Lt.-Cmdr. Leanne Crowe.

Champagne said the desert and danger were new, as most divers have never been to war.

"Every time we managed to find and defuse an IED, it was a great job. It was saving coalition forces," he said.

In the new year, a fresh rotation of divers will head to Kandahar, to combine their skills with the experience of others, clearing the roads of Afghanistan.

With a report from CTV's Denelle Balfour