Military working dog team inspects potential 22,000-gallon bomb

Published April 10, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher
386th Air Expeditionary Public Affairs

CAMP BUCCA, Iraq (AFNS) -- Military working dog handlers and their canine partners are used throughout Southwest Asia to detect explosives that are meant to injure servicemembers and innocent civilians.

For one dog handler, Staff Sgt. Joseph Null, and his dog, Lucca, this task took an interesting turn.

"There was a fuel truck that had gone off road and got stuck in the sand," said the sergeant, who is part of the 42nd Military Police Brigade. "It had been abandoned overnight, and I was tasked to go out with the Army to sweep the area leading up to the vehicle and basically clear the area for improvised explosive devices that had been attached to the vehicle."

This is an important, though dangerous step, he said.

"Anytime you're going to have people go into an unknown area, you want to clear it as best as you possibly can," Sergeant Null said. "If you can have an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team clear it or a bomb-sniffing dog go out there and clear the area, then you're taking one more threat away from the Soldier who has to go out there and do a job."

But IEDs weren't the only threat posed by the abandoned truck. It was carrying 22,000 gallons of gas, potentially turning the truck into a massive fuel bomb.

"That makes a pretty big bomb if there's some C4 strapped to it," he said.

For 45 agonizing minutes, Sergeant Null and Lucca searched the area, the handler waiting for the working dog to give him some sign that all wasn't well with the tanker truck.

"It makes you a little nervous clearing a real area, because you know it's the real deal," he said. "But that's your job. This is what I signed up to do. Somebody's got to do it, right? If my dog had sat, I would have praised her and gotten back to the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle as quick as possible to report what had happened."

At this point, it was Lucca's show. The German Shepherd would either sit, indicating the presence of a bomb, or she wouldn't.

"You don't look at the dog as a dog," Sergeant Null said. "You train together all the time. We've been together since June and I couldn't count the number of hours we've spent together. It's like having a best friend. You think on that same wavelength. My dog goes and does her job, and you know what to look for while she does her job. If you can't trust the dog, you shouldn't be out there anyway."

But Lucca didn't sit. The truck was clear.

"Everything was good to go," Sergeant Null said.

Eight hours later, the truck was finally pulled free of the sand, and the convoy made its way back to base. Sergeant Null said that although his primary mission is inside the wire, he's more than willing to go out again if called upon.

"It's my job," he said. "It's the best job in the Air Force. You get to play with a dog and get paid pretty well for it. You can't beat that."

Col. Alan Metzler, 586th Air Expeditionary Group commander, said Joint Expeditionary Tasking Airmen like Sergeant Null are providing critical services in the joint environment and excelling at it.

"Our combat Airmen are doing an outstanding job in support of the mission at Camp Bucca, and Sergeant Null proves it," Colonel Metzler said. "Often, they have to adapt to situations and perform unique missions we don't normally ask them to do in the Air Force. Airmen like him demonstrate the Air Force's commitment to our mission in Iraq."

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