War Dogs Help In Many Ways
Many people don't realize how many dogs are at work in the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dogs are detecting explosives, finding mines, providing security, patrolling with their soldier partners, and performing search and rescue work, among many other jobs. The bonds between dogs and their partners are as strong as life and death situations can make them.
Dogs have been involved with war work for eons. They have officially been assisting the United States armed forces since World War I.
In World War II, 436 scout dogs walked combat patrols overseas, often detecting the enemy at a 1,000 yards, long before men became aware of them.
Dogs continued to serve with distinction in other conflicts. In Korea, the Army used about 1,500 dogs, primarily for guard duty.
During the Vietnam War, nearly 4,000 dogs were employed and, officially, 281 were killed in action, though many others were left behind at the end of the conflict.
There are organizations today which are working to celebrate and commemorate these canine heroes. One of the groups at the forefront is The United States War Dogs Association http://uswardogs.org/index.html. They have worked to build a memorial to deceased war dogs and they accept donations (including doggy items) to send K9 care packages to the dogs at work in Iraq now. For more information about the organization and what the military working dogs in Iraq need, please visit their site.
Here are a couple of stories about what these dogs do in the war zone.
From K9Magazine.com
Abused Dog Makes A Difference In Iraq
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Keria with handler Yvonne Watson
Keria, a four-year old Springer Spaniel and her handler, Lance Corporal Yvonne Watson have been working hard finding illegal weapons of war in an effort to reduce the tensions that are present in Iraq.
Yvonne, 30, is a Dog Handler in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and Keria is a four-year-old spaniel who was rescued from abuse to start a new life in the Army as an Arms Explosives Search Dog, often referred to as a ‘sniffer’ dog. They are both on their second tour of operational duty.
A victim of mistreatment by children, Keria is still apprehensive in the presence of young people, but is an excellent search dog. They have both served a tour of duty in Afghanistan before coming to Iraq.
Called out whenever there is a suspicion that arms and explosives may be hidden, the duo deploy by helicopter, armoured personnel carrier or Land Rover to where they are needed. It is hot and difficult work, temperatures are already reaching 50oC in early May, and summer has still to fully arrive.
Yvonne and Keria trained together at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray and have been working as a team for two years now. “She is a lovely dog,” said Yvonne. “I really think that we are making a difference out here to the local people. They are trying to get their lives together and I would like to think that we are helping.
“We have been very happy working together. I have applied to keep her after she has retired which is in another four years.”
The dogs are housed in air conditioned kennels and even have their own swimming pool and will move to Cyprus at the end of their tour of duty in Iraq.
Yvonne joined the Army three years ago after the downturn in the dairy farming industry. Her parents still live in Monikie, Dundee.
Military Working Dogs Save Many Lives
From locating improvised explosive devices to identifying weapons
caches, these trained dogs assist troops with Operation Enduring Freedom
U.S. Navy Master at Arms 2nd Class Phillip Darity, a U.S. Navy dog handler, issues commands to his military working dog, Argo, while conducting a simulated training drill. Argo, who is trained as a bomb and patrol dog, has served in the Navy for about one year and is making his first deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Arlo K. Abrahamson
By U.S. Navy 1st Class Terry Dillon
Naval Station Rota Public Affairs
ROTA, Spain, Sept. 16, 2005 — Military Working Dogs (MWD) and their handlers from Naval Station Rota are actively participating in the war on terrorism by providing support to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as bases in the United States and overseas.
"As a kennel master, I am proud to know that we train some of the best dog teams in the world that are responsible for saving so many lives."
“People don’t realize how many lives MWDs save,” said Chief Master at Arms Ricky Neitzel, kennel master of Naval Station Rota's Security Department. “There are several instances in which MWDs have located explosive-laden vehicles or improvised explosive devices (IED) designed to kill or injure U.S. forces, as well as locating numerous weapons caches of small arms and ordnance used by insurgents and terrorists.”
According to Neitzel, Naval Station personnel are rotated to Iraq and Afghanistan for four to six months, depending on operations and on the arrival of relieving MWD teams. Neitzel said the regional kennel masters of each respective region make many of the decisions on which MWD teams deploy. These decisions are based on the entire inventory of dogs that are available, handler and dog qualifications and whether or not a dual- or single-purpose MWD team is required for the mission.
“If our base is directed to support a particular mission from CNE/CNRE (Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Commander, Navy Region Europe), then the kennel master, after direction from the base commanding officer, will assign an MWD team to fulfill the mission,” said Nietzel.
Upon arrival in Iraq or Afghanistan, Neitzel said the MWDs and their handlers are assigned to joint service or Army units in which they perform explosives detection duties at entry control points and other areas, as well as patrol capabilities to search for suspects hiding in various wooded and urban environments. He said once the MWDs and their handlers arrive in a particular theater, they will fall into the area of responsibility of the on-site kennel master regardless of branch of service.
Neitzel explained, “We work hand-in-hand with all the branches of service and may be working with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.”
Since November 2003, Naval Station Rota has provided five MWDs and handlers on different rotations. Master at Arms 1st Class Jason D. Clark, accompanied by MWD Dino, was the first Naval Station Rota dog handler to go to Iraq.
