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Airmen with a nose for danger

  • Published
  • By Maj. Michele Gill
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
FORT DIX, N.J. --  A Blackhawk helicopter lowers itself to the ground--voices are drowned out by the running rotors. Some of the soon-to-be passengers are muzzled. 

Waiting patiently, they are in a staggered formation to board the helicopter that will take them on a training flight over Fort Dix, N.J. No ordinary Airmen are about to board--these Airmen are military working dogs and their security forces handlers, who are students in the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center's Phoenix Warrior Course at Fort Dix, N.J., held June 15 to 28. 

The Phoenix Warrior class included its first canine training track as part of the USAF EC's initiative to provide advanced pre-deployment training to military working dogs and their handlers assigned to Air Mobility Command. 

To prepare them for a deployment to the Middle East, the six dogs got a chance to experience sights and sounds they had never been exposed to in their previous training.
"Dog handlers are getting taskings to support the Army and Marines in Southwest Asia," said Staff Sgt. Mark Ochoa, 319th Security Forces Squadron from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. "This training exposed our dogs to more than 10,000 rounds of live weapons fire. It was good training to see how they would react." 

Riding in a tactical vehicle while an automatic weapon delivers hundreds of rounds from the turret, the dogs got a sense of the fog and friction of war. This was the first time they ever heard so much gunfire, both live and blanks, during training. 

Also, during their 16-day course, the military working dogs were exposed to a large quantity of explosives to see how they would respond. 

"At home station, our dogs typically detect (a small quantity) of odor at one time," said Staff Sgt. Derrick Bowen, 60th SFS, Travis AFB, Calif. He added they were exposed to explosives more than 15 times what they usually detect at one time - this represents what the dogs may detect while deployed. 

Another security forces dog handler, Staff John Havlik, 319 SFS, said the urban training at the USAF EC's simulated Middle Eastern village located on a Fort Dix range was a realistic environment. 

"The dogs walked through a dirty village and in buildings with dirt floors and thin walls," commented Sergeant Havlik. 

The handlers said although the dogs do building searches as part of their home base training, the sound of gunfire in the background further helps them prepare for future deployments. 

While deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism, often the only means of transportation between forward operating locations is the Blackhawk helicopter.
The Trenton Army National Guard partnered with the USAF EC and provided a Blackhawk crew for this element of preparation. 

Staff Sgt. Jason Sheldon, 22nd SFS, McConnell AFB, Kan., said he had a chance to observe how his dog would board the aircraft with the rotors running. 

"It's good to know how the dogs will react now, rather than them doing it for the first time down range," Sergeant Sheldon said. 

The military working dog lead trainer couldn't agree more with Sergeant Sheldon's observation. 

"The greatest training the handlers will receive while attending the Phoenix Warrior course is to learn how to board the Blackhawk helicopter, with rotors turning, and deal with the animals' reaction during boarding and the flight," said Technical Sgt. Jeffrey Dean, USAF EC's 421st Combat Training Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of military working dog operations. 

Sergeant Dean is the founder of the USAF EC's military working dog training program. He said he arrived at the USAF EC in February 2007, shortly after AMC asked Center to integrate a military working dog pre-deployment training program into the Phoenix Warrior course - a course designed to provide advanced training for AMC's security forces Airmen. 

"When I arrived here, I was informed of the great responsibility I was going to be taking on," Sergeant Dean enthusiastically said. "I was told, 'You have a meeting with the 421st CTS commander in an hour.'" 

He said he hit the ground running and hasn't stopped for a minute. He said he's thankful for the help from his staff, Staff Sgts. Brennon Pierce and Luke Plemons who completed the remarkable task of planning and successfully executing the first USAF EC military working dog predeployment training program without a hitch. 

After collecting information from those who have been deployed to the Middle East, Sergeant Dean developed a realistic training course that focuses on the areas that military working dogs teams cannot get at their base, including live ammunition training, mass odor, pyrotechnics exposure, helicopter transportation and theater-specific explosive detection. 

His goal was to offer much needed training to MWD teams who may encounter similar scenarios while deployed in support of the war. 

The first graduating class agreed the training was exactly what they needed to test their dogs' reaction before deploying to unfamiliar environments. 

Sergeant Bowen thought the dogs did quite well during the training. "There were times they were a little confused, but that's expected in a new training environment," he said.
 
"The training we received here is real indicative of what we'll see down range," said Sergeant Bowen. "This is a phenomenal course."