Team 6's Dog Of War

[Panto]

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/...0506-1eayq.html

Team 6's dog of war

Glenda Kwek

May 6, 2011 - 12:30PM Fearless ... US soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his military working dog jump off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during training. Photo: Technical Sergeant Manuel J. Martinez/US Air Force

Move over Inspector Rex, the super secret SEAL Team 6 has a smart dog.

The mystery dog is likely to be a German shepherd or Belgian Malinois, the breeds trained by US military dog handlers, The New York Times reported.

"There should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved - man's best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior," said the deputy managing editor of ForeignPolicy.com Rebecca Frankel, who writes a weekly war dog column.

Advertisement: Story continues below Even dogs need protection ... a military working dog wears Doggles to protect his eyes as a Chinook helicopter takes off in Afghanistan. Photo: Sergeant Jason Brace/US Army

"They're a central part of US efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan - as of early 2010 the US Army had 2800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world)," she wrote on the National Public Radio website.

Team 6's dog would have been strapped to one of the SEALs and dropped into Osama bin Laden's compound from a helicopter, The Guardian reported.

It was probably used to check for explosives or sniff out bin Laden himself, the commander of the US Defence Department's Military Working Dog Centre, Major William Roberts, told the Times.

Man's best friend ... US Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Reese and his military working dog Grek in Iraq. Photo: Staff Sergeant Stacy L. Pearsall/US Air Force

"Dogs are very good at detecting people inside a building," he said.

"There is a cultural aversion to dogs in some of these countries, where few of them are used as pets. Dogs can be very intimidating in that situation."

A military dog was also believed to have been used in the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in December 2003.

Canine warrior ... a Navy SEAL platoon performs a land warfare demonstration Photo: Mass Communication Specialist Chief Robert Fluegel/US Navy

Fay Stokes, the secretary of the German Shepherd Dog League of NSW, said she was not surprised a canine would have been involved in the secret mission.

"They're highly intelligent - very discerning and very loyal dogs," she said, adding that, while poodles were also smart dogs, they did not have the size and strength of German shepherds.

"It's the soundness of their character ... but it's also about how well they are trained."

Looking cool in the heat of battle ... Eddie the dog hops aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, along with Iraqi security forces and soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division. Photo: Spc. Daniel Bearl/US Army

Last month, US dog trainers Cobra Canine was awarded a $US550,000 contract to train the animals at the US Special Operations Command's Naval Special Warfare Group 2, where the SEAL team would have come from, Wired magazine reported.

The dog could have been decked out in a waterproof tactical vest worth more than $US21,000, the Times said. Last year, the SEALs bought four such kits worth more than $US86,000.

Infrared and night-vision cameras would have been attached to the dog's vest so its handler could see what it was seeing up to nearly a kilometre away using a remote monitor.

The vest would be either in camouflage or coyote tan and have a speaker on it so its handler could talk to the dog during the raid, the Times added.

Australia's own hero dog, bomb-sniffing Sarbi, received the RSPCA's highest award for animal bravery last month after going missing for more than a year in the tough terrain of Afghanistan in 2008.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/...l#ixzz1LXM9bnZe

Edited May 6, 2011 by Panto

[W Sibs]

I love working dogs

[Burkes]

Was interested to read this. One of my foster dogs went on a 2wk trial with the Explosive Detection Dog program this morning. Fingers crossed she passes. She is a dog born to work so I think this would be a great life for her.

[sandgrubber]

Here's another article on Dogs of War . . . .with more and bigger pictures. One of a guy jumping with dog in his arms. . . the guy in question "recently broke the world record for "highest man/dog parachute deployment" by jumping from 30,100 feet. Yikes!

http://www.foreignpo...ar_dog?page=0,0

(also a lot of commentary)

Edited May 7, 2011 by sandgrubber

[raz]

That's just incredible, sandgrubber. That last pic is a beauty!

