Here are a few pictures and a video of Marine Sgt Joseph Prado and his war dog Brik, nicknamed “Brikhouse”. Sgt Prado was very proud of and loved his mwd(military working dog) so much that he wrote about his bond with his war dog and included it on one of his favorite photos. Prado has left the Marines while Brik continues to serve his country with the Corps.
Night vision view of Sgt Prado and Brik
IED’s detected by Brik
Brik with his well deserved award for saving lives.
Brik and Sgt Prado conducting a vehicle search
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13Ft8S_uJI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YUmFmPBP2k]
Military working dog Robby was nothing less than a beast. He was a Shepherd weighing in about 105 pounds. He was big, very strong, and a solid working dog while in the Marine Corps. All around Robby was a great mwd, however he had one thing that always kept handlers that knew him on alert-he was crazy. Dogs have personalities just like humans do and if there is a way to describe Robby I would say that he was a schizophrenic maniac. It was difficult because for the most part he was a playful and jovial dog that people could pet and even see themselves bonding with. However, out of nowhere and sometimes without any provocation he would snap and have one of his “episodes” where he went after anyone including his handlers. I don’t mean to just take a quick nip at someone either, I mean full out killer on the loose status.
Robby served his country by doing a tour in Iraq and also provided security on presidential missions. His presence was powerful and was a great psychological deterrent for would be attackers. He ended up with degenerative disorders that were uncorrectable and eventually had to be put down. R.I.P., Semper Fi
Here are a couple videos of Robby serving in Iraq with his handler Sgt Jason Cannon.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsUkf5Sjb9M]
If you had to guess what the biggest challenge to our dog teams overseas is, you might hear answers such as IED’s, performance during gunfire, and other combat related responses. But one of the biggest challenges is not necessarily how they may react to gunfire and bombs but how they adjust to and work in the weather.
Braving combat situations, searching for explosives for hours, and providing security at checkpoints are just a few of many uses dog teams are utilized for. By studying the combat environment dog teams can implement training programs to be very well prepared for just about any situation. While dog teams can be prepared for gunfire, explosives, and searching vehicles one element that is difficult to prepare them for is the weather.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3bNgRiqRE0]
The average temperatures in Iraq range from higher than 48 degree C (120 Fahrenheit) in July and August to below freezing in January. In this weather service members may slow down but they can still work for hours and days consistently. This weather can challenge a dog’s efficiency dramatically. Dogs have a much more difficult time expelling heat than humans do.
Not only do dogs have a layer of thick hair but they don’t have the ability to sweat either. Dogs cool down through panting and cooling their undersides. Keeping our dogs as fresh as possible requires constant hydration, and a significant supply of water everywhere the dog teams go. Handlers are also trained on how to give their dogs I.V.’s giving them the fluids they need.
Another weather element they battle are the sandstorms. Stinging sand can significantly reduce a dogs vision and ability to detect and work. With new gear and technology for the dogs we are able to limit the effect the elements can have on our dogs.
Handlers are supplied many top of the line products to help them keep their dog healthy and efficient. Ice packs and cool pads specifically designed for the dogs are a must have item for handlers. Specially made ballistic dog goggles called “doggles” are also often used to protect the dogs eyes. Handlers use booties to wrap around the dogs paws to keep their feet from directly stepping on the excruciating hot ground as well as glass and shrapnel. These items are just a few of many in the handlers arsenal that enable them to perform their duties and do what they do best which is saving and protecting lives.
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Tech. Sgt. John Mascolo and his military working dog, Ajax, left, await a helicopter pickup with Staff Sgt. Manny Garcia and his dog, Jimmy, outside Forward Operating Base Normandy, Iraq, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. The dogs are wearing “doggles” to prevent sand and debris from getting in their eyes during sandstorms or when near helicopters. The 35th Security Force Squadron Airmen and their dogs had completed a security sweep of a farmhouse looking for weapons and materials used to make improvised explosive devices. (U.S. Army photo/Pfc. William Servinski II)
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Found this story and wanted to pass it along. Has nothing to do with working dogs but I enjoyed it so I thought you might.
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Just Stay
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
“Your son is here,” she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.
He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.
“Who was that man?” he asked.
The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.
“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”
“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”
“I knew right away there had been a mistake,
but I also knew he needed his son, and his
son just wasn’t here.
When I realized that he was too sick to tell
whether or not I was his son,
knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”
The next time someone needs you … just be there. Stay.