Clark and Dino were in Iraq from November 2003 to April 2004. During his tour in Iraq, Clark was assigned to the 320th Military Police Company (Army Reserve) and the 82nd Airborne Division.
Clark said it was both scary and exciting to work in Iraq, as it gave him the opportunity to work with the Army for the first time as well as to use different kinds of patrolling, such as cover and concealment.
Clark said one of the advantages of working with the Army Reserves was that many of them are policemen in the civilian world, which made the comfort level high. However, he attributes more of his comfort to Dino.
“The dog becomes your best friend, because it is with you 24/7,” said Clark. “The dog loves unconditionally, and that is a great feeling.”
Master at Arms 2nd Class Corey Juber and his MWD Elza are currently serving in Iraq. Juber said he has wanted to serve there for some time, and having Elza as his partner does have one particular advantage.
“The advantage is that I am with my partner, Elza, all the time,” said Juber. “We are doing the job we have been training for since I got to Rota. [Elza] is an old girl, but she does a good job.”
In all, Neitzel said he is proud of the accomplishments that all of the MWDs and handlers have done in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as here on base and at other bases throughout the United States and overseas.
“As a kennel master, I am proud to know that we train some of the best dog teams in the world that are responsible for saving so many lives,” said Neitzel.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/sep2005/a091605la1.html
Trainer Rescues Dog from Fire
Sergeant low-crawls through smoke to save his military working dog from blaze.
Katja, a 3-year-old Belgium Malinois weighing 63 pounds, is trained to attack and to detect the odor of explosives. She and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher McCleskey are with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq assisting the Army in explosives detection.
By Chrissy Zdrakas
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga., March 16, 2006 — It was a clear, cool night at Forward Operating Base Wilson near the city of Tikrit in central Iraq. Staff Sgt. Christopher F. McCleskey gave his canine partner, Katja, food and water and left her in their quarters after a mission.
He ducked into a dining hall shortly before 9 p.m. Jan. 28 for a quick bite to eat. A half hour later, the calm shattered when an officer shouted the news: The building McCleskey shared with his dog and 50 other military members was ablaze. Black smoke choked the night air. Katja was trapped.
"I tried to run into the building, but another sergeant grabbed me and said 'no.' I told him my dog was inside, and I had to go."
"I tried to run into the building, but another sergeant grabbed me and said 'no.' I told him my dog was inside, and I had to go," McCleskey said. The building, about 55 yards away, was a converted warehouse.
McCleskey's first sergeant, U. S. Army 1st Sgt. Sean Bailey, stepped in, saying "You have to let him try." The first sergeant grabbed a fire extinguisher, McCleskey handed his M-4 rifle to another military member and a life-saving mission began.
"We low-crawled all the way to my room due to the smoke being so low,” said McCleskey. “I couldn't see anything but the ceiling tiles on fire.“ When the sergeants reached Katja's kennel, they couldn't see the dog through the smoke.
"I yelled for her to come to me," he said. "She didn't move. She was lying on the kennel floor and was non-responsive. So I reached into her kennel, grabbed her collar and hit her just below the rib cage. I heard her gasp for air as I pulled her out of the building.
"By the time I got her to the road, which was about 25 yards away, she was hacking up her lungs. I carried her around for a very long time as she still continued to hack."
He reported the injury to the 101st Provost Marshall's Office, and within an hour, Katja's veterinarian was on the phone telling him to be ready to leave in 30 minutes. McCleskey said he was not injured.
"He (the vet) told me he was nine-lining us out of the area. Nine-lining means that a soldier is hurt, and we become the priority for the air. Military working dogs are viewed as soldiers, so if they get hurt, then we do everything in our power to get them out of action and to medical assistance fast."
Before long, a Blackhawk helicopter — vet on board — was landing.
"Katja and I jumped into the Blackhawk, and we flew to Baghdad Airport," he said. On the way, the vet gave the dog medication to help her breathe. When they arrived at the airport, the chief surgeon for military working dogs in Iraq was waiting on the helicopter pad. A Humvee whisked them off to the vet clinic, where Katja was given a physical and antibiotic treatment.
"The vet said all she truly needed was rest," McCleskey said. "After a couple of days, we went to Forward Operating Base Speicher (just outside the city of Tikrit) where we did our rehabilitation, and after about a week, Katja was improving so well that we went back to FOB Wilson."
FOB Wilson recognizes the value of the man/canine team in its mission.
"Sergeant McCleskey has been a valuable asset to all operations he has gone on," said Bailey. "His dedication to duty is shown every day through his constant training with his partner MW Dog Katja. The personal expertise he brings to the job exemplifies the Air Force core values."
The Air Force and Navy have backfilled the Army to help it complete its missions. Since all handlers in the Defense Department are trained at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, they can do any job the other services require, McCleskey explained. At Lackland, handlers receive training to administer to their dogs during emergencies, a life-saver the night of the fire.
"I just reacted to what was in front of me,” he said “I didn't even think about what was going on. When I was briefed that the fire was in our building, all I could think about was getting my dog out. If it happened again, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing."
For more stories and photos of Military War Dogs (MWD), visit .
