Thanks for the many words of encouragement!
I do have to retract something I wrote earlier. My workaround for the command interface is totally unnecesary. It was my lack of understanding of how the sound functions work that was the problem. The command interface works as designed and it is a really great feature.
Now that I do understand the sound functions, it's full speed ahead on turning the crew into a bunch of Chatty Kathys. Currently I'm going through all the sound files, listening to each one and cataloging them for future use.
I also realized I that what I was going to use as a workaround will let me get the watch to clear the bridge when the dive command is given, rather than using the occasasionally flukey IsSubmerged function. I should be able to make them behave in a more realistic manner as well as adding lots of talking.