Military working dogs help keep base safe, secure 24/7

  • Published
  • By Capt. Brus E. Vidal
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) --  When military people are in trouble, they call the cops. When cops need help, they call the K-9 unit.

Working dogs here provide explosive detection support and establish a force-protection presence that will halt or deter hostile action against coalition forces.

“Our main mission here it to provide explosive detection support to protect all Manas Air Base people and resources,” said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Gaul, the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing security forces kennelmaster.

The K-9 unit here operates two search pits, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to prevent any explosive devices from coming onto the installation or flightline areas.

Eight dogs and a team of handlers are assigned to the base and Sergeant Gaul said they also conduct perimeter patrols, looking for any potential perpetrators who might try to get on the installation. The dogs and handlers hail from various bases, including Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Shaw AFB, S.C.; Luke AFB, Ariz.; Sheppard AFB, Texas; Laughlin AFB, Texas; and Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. They normally deploy about once a year, but Sergeant Gaul said being on the road is part of the military working dog lifestyle.

“When we’re not deployed, we do a lot of Secret Service support, so with the election year coming up these guys are going to be real busy,” Sergeant Gaul said. “It’s going to be a weekly thing where they’re going out (on temporary duty) for two to three days at a time.

“As an explosive dog handler, if it’s not Secret Service things you’re dealing with, you’re deploying,” he said. “A lot of the handlers here are new, right out of school … they got to their base, picked up a dog and came to Manas.”

But sometimes it is not as simple as picking up the dog and going, especially when dog and handler meet for the first time, Sergeant Gaul said.

“A dog’s an animal, they have their own mind, and sometimes they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” he said. “You have to establish who’s the dominant one in the relationship, and sometimes you do butt heads.”

One handler here recently experienced this lesson in a very painful manner.

“Senior Airman (Scott) Heise and his dog, Rocky, had a little run in the other day and he got bit,” Sergeant Gaul said. “As a dog handler, that’s part of the job. You have to expect to be bitten and they tell you that in school.

“If you’re afraid of dogs, you don’t need to be here,” he said. “If you’re afraid to get bit, you don’t need to be here.”

Another airman here who knows first-hand about the perils of being a military working dog handler is Tech. Sgt. Robert DeBrosse, the 376th AEW military working dog trainer. He is a veteran of 14 bites from five different dogs, but those experiences do not dull his enthusiasm for the job in the least bit.

For one, you have to love dogs themselves to be a dog handler, he said. It takes a lot of work, a lot of extra duty, and it is not like a regular security forces job -- or any other job, for that matter.

“At the end of a shift, most people go home,” Sergeant DeBrosse said. “As a dog handler, you have to take care of your dog. You have to come in and feed your dog, bathe your dog, clean its run -- but I love doing it.

“The bond you build with the dog sets the job apart from any other,” he said. “It’s a bond like no other.”

That bond is extremely important, especially when a handler may be in jeopardy, Sergeant Gaul said. A military working dog is fiercely loyal to its handler and has a number of commands it will follow when instructed by the handler. The dog can also use its initiative to attack without command if it feels its handler is in trouble.

Sergeant Gaul said that ability to take control of a situation coupled with their training and ability to inflict major damage, if necessary, is what sets the handler and military working dog team apart from any other civilian or military law enforcement unit.

“One of the big benefits with the dog is it’s a big psychological deterrent,” he said. “If you walk into a room or go somewhere with a military working dog, people usually stray away from causing any trouble when they see that the dog is there.”

Deterrence is important, but the dogs’ main mission here is explosive detection, and to carry out either of these functions they need to be fit to fight, just like humans. So, the K-9 team has a full-time Army veterinarian on-staff here, and he takes care of all minor aches and ailments.

One of the major hazards here is the terrain. There are many rocks to walk on and many uneven surfaces. For humans in boots, this can be annoying. For a dog with a small foot and sensitive paw pads, it can be downright devastating, Sergeant Gaul said. Dogs do go down with leg injuries and some have been sent home, but the vet and the K-9 crew always do go the extra mile to make sure the dogs are well taken care of.

The K-9 team here would not have it any other way. Take Airman Heise, for example. Not long after his scuffle with Rocky, all was forgiven without a second thought. And that is the way it has to be because the mission does not stop, Airman Heise said.

“I’ve got the greatest job in the Air Force,” he said. “(We) have the responsibility to take control of most situations and the dog has the power to make a difference where a human cannot. Say you’ve got somebody out on the perimeter hiding in the dark. A normal person couldn’t find them, but a dog’s nose knows.”