Photo By Abigail Meyer | Senior Airman Sara Yandell, 319th Security Forces Squadron, Grand Forks Air Force...... read more read more
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By Pfc. Frederick Connelly, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs
EL PASO, Texas-- The sun beat down on the eerily empty city of Kamal Jabour, a training area near Fort Bliss, Texas, on Nov. 10, 2016, as military working dogs and their handlers slowly and thoroughly conducted a search of the premises. The city, which is a notional training location here, gave the MWD teams a training area that accurately represented what a village downrange would look like, and more importantly, gave them realistic training scenarios they would likely encounter during a deployment.
The training, which tasked the MWDs with seeking out any hidden explosive devices, was part of the Desert Defender Ground Combat Readiness Training Center’s K9 Pre-Deployment training. The course was designed to get MWD’s and their handlers to work at an extremely proficient and professional level, and to sharpen and refine the skills of both members of the team.
“Me being brand new, this is a lot,” said Senior Airman Kaleb Sermeno, assigned to the 60th Security Forces Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California, as he reflected on his first training exercise through the notional village.
Sermeno and his MWD Ben were tasked with clearing the area, raiding multiple buildings and encountering different explosive devices.
“There’s a lot of multitasking that needs to be done while also remaining focused on what’s going on around you,” Sermeno said. “There’s a lot of different things you have to watch out for, whether it be an IED in the road or a pressure plate against a wall, and the course is definitely helping me with what me and my military working dog need to look out for.”
While downrange, handlers and their MWDs mostly work with smaller-sized infantry units while searching areas suspected of having hidden explosive devices. It is a dangerous and demanding job, which is why the instructors of the course focus on the correct procedures and maneuvers a handler must use while they are in the realistic training environment provided at Kamal Jabour.
“When it comes to the handlers, we focus on leash handling and getting good control of the dog that they will be working with. We focus on weapon tactics and weapon discipline, and how to best maneuver while wearing the same equipment they’ll be using during deployment,” said Tech. Sgt. Zachary Cahall, instructor, Desert Defender Readiness Training Center. “When it comes to the dogs, we focus on introducing them to buried and homemade explosives and making sure they react properly to the commands they’re given.”
Just as important as mastering the tactics taught to them during the training exercises throughout the course, is the fact handlers need to realize the importance of teamwork with their canines.
“The biggest thing I’d say that every handler needs to work on is just overall trusting their dog and making sure that they have a tight bond with them. You have a lot of people who come through this course and they’re nervous, and they don’t realize yet that these dogs are smart and know what they’re doing,” Cahall said. “For them to work to the best of their abilities, the handlers have to have complete trust in their dogs.”
Sermeno had realized this too, after going through his first run with Ben.
“The instructors really bring light to the fact that you are here mostly to guide your dog, and that your dog is doing a lot of the work too.”
Although the course is only 26 days long, each of the 28 MWD teams will have gone through countless exercises and learned many new skills by course’s end, the training does not stop. When the MWD teams return to their home stations, they will not only practice the new maneuvers they learned with their MWDs regularly, but they will also share new tactics with fellow handlers.
“When it comes to working with these dogs, it takes a lot of repetition and a lot of time. It’s more than just simple training or commands. It’s something you have to continuously work on, and I don’t think it’s something you can ever perfect. So you just have to keep training and keep improving,” Sermeno said.
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2016 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 216625 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Military working dog learn to seek out explosives in notional village, by Abigail Meyer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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