[Staranais]

Here's another article on Dogs of War . . . .with more and bigger pictures. One of a guy jumping with dog in his arms. . . the guy in question "recently broke the world record for "highest man/dog parachute deployment" by jumping from 30,100 feet. Yikes!

http://www.foreignpo...ar_dog?page=0,0

(also a lot of commentary)

That's such a cool photo! :D

[Panto]

Good find sandgrubber! Amazing photo!! Copied pics to forum for anyone that can't click through:

[raz]

When I first saw that second last pic I thought they were both straining the potatoes

[dandybrush]

can i just say doggies are awesome!!

[sandgrubber]

The commentary on the article was also great. It included lots of comments from service men (all male) who had had dogs, and clarification about rehoming of service dogs. Apparently the Vietnam crew couldn't keep their dogs and many service dogs were abandoned. This has since been corrected, and in many cases, dogs stay with their handler. I'm not doing this justice .. . .I'd recommend going to the link. The article text also made some interesting comments on dog tech . . . and the thousands of bucks they put into providing flack jackets, lights, cameras, GPS, etc when they deploy a dog.

[frenzied1]

What wonderful pictures, I have a lump in my throat....

Dogs are so loyal gicing and loving. The reason they are my favourite animal.

[john.davey.1960]

I find it ludicrous we can't go round killing each other without involving animals

[mita]

Panto, thank you so much! Now I got to see the picture. The link wouldn't click thro' for me.

[sandgrubber]

I find it ludicrous that we run around killing eachother, but we involve animals all the time and I don't see why 'companions' should be left behind. I'd guess they're a civilizing influence to the troops . .. if they had more dogs around, I'll bet there would be fewer soldiers blowing it on drugs and alcohol, less PTSD, and fewer soldiers loosing their marbles and terrorizing civilians.

I find it ludicrous we can't go round killing each other without involving animals

[john.davey.1960]

I find it ludicrous that we run around killing eachother, but we involve animals all the time and I don't see why 'companions' should be left behind. I'd guess they're a civilizing influence to the troops . .. if they had more dogs around, I'll bet there would be fewer soldiers blowing it on drugs and alcohol, less PTSD, and fewer soldiers loosing their marbles and terrorizing civilians.

I find it ludicrous we can't go round killing each other without involving animals

And what happens to the dogs given Titanium teeth as this dog was which can bite through body armour, or when hit by shells etc. Perhaps we could use suicide dogs to blow up tanks as Russia did in WW2 or train dolphins to kill scuba divers or have RAAF dogs which are killed if their owner breaks a leg as they're too dangerous for anyone else to handle. No, it may look fascinating but in the end it's war and deadly serious. Keep it to ourselves.

[sandgrubber]

I find it ludicrous that we run around killing eachother, but we involve animals all the time and I don't see why 'companions' should be left behind. I'd guess they're a civilizing influence to the troops . .. if they had more dogs around, I'll bet there would be fewer soldiers blowing it on drugs and alcohol, less PTSD, and fewer soldiers loosing their marbles and terrorizing civilians.

I find it ludicrous we can't go round killing each other without involving animals

And what happens to the dogs given Titanium teeth as this dog was which can bite through body armour, or when hit by shells etc. Perhaps we could use suicide dogs to blow up tanks as Russia did in WW2 or train dolphins to kill scuba divers or have RAAF dogs which are killed if their owner breaks a leg as they're too dangerous for anyone else to handle. No, it may look fascinating but in the end it's war and deadly serious. Keep it to ourselves.

The titanium teeth thing is a myth that plays on the sci-fi / comic book bionic fantasies. Military dogs are given titanium teeth when they break a tooth . . . not otherwise. I have four titanium teeth myself. Implants are expensive, and the fact that the military is willing to pay for them says something about the level of veterinary care. I doubt that replacing natural teeth with metal on titanium roots would make a dog any better at attack functions. Read the discussion in the Dogs of War article in the Foreign Affairs blog . . . It was horrid that dogs were left behind in Vietnam, and I think the Australian government still leaves dogs behind due to quarantine issues . . . but the US forces now make an effort. The bad PR for treatment of dogs in Vietnam had an effect.

Yes, military dogs do get killed. But I'll bet if someone did the stats carefully, I bet they'd find that a trained dog in a combat zone has a higher life expectancy than a puppy placed in a financially troubled family. The fraction of family dogs that end out in shelters or getting run over is pretty awful.