Furry troops ready to deploy

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — A quick, agile and obedient Erik, armed with his acutely sensitive nose, fierce bark and powerful bite, is "ready" for another deployment to the Middle East.

During a demonstration at his home at Hill Air Force Base, Erik pounced on decoy Staff Sgt. Buck Nelson in a flash, clamping down on Nelson's padded arm until the young airman yelled, "I give up!"

"That's basically why you don't run from a dog — it will catch you," said Tech Sgt. Benjamin Seidl, the kennel master at Hill's military working dog building.

Erik's job description with the Air Force includes sniffing out bombs, helping apprehend the bad guys and keeping the peace wherever he goes. He's also adept at finding illegal drugs wherever they're hidden.

The 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, deploying this month, is one of hundreds of military working dogs routinely used in this country and overseas by all four branches of the military.

The presence of working dogs in the military dates back to at least World War I, with their use in combat more prevalent in World War II and Korea.

In Vietnam, the United States used almost 4,000 dogs, with 281 killed in action, according to the Department of Defense. Back then, the North Vietnamese reportedly offered its troops cash rewards for the tattooed ear from a dead working dog, or the patch from the uniform of a killed soldier that would identify him as a dog's handler.

Today, the preferred breed of military working dog is German shepherd, followed by Belgian Malinois and Dutch shepherd — all valued for their intelligence, loyalty, endurance and obedience, as well as noses that can quickly identify several distinct odors at once and their ability to attack. Most military working dogs have a sense of smell up to 10 times greater than humans.

Since the current wars began in Iraq and Afghanistan, news of dog use in the Middle East has been filtering out into the public mostly via military Web sites, despite a desire to keep secret the specifics on exactly where the dogs and their handlers are deployed.

The reason for secrecy, say handlers at Hill, is to avoid creating an atmosphere like Vietnam, when dogs and handlers became specific targets.

But the Marines report that a dog named Kwinto has been to Iraq and Afghanistan two times each for a total of almost two years, during which time he found explosive materials on numerous occasions.