Vol. 3 Issue 5, September 2011
Total Page：16
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September 2011 Military Working Dog Team Support Association, Inc. Bi-Monthly Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 5 MWDTSA KENNEL TALK www.mwdtsa.org SupportMWDTSAnow Going Home Then and Now soyouwon’tmissanyof Otis,partLabradorandpart thephotos,stories,news beagle,wasaproductofthe andhighlightsof2011! Vietnamera“Superdog Nowsixtimesayear! Program”.HisCombat TrackerTeamwasawardeda BronzeStar,whichhesports Inside this issue: onhisyellow“Cav”bandana. Walking Post 2 AttheendoftheVietnam War,Otiswasamongan Goin’ Home 3 estimated204WarDogswho werereturnedtoAmerican Enterprise Holdings 4 soil.Hishandlerhadheard Foundation Grant rumorsovertheyearsthatOtis K9 Koffee Klatch 5 mayhavemadeitback.In Octoberof2010,MWDTSA wasabletoconfirmOtis’repa- Fabulous, Funky & 7 Fabled T-Shirts triationtotheUnitedStates. Our absurdly cool T-shirts are here! ByDixieWhitman Five fabulous, Fromthe first time that I was Thedogsweretrustedwiththe dogloversistheknowledgethat, introduced to military working handlers’livesandthelivesof of the over 4,000 dogs generally funky & fabled new dogs and veteran handlers at every man in their combat accepted as having served in T-Shirt designs ~~ FortBenning.GeorgiainOcto- patrolorinsidethewireofan Vietnam, only204 are estimated berof2000,Iwasstunnedand installationbeingprotectedby tohavemadeitHOME. Order yours today over-whelmedwithgriefwhenI K9. Thingshavechangednow,thank- and show your sup- learned about the fate of the The data on the After Action fully, anddogs are brought back majorityofVietnamWarDogs. Reports shows ahuge calcula- with their handlers. They are port of MWDTSA! Isimplycouldnotgetmyhead ble difference in lives lost in adopted out at the end of their aroundthatloss. areas where dogs were in use careers. But, I’ve always won- Thanks to Avril I witnessed first hand the an- versus areas where dogs were dered howthe dogs from Viet- Roy-Smith and guish and heartache experi- unavailable.Trustingthedogs nam were selected for return. enced by Vietnam handlers, made good sense as they are Whomadethedecisions?Idid- Christian Print even thirty-five years later, credited with saving over n’t have to look far to find the Shop for all of your when remembering their part- 10,000 lives in Vietnamalone, answers. MWDTSA co-founder ners.Thesehandlerscouldnot if these statistical differences andour first Treasurer, KenBe- design help! foretell what the fate of their areextrapolated. secker, shares with us Goin ’ dogs would be, some even Home Shophere: What is inexcusable, sickening his recollection of the extendedtheir tour inVietnam and causes an unending sad- approximately 100 dogs he was mwdtsa.org/estore.html to avoid leaving their dogs. ness to these veterans and all abletosendHOME. Pa ge 2 MWDTSA KENNEL TALK Volume 3, Issue 5 www.mwdtsa.org Walking Post by Dixie Whitman Walkingpostwasmyresponsi- Home sounded great, I could bility, along with the handler hardlywaittogetthere. the Air Force assigned to me. Myhandler was nervous much of Heading towards nightfall, we the time, but heck, you couldn't loaded in the back of a truck blamehim.Imeanhewasallof19 andthendroveout,withseveral and sometimes there were people otherteams,tobepostedalong outtheretryingtokillus.Andthe theperimeterofourAirBase. night, well, it does take its toll Myresponsibilitywasserious.I when you are at war and fear is had to stand guard all night already in the forefront of your longonthestretchofboundary mind. Usually things went to which I and my human smoothly, but everyso often, just counterpartwereassigned.We enoughtokeepusonourtoes,we hadtokeepthebaseassetsand During the Vietnam War, dogs like Duke X601 guarded were challenged. I never failedmy personnelsafe.Myhandlerwas base personnel and assets at Air Force Bases across challenge, I never failedmycoun- also my responsibility. You southeast Asia; Vietnam and Thailand. try, but most importantly, I never know, he worked hard, but he failedmypartner. much. We'd walk, endlessly it had manyshortcomings. Lord, Wehadmaybe200x200yards he could barely hear the quiet toguard,dependingontheter- seemed and then, for a few brief moments, if all seemed Iknowmybuddyisanguishedstill threats of the night and he rainandconditions.Therewere aboutthetimewewereinVietnam. couldn't smell a snake if it bit things out there in the dark, well,wemightsittotakeaload off. My buddy talked a lot But,heneedstoknowthatI'mstill him; which wasn’t an idle there reallywere. Most nights I watching over him. I am still his threat. didn't worry my handler, too aboutaplacecalledhomeand I loved to listen to his voice. “GuardianoftheNight”. MWDTSA is One Beneficiary of Fundraiser by Former Handlers Our good friends from the great opportunity for