Photo By Staff Sgt. AJ Duprey | Leashes, collars and vests for all of the military working dogs of the 8th Security...... read more read more
Picture 55 pounds of pure muscle and fur running at 30 miles per hour intent on chomping into an arm with the bite strength of roughly 200 pounds. This is the view when a military working dog (MWD) is on a mission.
His line of sight might just hold a bad guy or someone in a giant protective suit, either way, this dog is nothing to mess with because he’s got a job to do and he didn’t learn that job on his own.
Dogs have been utilized in warfare since about 600 B.C. and the tradition is still going strong. At Kunsan Air Base, Security Forces Airmen work side by side with MWD handlers and their canine partners every day to ensure 100% mission readiness.
“Our missions lie in detection and patrol aspects. We’ve got detector dogs and quite a few patrol dogs used for walking patrols, perimeter patrols and things of that nature,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Howey, military working dog handler with the 8th Security Forces Squadron.
With such an important task at hand, the job isn’t easy and is not for the impatient. While these dogs are high-functioning and extremely smart, they are still dogs that require a lot of training.
Senior Airman Kevin Santos, a military working dog handler with the 8th Security Forces Squadron, said the most challenging part of the job is, “the mental toughness it requires to have to continuously repeat a task and sometimes not have any success. Sometimes, you need to change your method to ultimately get to where you want to be so you can see your dog perform at the level you want to see him at.”
While the handlers are readying their mental toughness, they are also actively engaged with the Korea National Police special weapons and tactics team (KNP SWAT) and the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) to ensure strong ties while supporting the United States Forces Korea (USFK) and 8th Fighter Wing commander’s priorities.
“We’ve actually done joint training with KNP SWAT as well as ROKAF showcasing our capabilities and strengthening our ties. With the KNP SWAT we actually both got to demonstrate and discuss some similarities in our utilization with working dogs and some differences which really broadened a lot of our minds in the possibilities of these partners,” said Howey.
Because Kunsan Air Base has a high turnover rate with a unique mission and culture, it has unique challenges. Many career fields on base face “Kunsan-specific” difficulties and the MWD handlers are no different.
“With it being a short tour you really get a knack for just how important training is and the bond shared between both dog and handler. We are almost at a disadvantage by trying to pick up a brand new dog to train, validate and certify when we get here. Before you know it, you’re passing on that leash to the next inbound handler,” said Howey.
Although there are many challenges that come from training with a four-legged airman, there are also many rewards.
“We put so much time into training these dogs, it’s as if our own child finally masters that task you have been working on for weeks and you have no choice but to be proud of them,” said Howey.
From puppy to protector, the career of these four-legged service members requires as much devotion as their two-legged counterparts that serve alongside them.
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2020 22:39 |
| Story ID: | 363980 |
| Location: | KR |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Aim high! Fly, bite, win!, by SSgt AJ Duprey, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT