Poplar Grove, Ill. native refl;ects on her time as a Marine and military working dog handler [Image 2 of 2]

CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT

04.24.2017

Photo by Sgt. Matthew Callahan              

24th Marine Expeditionary Unit

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (April 24, 2017)— “I’m not just that Marine that says, ‘every Marine a rifleman.’ I can actually say ‘I’m a rifleman,’” said Cpl. Sunsette Winsler, a military working dog handler assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). “I knew I was going to be a Marine when I was 12 years old,” the Poplar Grove, Illinois native said. But her mother didn’t exactly envision her daughter joining the service. Winsler pursued law enforcement until she was about 19 and enlisted in the Marines. “I didn’t tell my mom for about two months,” she admitted. She volunteered to go to Infantry Training Battalion, a roughly two-month military occupational specialty school to become a basically trained rifleman, after recruit training. She said the school opened her eyes to the way the infantry worked, and that the experience has informed the way she operates in her job now as a dog handler. As far as being a handler, Winsler and Bella, her military working dog, have been together “since day one,” Winsler says. “I got to train with Bella for six weeks, certify her, bring her to the fleet and stay on her. I am her first handler and she’s my first dog. I have to rely on her for my life and she has to rely on me for everything else.” The 24th MEU is currently deployed with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners and preserve the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration by Sgt. Matthew Callahan)

• Date Taken: 04.24.2017
• Date Posted: 05.11.2017 11:25
• Photo ID: 3339299
• VIRIN: 170424-M-IN448-246
• Resolution: 6000x7499
• Size: 21.4 MB
• Location: CAMP BUEHRING, KW
• Hometown: POPLAR GROVE, IL, US