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WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A
TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY
HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ON AND
GOD WILL BLESS YOU!
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PUT ON THIS EARTH TO DO ANYWAY. RIGHT ?
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!
GOD IS SO GOOD.
10. Dogs can’t talk back
9. Our own room, tv, new bed, snacks, and all other perks we get are needed “for our dog.”
8. Getting to see the look on the face of a schmuck before our dog sinks his teeth in them.
7. Watching decoys get ”housed”
6. We can train anywhere we want to-the mountains, the fields, and of course the beach
5. Training is done by noon.
4. Get to “work” concerts, superbowls, presidential missions, and more
3. They can be trained to “fetch” just about anything including beer, remote controls, and keys
2. Always have a friend that will do anything for you
1. Get to work with one of your best friends.
Listen to what he says at 1:03 and 1:20
I just love this video. You can tell he genuinely enjoys being a military working dog hanlder. All of us handlers share the same sentiment when he says “You can’t beat this job.” It is hard to be able to beat a job where you get to work/play with some of the world’s finest dogs and people everyday.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWsJ4AV1kJk&feature=related]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uorlAh-UDI]
Military Police, Ba’Qubah, Iraq Switch Team.
Military Police Mixed Forces.
Military Police, Camp Taji, Iraq MA1(S)Burgess with MWD Boetzo, SSgt Russ with MWD Rouge, SGT Laub with MWD Rocky, MA2(SW) Martinez with MWD Goof.
FOB Summerall, Iraq K-9 team SGT Matt Wilkinson-MWD Cezar, MA3 Danielle Konzelman-MWD Suzi, TSGT Tom Blandino-MWD Veki
Military Police, FOB Rustamiyah, Baghdad Iraq SGT Koivu with MWD Rex, SGT McEntee with MWD Ringo, SGT Taylor with MWD Aiko.
Military Police, Ba’Qubah, Iraq MWD Aron in the dog house.
The number one reason for troop casualties are IED’s(improvised explosive devices.) Any kind of bomb, whether it’s a roadside bomb, in vehicle, or hidden in a trash can are IED’s. Since there is nothing better that can detect bombs better than dogs it makes sense to include them on the war front to help deter any explosives and save both military and civilian lives.
Dogs were introduced to the U.S. military during WWI and were used to accomplish war related tasks. As the wars came and gone throughout the years war dog teams have had to continually adjust and adapt to modern day warfare. Used primarily as sentry, messenger, and scout dogs in the previous wars dog teams have had to learn new skills and develop new training programs to become battle ready in today’s combat zones.
After the Vietnam war, dog teams had not been used extensively in combat related missions until the “War on Terrorism” presented itself. Dog teams were primarily relegated to being military police k9 units patrolling the bases, being gate guards, and performing specialized missions off base every so often.
Now there are dog kennels being entirely devoted to deployments. Within these kennels are war dogs capable of doing specific tasks. One of these tasks some of the dogs are specifically trained to do is search for explosives and munitions independent from it’s handler.
With a normal mwd, military working dog, a handler would normally have to be close by the dogs side to guide it and assist it while searching. When a handler gets called upon to search an alley, bridge, or road they can have a bad gut feeling and sometimes be hesitant to walk down those areas with their dogs. SSD’s take that fear away.
SSD’s can have radio headset attached to them with a small microphone which allows the handler to give the dog commands through his radio. SSD’s allow the handlers to stay in control of the dog through voice and hand commands without being in danger of a potential ambush or IED detonation.
SSD’s are a result of today’s modern warfare as they were introduced to the military within the last few years. Adjusting to battle field conditions as well as keeping up with technology is an ongoing process for the dog teams and constant training is required to fine tune these newly taught skills. To handlers they welcome the challenge and are confident their dogs can overcome and adapt to anything that comes their way.
Semper Fi
Sgt. Richard Miller, from Floresville, Texas, a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Inf. Div., encourages his specialized search dog, Gabriel, before a search exercise at Forward Operating Base Hammer Oct. 24. Miller uses Gabriel in cordon and searches, cordon and knocks, raids, route sanitation and route clearance missions to sniff out explosives, munitions, weapons and ammunition. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
By Spc. Ben Hutto
3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — The German shepherd trots from rock to rock, ears pricked upward and nose pointed towards the earth, intent on his mission.
Several feet away, his handler, Sgt. Richard Miller, from Floresville, Texas, a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, silently watches as the dog gets closer to the C4 explosive he has hidden under some rubble.
