Photo By Sgt. Aaron Diamant | Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Thomas, right, course instructor, reaches for...... read more read more
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YUMA, Ariz. - As the light fades and the stars begin to appear, most people are thinking about crawling into bed. The men and women of the Inter-service Advanced Skills K-9 Course are putting on and checking their gear, getting ready for another training day with their four-legged partners, waiting for them in the nearby kennels.
It’s no secret the largest killer of American service members in Afghanistan is improvised explosive devices.
The military may train its troops to look for the signs of an IED, but when it comes to saving the lives of our deployed Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, there are few tools more valuable than a Military Working Dog.
To hone the military police K-9 teams’ skills before deployments to Afghanistan, the three-week Inter-service Advanced Skills K-9 Course at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground’s K-9 Village, puts them through some of the rigors the teams can expect in a combat zone.
It takes a lot to make a MWD team. First, it takes a very special and highly trained animal. But, just as important to the team is the handler responsible for the dogs’ care and training.
A MWD team takes care of one another. While the dog is tasked with locating potentially life threatening explosives and bomb making materials, the handler is tasked with keeping the dog fed, hydrated, in top working condition and reading the signs the animal gives when it has found something.
Much like service members are expected to care for one another if they are injured, the handlers are taught to care for their animals in an emergency. It’s so important, canine first aid is the first thing the course covers. After that, it’s all combat preparation.
“We train for combat,” said Staff Sgt. Ken Porras, course instructor and native of North Bergen, N.J. “There is no sugar coating, whip cream or cherries on top; it’s straight survival. This is not a basic dog handler course, it is a team advanced skills course, designed to strengthen the team.”
The course is known to take its toll on participants, but there is a reason it takes place in Yuma.
“It’s a tough course, the heat alone will get you,” said Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Trevor Houseknecht, a K-9 handler stationed at Naval Submarine Base Groton, Conn., and native of Dead Center, Penn. “A lot of the dogs aren’t used to this kind of environment. It’s over 100 degrees outside, and the ground temperatures can get up to 150 degrees. This is why they call this place ‘The Proving Ground,’ it’s Afghanistan’s twin.”
Teams come from all over the world for IASK, some from Japan, Germany, Italy or even Alaska.
“It’s a good way to proof your dog, a good way to test your dog,” said Gunnery Sgt. Kristopher Knight, the course’s chief instructor. “If you and your dog can’t perform here, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to do it in Afghanistan. The similarity we have here to Afghanistan, down to the sand and stone, it’s a great environment to train in for them, as opposed to where some of them are coming from.”
The terrain is harsh, the weather is unforgiving, but so is where they are headed to perform their life saving mission.
“Afghanistan is not the time or place to learn, it’s the time to perform,” said Knight, who has been working with MWDs for more than 18 years and during numerous deployments. “This is the time to work out your deficiencies, not just your dogs’, but the handlers as well.”
The teams are subjected to realistic environments and training problems, with ideas for problems taken straight from the battlefield. Explosive training aids of various forms and sizes are hidden for the teams to find.
“Our training problems are longer and more realistic than what some of the handlers are used to,” said Knight.
Knight’s goal is to get the dogs to work at a greater distance from their handler than they might be used to, and without the dog being leashed to its’ handler.
“I want to get the dog to be able to do the task on its own with your directions,” said Knight a native of Camp Dennison, Ohio. “Thirty to forty meters can be the difference between life and death. As bad as it may sound, I can train another dog, but I can’t replace this kid,” he said of one of his student teams.
The students know the dangers of their chosen profession, but the vast majority of them wouldn’t trade what they do for anything, even a reporter’s job with a big, fancy camera and plenty of time in an air conditioned office.
“I absolutely love being a dog handler,” said Army Staff Sgt. Megan Hobson, a native of Richmond, Utah stationed in Vicenza, Italy, while working with her MWD Jalk. “It’s a lot of work to pick up your dog and run with him, but it’s an awesome job and this is an awesome course.”
As the students go their separate ways after the course, they will take their new insights with them to spread to other handlers, and put their experiences to the ultimate test: combat.
“I honestly wish we could do this kind of stuff every day,” said Lance Cpl. Nick Lemon, a Visalia, Calif. native stationed with 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion, Iwakuni, Japan, while caring for his partner Benny. “This is the kind of stuff we sign up for. This training is great, and will better prepare us for our future engagements.”
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2012 12:30 |
| Story ID: | 95379 |
| Location: | YUMA, AZ, US |
| Hometown: | CAMP DENNISON, OH, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH BERGEN, NJ, US |
| Hometown: | RAMSEY, MN, US |
| Hometown: | VISALIA, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 780 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Dogs of War: IASK preps canine teams for combat, by Sgt Aaron Diamant, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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