When Staff Sgt. Michael Pita unlatched the kennel gate last December to meet his new partner, he was not expecting to get a full-body embrace.
Hector, an energetic Belgian Malinois, stood up on his hind legs, placing his front paws against Pita’s chest. At 5-foot-10, Pita found himself nearly eye-to-eye with a dog standing up to his chin, with his tail wagging, showing his eagerness to work.
That enthusiasm was the beginning of a transformative journey for both the 55th Security Forces Squadron handler and Offutt’s newest military working dog.
The Department of War’s MWD program, managed by the 341st Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, produces all U.S. military detection dogs throughout the world. When a canine arrives at its first duty station, they are matched with a handler to establish a partnership from the ground up.
Pita and Hector spent their entire first week together avoiding rigid restrictions. Through a method known as inducive training, the pair focused solely on long walks, playing, and unstructured bonding.
“During that time, it was all about seeing what behaviors he offers naturally and making our one-on-one time valuable,” Pita explained. “You learn what motivates him, what techniques work best when teaching a new task, and how to approach obstacles we might encounter in the field.”
When Hector arrived, he was comfortable sweeping enclosed environments such as barracks, warehouses, and vehicle bays. However, he was not as comfortable in open fields and roadways. Outside the confines of four walls, wind patterns and open terrain required a different type of drive and focus that needed to be cultivated to succeed.
Pita dedicated weeks to showing Hector the value of working in open areas. Through patience and tailored reinforcement, Hector learned to effectively read open-air scent cones; the invisible, funnel-shaped plumes of odor carried by the wind. Today, Hector sweeps wide roadway perimeters and open fields with the same precision he displays indoors.
“In regard to Hector, I would say his progress has been spectacular; he is one of the best dogs Offutt has seen in the last eight years,” said Staff Sgt. Keaton Leshko, 55th SFS MWD trainer. “He is top of the line in his work and continues to improve every day.”
Hector’s development took another step forward during his patrol training. Arriving as a single-purpose detection dog, Hector had never learned controlled aggression or bite work. Pita took on the challenge of building that capability from scratch.
To teach Hector the nuances of controlled aggression, Pita often stepped into the heavy bite suit himself for ‘self-decoying.’ By taking on the impacts directly Pita was able to teach Hector exactly how to turn his aggression on and off on command.
“Being able to train his bite work from the ground up and showcase his new capability, I was proud to say, ‘I did that!’” Pita said.
That discipline was on full display during a recent demonstration for the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team during their College World Series tour of Offutt. Spectators watched Hector execute the ‘escort’ command; walking calmly alongside a simulated suspect without biting.
“In the field, we might be by ourselves while backup is still on the way,” Pita noted. “We instill the escort command, so the MWD assists us in moving suspects safely back to our patrol vehicle after an apprehension.”
With detection certification completed in March 2026 and full patrol qualification secured in July 2026, the team now stands fully mission-ready for installation security and explosive detection.
“Staff Sgt. Pita has a great work ethic and sacrificed a lot of time and effort to get Hector to where he is today,” said Tech. Sgt. Brenden Smith, 55th SFS kennel master. “They have been one of the best military working dog teams I’ve worked with since arriving at Offutt.”
For Pita and Hector, the long hours in the bite suit and the early morning sweeps are simply what it takes to protect the base. For Pita, it all traces back to that first moment at the kennel door; the chin-high greeting that grew into a partnership.