Photo By Chuck Cannon | Once trainIng is complete, it’s time for a little play.... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — For the 20 members of Fort Polk’s 50th Military Working Dog Detachment, 519th Military Police Battalion, the moniker “Man’s Best Friend” takes on a whole new meaning.
These Warriors spend nearly every day building relationships with the dogs placed into their care, forming teams that save the lives of Soldiers fighting the nation’s wars in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I see it as, you’re out there to make sure everyone is safe,” said Spc. Joseph Carrasco. “Everybody is a team, but you’re there to make sure they get from point A to point B safely, and they make it home safely. That’s a satisfying part of the job — making sure everyone comes home.”
While Carrasco has yet to deploy, he has worked stateside security missions. However, Sgt. Kristin Vanderzanden deployed to Afghanistan with her dog Frankie. The pair spent nine months with a 3rd Special Forces Group team.
“I got Frankie as a green dog, straight from Lackland (Air Force Base) doggie boot camp,” Vanderzanden said. “I was also new. We were pushed through training very fast, and ended up deploying within a year to Afghanistan.”
Supporting a Special Forces A Team fulfilled a dream of Vanderzanden’s.
“That was a big reason I wanted to be a dog handler; that’s why I joined the Army,” she said. “When I joined, females couldn’t go Special Forces so I hoped that by becoming a dog handler I might be able to do something that was challenging. We got through the deployment and Frankie and I had a great relationship with the SF Soldiers we were working with. We are a good team.”
Vanderzanden said the textbook answer is “no” when asked if the dogs become part of a handler’s family.
“You’re not supposed to make the dog a part of your family, but I don’t think that is realistic,” she said. “Frankie’s my partner, he’s my baby. We’ve been together almost three years and made it through a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan.
“We’ve survived through some tough times. He’s been the one consistent thing in my life the last three years.”
Sgt. 1st Class James O’Grady, the 50th MWD kennel master, said he’s worked as an MP or dog handler for 19 years. He said it’s difficult when it’s time to PCS or move up in rank and have to leave your “partner.”
“I’ve been a handler for about 14 years, had eight dogs and three deployments with three different dogs,” he said. “They were all year-long deployments, so we spend a lot of time with these dogs. It’s just you and your dog when you’re on patrol, so you’re in there just talking with your dog for a 12-hour shift. The dog is the only one you have to talk to. When we deploy, the dog stays with you in a room; we don’t have nice kennels like this for them to stay in.”
O’Grady said he tells his handlers not to get too emotionally attached to their dogs.
“But you’re always going to have that attachment,” he said. “That’s tough sometimes for handlers, because in the Army, you eventually move.”
It can also be tough if your partner succumbs to injury or sickness. Spc. Scott Kokjohn’s partner, Dan, died during surgery while the pair was deployed to Afghanistan.
“It was a lot harder than I imagined,” he said. “I had dogs growing up and some died of old age and it was just part of life. But it’s different when you have a special bond with them. I had that special bond with Dan. We saved people; you can’t get any closer than we were.”
Kokjohn said that often while they were deployed it was just he and Dan for extended periods of time.
“We lived together, slept together, everything,” he said. “But life happens and you have to move on. I was fortunate: As soon as I got back they gave me a new dog they had just gotten from Lackland. She’s wild, full of energy and has no off switch. She’s making slow progress but she’ll get there.”
Kokjohn said it is inevitable that he compares his new dog — Astro — with Dan.
“I’ve struggled a bit, comparing her to Dan; he was experienced and had been with different handlers,” he said. “But she’ll be fine; it will just take a little time, for both of us.”
While Vanderzanden, Kokjohn and Carrasco work with bomb sniffing dogs, Spc. Mackenzie Velarde has a narcotics dog. Velarde said she’s following a family tradition — sort of — with her military job.
“My mom was an MP, but I wanted to do something a little different,” she said. “So even though I’m an MP, I’m also a dog handler, MOS 31K.”
Once the pair is certified, Velarde said they will work the road on routine police patrol duty and assist commanders with health and welfare inspections and similar missions.
“She (Velarde) will get a lot of phone calls at 2 or 3 o’clock in morning,” O’Grady said.
The dogs receive daily training at the kennel, located on Service Command Center Loop, and other locations on Fort Polk. They focus on detecting explosives or narcotics, depending on their specialty.
Of the unit’s 14 dogs, four are currently deployed. Although everyone in the unit is a trained handler, only 18 are currently working with dogs.
Each of the Soldiers said one of the most important traits a handler can have is patience.
“Dogs are intuitive,” Vanderzanden said. “If you get frustrated, they will know it. They have distinct personalities and like people, they have good days and bad days. If he senses I’m upset, it will affect how he handles.
O’Grady agreed and said that makes the job difficult at times.
“A dog can’t tell you if he’s upset or hurting,” he said. “That’s why we do so much training so we can learn to read our dogs as accurately as possible.”
While having to leave a dog for a new assignment or for a promotion is tough, O’Grady said there is no other job he’d rather have in the Army.
“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” he said. “We’ve proven in battle that we can protect Soldiers and get them home safely to their families. And at the end of the day, that makes what we do worthwhile.”
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2020 13:17 |
| Story ID: | 362170 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 125 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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