FORT CARSON, Colo. -- The 69th Military Police Detachment was awarded the U.S. Army Forces Command Eagle Award recently, signifying the unit as the best military working dog detachment in FORSCOM.
"It's quite an honor because it's the only award that recognizes military working dog detachments," said Sgt. 1st Class John Hughey, 69th MPD kennel master. "We can send a military working dog and handler to a competition, and they could win that competition hands down, but it would still represent an individual award. This Eagle award recognizes the effectiveness, readiness and accomplishments of an entire MPD unit throughout the last year."
FORSCOM is the highest level in which MPDs can compete.
Military Police units develop packages that detail their experiences and accomplishments throughout the year, then submit those packages to FORSCOM for review.
A board of officers and sergeants major then comb through packages and form a consensus about the best units. They then compare the best and determine a winner. There is no award for second place.
This year, the 69th came out on top and Hughey has no doubts as to why.
"We focus on training, and that translates into a higher certification rate for one thing." he said.
The 69th MPD, part of the 759th MP Battalion, 89th MP Brigade, consists of 18 handlers and their military working dogs. Some have previously deployed. Others are fresh recruits.
Handlers and their assigned military working dogs must be certified as a team before they can work. Hughey said the 69th MPD certification rate has hovered above 90 percent for the past two years.
"Again, that's related directly to our focus on training," he said. "We kind of roll through with the idea that a well-trained Soldier is a happy Soldier. In a kennel operation, if your training is good, everything else falls into place.
"We not only have good trainers in house, we broaden our scope of training to include activities with many working dog organizations along the front range, like the FBI, (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), local police departments, (Transportation Security Administration) and Homeland Security.
"Everybody has knowledge to share, so we branch out whenever we can to broaden our knowledge," Hughey said. "This past year the FBI had homemade bomb substance we've never trained with before. That's just one example of the type of knowledge and experience our teams can gain from broadening our training."
Teams also perform duties that Hughey considers rare for other MWD units in FORSCOM -- they brief Soldiers at the Combat Medic Training Center at Fort Carson.
"We brief classes at least once a month," Hughey said. "I think that's important because, when we deploy, we depend on combat medics to support our dogs when they get injured.
The Eagle Award board members also consider units' accomplishments through the year. And, the 69th MPD had a few, including 72 drug finds in fiscal 2014.
"We can't really point to experience in this case," said Staff Sgt. Nichalos Buchanan, 69th MPD plans NCO. "A lot of our success comes from the drive of our young Soldiers. With our drug finds, for example, they are motivated to go out and do what they signed up to do."
There are a variety of dogs in the unit, including German shepherds, Dutch shepherds and Belgian Malanois. Many serve a multi-purpose role, while others serve only as explosive device finders.
"The drug finds and suspect apprehension are important aspects of our job, but explosive detection is where we make our money, so to speak," Hughey said. "That's why it's important for us to gain as much knowledge from a wide variety of sources and then pass on that knowledge to our teams."
MWD detachments don't know the exact criteria the award selectors are looking for, and they're not supposed to.
"We tried to include everything we did over the year in the book we submitted and they selected us as the best," Hughey said. "It's that simple."
Social Sharing