| (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press) |
The U.S. military uses specially trained dogs at all military bases and on the front lines of all wars we have taken part in for the last 100 years. Aside from their use as bomb sniffing dogs, drug detection dogs, search and rescue along with countless other tasks they are better able to do then a human adult the military dogs, have been used as a scare tactic during their fights in Iraq and Afghanistan Arabs consider dogs “unclean” and and therefore with little contact with them they seem more scary then to a Westerner who even if they don’t personally own dogs they see them in society and their neighborhoods.
American military dogs are kept pretty clean, but they are scary, and one military dog can control a lot of otherwise hostile Muslims, though their main jobs are still what they were trained for stuff like detecting hidden explosives or people. That’s what the dog sent on the bin Laden raid was there for to find explosive traps, or people trying to hide though I am sure there was also a bit of a fear factor intention in having it come into the compound and not wait outside until it was needed.
The SEALs, who evolved from the combat scuba divers of World War II have now served in the desert for 10 years and in doing so, they have come to appreciate military dogs. The SEALs have even developed special equipment for their military dogs. Last year, they introduces a a special camera system that is incorporated into a vests often worn by their combat dogs. The camera has night vision and the batteries on the camera and viewer for handler hold charges for 30 minutes of run time. The range of the camera/viewer data link is 1,000 meters in the open, or 200 meters if there are a lot of walls to go through. This enables the SEALs to send their dog into a building or cave and see what the dog sees. The vests also include a small loudspeaker that enables the handlers to give their dog commands.
The United States military has used several thousand military dogs in combat over the last 10 years. There has been a lot of new gear developed for the military dogs including vests that now have compartments on the inside for the insertion of cold packs to help prevent heat stroke in the working dogs. These specialized vests would work in very cold climates as well by inserting a warming pack instead of a cooling one. There are also attachments on the vest to enable the dog to be dropped by parachute, or hauled up via a rope. One vest design even has straps so that a handler can carry the dog on his back like a pack.
Until 2000, when the law was changed, military dogs were used until they were about ten years old, then killed. It was thought that the retired military dogs could not adapt to family life. But decades of police, and some military experience, with dogs living safely with their handlers and family members, finally caused the policy to be changed. Dog handlers had long urged that retired dogs be allowed to stay with their handlers, or be put up for adoption. A dog can go through several handlers during its time in the military so they have to be able to adapt and bond with new people. I am not sure how or where you would inquire about adopting a retired military dog. I would think that many of the dogs probably retire with one of their handlers and their family since they have already spent so much time together and as a art of the handler’s life.
For more information about the different kinds of vests the dogs can be fitted with http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsf/articles/20110508.aspx
