FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- After months of training, nine military working dog teams got the chance to prove their drug and explosive detection skills during the U.S. Army Forces Command annual K9 certification hosted by the 510th Military Police Detachment, May 11-15.
Of the nine MWD teams, four are assigned to the 510th MP Det., 716th Military Police Battalion, supported by the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division; three teams travelled from Fort Bragg, N.C., and two teams hailed from Fort Bliss, Texas.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Rivera, 510th MP Det., 716th MP Bn., has been through several certifications throughout his last five years working as an MWD team member. Rivera and his partner Vulk, a 5-year- old Belgian Malinois, have been training for certification since March.
"We came in on weekends, weekdays, we stayed late after work … lots of training," Rivera said. "[Vulk] was a dog that went through more than three certifications and failed them all with various handlers because of his high intensity for wanting to bite and not release."
Vulk's aggressive nature was because of stress caused by initial training, but Rivera and kennel leadership reached out to other kennels to find a solution.
"We wracked our brains and got with other kennel masters and handlers trying to see what kind of dogs they had with similar issues," Rivera said. "We changed everything from compulsion -- a harsh physical correction -- to inducive -- making it fun, making him more willing."
Through the changes Rivera made in how he trained with Vulk, he learned his canine had a weakness for hard-boiled eggs.
"Eggs were the key to get him to start thinking in the right direction," Rivera laughed. "Every so often you have to take a step back in training and reinforce the basic stuff and then come back into the advanced stuff."
The advanced stuff is doing what MWD teams do -- protect and save lives downrange.
"I joined canine because I lost a lot of friends downrange -- I got tired of watching my friends blow up due to IEDs and explosives," Rivera said. "I want to do my part, whether it takes my life or not, I want to do my part to stop that -- I'm passionate about it."
Another Soldier passionate about his service is Sgt. Luke Bronstrup, 510th MP Det., 716th MP Bn. Bronstrup has worked with Thor, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, since January.
"The mission importance for military working dogs … as far as explosive detection dogs -- they provide the force protection for Fort Campbell," said Bronstrup. "They prevent explosives or possible IEDs coming through the gate and harming our Soldiers."
Bronstrup said the presence of patrol explosive detector dogs and patrol narcotics detector dogs provide psychological deterrence as well.
"People see those dogs at the gate, they are less likely to bring in contraband of any kind as far as narcotics and explosives go," Bronstrup said. "I think it definitely reduces the risk of something catastrophic happening on Fort Campbell."
Bronstrup and Thor trained five days a week on detection so they would be ready for certification. Even so, Bronstrup thought Thor would have some difficulty in a couple of areas, namely the building searches, but Thor showed up each day ready to impress his handler.
"I was a little nervous because I didn't have a lot of time to work with him on [building searches] because we had to work on his patrol first. Patrol is part of the building search and the scout," Bronstrup said. "… but he performed exceptionally well with that -- better than I imagined he would do and as far as the scout goes he performed that phenomenally and I hadn't done any scout with him."
The scouting scenario required MWD teams to track two suspects' scents into the woods. As the canine located the suspects, one surrendered while the other tried to flee the scene. The scenario allowed the canines to demonstrate their ability to catch the suspect using nonlethal force.
As Thor showed his abilities to succeed, Bronstrup said the initial nerves he felt at the beginning of certification were no longer there, which probably allowed his canine to perform even better. "They say everything runs down leash, so I'm pretty calm when I'm going into certification," Bronstrup said. "I try to train myself to stay calm … because he can feel that I am nervous. If I'm showing characteristics that I'm nervous then he might perform a little bit differently."
Of the nine MWD teams that went through Certification, only three failed to certify.
Certification
Certification thoroughly tests the MWD team's detection skills, including their ability to identify threats in warehouses, vehicles, buildings, road ways, barracks and open areas, said Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Oberle, FORSCOM certification authority and Kennel Master for Fort Polk, La.
"These areas replicate real-life working areas for military working dogs," Oberle said. "They get called to do searches everywhere -- they have to maintain proficiency in a variety of different areas."
It's important for the MWD teams to maintain these proficiencies so they remain a reliable asset in drug and explosive detection. Explosive detection dogs must maintain a 95 percent proficiency and drug detection dogs must maintain 90 percent proficiency, said Oberle.
"They need to maintain at all times, that way they don't dip below and potentially put their lives or others in danger," he said.
Each team began the week long certification with a grueling first day. First, they had to prove themselves on the obedience course and then demonstrate the canine half of the team could control aggressive behavior.
"If they are having issues on the obedience course -- that is normally the foundation of all dog training -- they are going to have issues in other areas of certification as well," Oberle said. "It is a key indicator."
Next, they had to demonstrate their knowledge of odors. One of the reasons for this assessment is because several of the teams came from different installations, and there are slight differences in odor from place to place, said Oberle.
"Another [reason] is to reassure the team they are going to be able to find odors that are used during this week's certification event," he said. "The other [reason] is to allow the certification authority to be able to see how the handler's going to interact with the military working dog when it encounters the scent cone."
A scent cone is the movement of scent away from a subject or source that takes the shape of a cone, with the smallest point at the source. A dog will run perpendicular to the flow of scent until finally zeroing in on the target.
Once evaluated through the obstacle course and odor recognition, the teams move on to prove their detection skills.
Certification is the starting point, Oberle said.
"Once we get them to the level where they are maintaining the basic proficiency and showing the fundamentals they need to do work their military working dog … they go back to their home station for further training there," he said. "That's where they will get ready to deploy and work law enforcement."
AKIA
Not only were the MWD teams tested, the 510th MP Det. kennel went through the Annual Kennel Inspection and Assessment.
Every kennel in the Army is required by regulation to be inspected annually, said Master Sgt. Jeremy Peek, U.S. Army Forces Command military working dog program manager.
"It brings credibility to this resource we provide to maneuver commanders downrange and it ensures [MWD teams] are ready to deploy and that they are proficient in all tasks required of them," he said.
The inspection includes a thorough examination of the kennels administrative records to include key control, security, adequate training aids and proficiency of training, said Peek.
"That ensures administrator proficiency," he said. "That ensures that the systems and processes are adequately in place to produce certified dog teams so that we can meet the demand of maneuver commanders downrange as they request this valuable resource on the modern day battlefield."
By passing the AKIA, the kennel has now been vetted through the Army.
"At the end of the day, you've got to be certified to deploy, so it's a big deal and there is a lot of work that goes into," Peek said. "A lot of people don't realize -- to maintain the administrative proficiency, to train these [Soldiers] tactically, to prepare them for downrange -- what they are doing is pretty monumental."
"In the counter IED fight, they've said that this is the most effective tool on the modern day battlefield … until something changes downrange, dogs are going to continue to be in high demand."
Related Links:
101st Airborne Division on Twitter
Fort Campbell Courier on Twitter
101st Airborne Division on Facebook
Social Sharing