you. VietnamSecurityPolice As- Shownatleftisonlyoneprize sociation (VSPA) recognize out of four different prizes the important services that thatarebeingraffled. ourorganizationisproviding to ourdoghandlers andare Time is of the essence. including MWDTSA in the Checks must be received by currentfundraiser. September 17, 201l. Please go to our website for com- If you have an interest in pletephotos andinformation collectibles of commemora- onallofthegreatcollections tive military police shields, being raffled off during this pins or brassards, this is a wonderfulfundraiser. To get complete details and photos of the prizes from this fundraiser, go to: http://www.mwdtsa.org/tdhfundr.html Thanks to the Military Missions Program & Bethany United Methodist Church. Your donation will touch many lives. MWDTSA KENNEL TALK Volume 3, Issue 5 Pa ge 3 www.mwdtsa.org Goin’ Home! By Ken Besecker, Lt.Col. USA (Ret.) TrackerDogunitstorevieweach Writer’s Note : The information provisionallyqualifieddog’smedi- providedinthisarticleisbasedonmy cal and training records. Part of recollections from June 1970-June this review was to discuss the 1971. Others may have different dog’s training and combat per- experiences and different memories. formance with the handler, Pla- My Vietnam service was with the toon Commander (a Lieutenant) US Army: 62 nd Infantry Platoon andthetrainingNCO.Onmany (Combat Tracker) (62 IPCT) and occasionsIdeployedonmissions United States Army Republic of with the Scout Dog handler Vietnam(USARV) DogTraining (usuallywalkingashisshotgun)to Detachment(DTD). first handobserve the dog’s per- formanceandpersonality. MyfirstexperiencesinVietnam wasasa2ndLt.withthe62nd Oneofmysurprises(havingspent CombatTrackerteam.Itwasa most of mytour in the southern far cry from the Scout Dog part of Vietnam) during myfirst trainingthatIhadreceivedand tripto aunit near the DMZ was for which I had prepared at howcolditgotatnight.Asleep- FortBenning,GA.But,itwas ingbagwasessentialfieldgearon the Army and we always re- futurevisits. tainedrigidflexibility. ArmyHandler,Brian,wasabletoadopthisformerpartner, In November 1970 I was re- Rony,andbringhimhometoenjoyhisretirement. Aftermanymonthsofevaluations assigned from the 62nd IPCT and reviews by trainers at DTD to the USARV DTD as the and veterinarians at various loca- First Air Cavalry Division Iwastoassistintheevaluation an automatic disqualifier. I tionsand,ofcourse,seriousdiffi- (Airmobile),nowtheFirstCav- of US Army Combat Tracker believe "redtongue," a nonfa- cultdecisionsbydogunitperson- alry Division, began standing andScout Dogs to be returned tal, nonsuppurative glossitis, nel, an initial pool of dogs was downinVietnam. totheContinentalUnitedStates wasalsoanimmediatedisquali- selectedforreturnHOME. (CONUS),America,HOME. fier. AtDTDIwas,inpart,initially Finally,inthespringof1971,the involvedwithin-countrytrain- There was a detailed criteria In addition to dogs’ health first50orsodogswereloaded(in ing for newly assigned Scout established for dogs eligible to conditions, age was a critical standard US Military shipping and Combat Tracker Dogs, as go HOME. This criteria in- factor.I’mnotcertainwhatthe crates) onalowboytrailer. That wellasnewhandlersassignedto volved, in part, the dog’s age, agecutoffforadogtoqualify was an amazing experience and Vietnam.Additionally,refresher health condition and perform- was, but younger dogs were sight with excited handlers, fren- training was provided to in ance. An initial medical and preferred. After all, in retro- ziedveterinariantechniciansanda country dogs, handlers and training records screening was spect, as the US Government gaggleofonlookersasthecrates CombatTrackerteams. conducted at various Army considered these dogs to be were stacked and strapped in ScoutDogandCombatTracker property, the intent was likely place. There was trulya buzz in units. to return the dogs for more theair,asenseoffulfillmentand In early 1971, I was informed Severalmedicalconditionswere work instead of provide them happiness. Our partners were that, as the United States mili- absolute disqualifiers for any anearnedretirement. goingHOME. tarywasstandingdowninViet- dogtogoHOME.Inparticular, nam (which would take until if a dog had any history of The dogs’ field performance 1975tofinalize),weweregoing Tropical Canine Pancytopenia Ibelievethedogswerethentaken to initiate returning dogs to, was a vital consideration for to Bien Hoa Air Force Base or (TCP), (also known as Canine being returned HOME. As Lackland AFB, America, Ehrilichiosisandothernames),a SaigonandloadedonaC-141to HOME. partofthiscriterion,Itravelled beflownHOME. blood disease carried by the most of Vietnamto visit vari- Brown Dog Tick, that created ous Scout Dog and Combat I remember that I stood and Continuedbottomofpage4 Volume 3, Issue 5 MWDTSA KENNEL