The specialized off-leash search dog looks back at his handler and sits down beside the hidden explosive.
“Good boy,” Miller says, walking toward Gabriel. “Good job, Gabe.”
The dog’s tail swings back and forth as his trainer approaches. His mission accomplished, the dog eagerly awaits his reward.
Miller focuses the dog on the explosive while he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a worn-out orange cong. He tosses it in front of the dog and watches as he snatches it up and runs back to his handler.
The next few moments are filled with praise as Miller tosses the cong and Gabriel retrieves it.
“That’s the whole reason the dog does what he does,” explains Sgt. Timothy Kinsey, from Pueblo, Colo., a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. “We work to get paid. The dogs work for their reward. Gabriel is very focused on his reward. He’ll do anything for those congs.”
The 3rd BCT has three working dogs and they’ve been extremely busy since their arrival at Forward Operating Base Hammer.
“They are doing a good job,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tommy Jamison, from Elmira, Ore., the provost sergeant for the 3rd BCT. “I’ve had to learn about them, but they have been great assets.”
Jamison explained that the battalions in the 3rd BCT had to learn how to use the dogs on combat missions.
“They were skeptical at first,” Jamison said. “The Soldiers had their TTPs (techniques, tactics, and procedures) and those needed to be changed to accommodate the dogs, so that caused some friction. It was hard to explain to leaders that the dogs needed air conditioned vehicles and tents to rest, but once they saw the benefits, everyone accommodated them.”
Kinsey explained that there are limits to what the dogs can do.
“Some Soldiers have a hard time understanding that the dogs have the mentality of a four year old,” Kinsey said. “When a dog is tired, they are tired. I can’t tell them to suck it up and drive on. They love what they do, but they have limits.”
The dog’s sense of smell makes them perfect for detecting hidden contraband that Soldiers can overlook.
Miller explained that a dog can register and discern 10,000 – 40,000 scents at one time.
“The best way I can explain it is that if you were to walk into a fast food place you would smell the meat cooking on the grill and the mop bucket they are using to clean up a spill,” Miller said. “A dog will smell the fat in the burger charring, the meat cooking, the sesame seeds on the buns, the pickle juice, the type of perfume the cashier is wearing and a thousand different other scents all at the same time.”
That sense of smell allows dogs like Gabriel and Jim to smell a coil of detonation cord under a pile of rubble from 10 feet away.
“It takes a lot of luck and good information for the dogs to be effective,” Miller said. “We have to be in an area where there is something. Sometimes things can be buried too deep or they have been moved, but the dogs are very accurate if something is there.”
The accuracy of the dog’s ability can be directly attributed to the training that the handlers give them on a daily basis.
“Every day is a training day,” Miller said. “We conduct training as often as possible. It keeps the dogs sharp and helps us maintain our rapport with them.”
That rapport is critical out in the field.
“The main thing between a trainer and a dog is their rapport,” Kinsey said. “We have to notice the dog’s behavior and make decisions based on that. A dog’s normal temperature is between 101 and 103 degrees. If its body temperature gets up to 106, the dog starts shutting down and begins to die. Out here in the desert, that is a big risk we have to monitor.”
Miller throws Gabriel’s cong around a few more times before calling an end to the training session. The handler roughly shakes the dog and encourages him.
“Normally, specialized off-leash search dogs stay with the same handler their entire military career so we should be together a while,” Miller said.
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Benning, Ga., has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.
 MWD Marco
Attached is a photo of SSgt Timothy Miller and his assigned MWD Marco at the original gate of Bagram AB Afghanistan. Assigned to the 824th Security Forces Squadron at Moody AFB GA, SSgt Miller and MWD Marco deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in September 2001. Deploying to an airbase in Uzbekistan, SSgt Miller and Marco performed hundreds of explosive sweeps of inbound vehicles. The dog team also performed combat patrols with members of the 10th Mountain Brigade from Ft Drum NY. |
| From Uzbekistan, SSgt Miller and MWD Marco forward deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, being the first MWD team into Afghanistan. While there, SSgt Miller and MWD Marco were tasked to clear the US Embassy of potential explosive threats. As one of the first Americans to enter the embassy in over a decade, SSgt Miller and MWD Marco completed the sweep finding some old loaded magazines and a fuse from a cannon. SSgt Miller, along with an EOD technician, found the American flag crumpled in the corner of the office. SSgt Miller and his fellow team members cased the flag and laid it on the center of the US Ambassadors former desk, waiting for it to be returned to duty. |
