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A new facility for military working dogs had its official opening April 5 on Camp Hansen.
The kennel, built to house military working dogs assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Group's newly formed Military Police Support Company, provides specialized and general military police services to units throughout III MEF, according to Gunnery Sgt. Greg Ashby, the new facility's kennel master.
Most of the dogs attached to III MHG, III MEF, are currently located at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif. The new kennel will allow about a third of those dogs to be stationed on Okinawa, according to Ashby.
The Hansen kennel can house up to 24 dogs, all of which are valuable assets in the war on terrorism according to Ashby.
"Having MWDs in this area of operation will benefit Marines through increasing training opportunities with MWDs and having more MWD support during actual deployments and operations," Ashby said.
The dogs provide valuable assets to deployed Marines especially with the large threat improvised explosive devices pose in current operations, according to Lt. Col. J.D. Troutman, the III MEF Provost Marshal.
"The assistance MWDs provide in detecting weapon caches and explosive materials, thus removing them from enemy use, is extremely important," Ashby agreed. "MWDs are a great asset for commanders to have during many types of combat operations.
"The explosive detector dogs and specialized search dogs are being heavily relied on in our current conflicts to combat IEDs. These MWDs are a psychological and physical deterrent to our enemies and provide a sense of comfort and reassurance to our war fighters," Ashby added.
In addition to their combat effectiveness, the group of dogs and handlers coming to Okinawa will take some of the pressure of deployments off the Marine Corps Bases Japan Provost Marshal's Office K-9 units and allow them to focus on their mission, according to Troutman.
"This is a significant deal," said Troutman. "This will relieve the installation MWDs and their handlers of their deployment requirements and allow them to focus fully on the safety and security of the bases and stations on Okinawa."
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.08.2010 22:08 |
| Story ID: | 47868 |
| Location: | CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 342 |
| Downloads: | 263 |
This work, New kennel on Okinawa expands working dogs' capabilities, by Sgt Aaron Hostutler, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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