thedrifter
02-05-04, 07:18 AM
Marines act to protect dogs on duty
$1,000 suits help safeguard canine heroes
By DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/02/04
ALBANY -- During a night patrol in Vietnam, Tiger abruptly stopped, lifted his head and froze.
The 104-pound German shepherd had sensed enemy soldiers nearby, and his reaction warned the U.S. Army squad behind him of the danger.
Bob Palochik, Tiger's handler, released his dog's leash, motioned him forward and waited.
"There were several shots — at least two or three in quick succession," says Palochik, now 52. "Tiger was killed. But he did his job. He showed us where the enemy was — and we killed those who would have killed us."
Palochik, a Las Vegas resident active in the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, which pays tribute to the contributions of military canines, says he had tried to protect his dog during 11 months in combat by covering him with a flak jacket. But the ill-fitting garment designed for humans couldn't stop the bullets that cut him down.
In a recently launched program, U.S. Marines have taken Palochik's idea a step further by outfitting their dogs with Kevlar body armor, made from the same material soldiers wear, to protect the pooches from gunshots, knives and shrapnel.
The $1,000 suits also reflect a broad change in military policy in which dogs, once regarded as disposable, have become indispensable.
Military dogs sniff out bombs, mines and drugs, rescue lost or injured soldiers and patrol key bases. Military officials decline to say exactly how many dogs are on active duty, but the number has been widely reported to be around 1,400. In Iraq, the dogs' primary duty has been to search for explosives at security checkpoints. They also were deployed to sniff much of the equipment hauled in by news media as the war began.
"Our dogs are incredibly valuable," says Sgt. Nester Antoine, 24, kennel master at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, which has distributed canine body armor to more than 100 dogs and Marine handlers from Okinawa to Afghanistan and Iraq. "No one else can do the things our dogs do. They're needed everywhere."
Emotional, economic sense
Palochik says the armor makes sense on economic and emotional levels. It costs upwards of $50,000 to train each military dog and handler team. And a dog's death is as psychologically wrenching as the loss of a family member.
"Losing Tiger was as bad as losing a brother or a child," Palochik says.
About 4,000 military dogs were sent to Vietnam and 281 were killed in action — but none ever returned.
After wars in Korea and Vietnam, the United States euthanized its military dogs or handed them over to foreign governments. Despite pleas from their handlers and large numbers of U.S. families willing to adopt them, the dogs were thought to be too aggressive and too damaged by wartime experiences or diseases to become household pets.
"We would have done anything to bring our dogs back," Palochik says. "I shudder to think what happened to them after we left. They probably got eaten for dinner."
President Bill Clinton signed a law allowing handlers, law enforcement agencies and others to adopt retired military dogs in 2000. Now, former handlers get the first chance to adopt their partners when the military doesn't need them anymore. Usual retirement age for dogs is about 10 years.
The U.S. military first trained large numbers of dogs in World War II when about 10,000 became scouts, messengers and mine detectors. The Marines recruited Doberman pinschers at first. Now they have shifted to German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, with a few Labradors as explosive and drug detectors.
The Marines sent 327 dogs into combat in the Pacific during World War II, and 29 were killed in action. The biggest canine losses were at Guam, where 25 Marine dogs died.
Suit of armor
Today's canine body armor suits weigh about seven pounds and resemble black saddles with Velcro straps in front and underneath. Ice pouches keep the dogs cool in summer, and belt-loop attachments allow handlers to parachute and rappel down sheer cliffs with their dogs hanging from ropes.
In Albany, Cpl. Daniel Hillery says his dog, Aldo, took a few weeks to get accustomed to the confining armored suit. But the 4-year-old German shepherd hardly seemed to notice it while racing through a canine obstacle course here.
A thick Kevlar pad covers Aldo's chest, and slightly thinner material drapes over his back and sides.
"He didn't like it the first few times I put it on him," says Hillery, 24. "But now he gets excited whenever he sees it because it means he's going to work."
Some police departments also outfit their dogs with similar protective armor.
Palochik, a former Air Force technical sergeant who was wounded and sent home from Vietnam a few months after Tiger was killed, says the military has a moral obligation to defend its dogs of war.
"Dogs aren't like helicopters or jeeps or other inanimate pieces of equipment," he says. "They live and breathe, just like our GIs. They save American lives, and they deserve the best we can give them."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/0204/02wardogs.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
$1,000 suits help safeguard canine heroes
By DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/02/04
ALBANY -- During a night patrol in Vietnam, Tiger abruptly stopped, lifted his head and froze.
The 104-pound German shepherd had sensed enemy soldiers nearby, and his reaction warned the U.S. Army squad behind him of the danger.
Bob Palochik, Tiger's handler, released his dog's leash, motioned him forward and waited.
"There were several shots — at least two or three in quick succession," says Palochik, now 52. "Tiger was killed. But he did his job. He showed us where the enemy was — and we killed those who would have killed us."
Palochik, a Las Vegas resident active in the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, which pays tribute to the contributions of military canines, says he had tried to protect his dog during 11 months in combat by covering him with a flak jacket. But the ill-fitting garment designed for humans couldn't stop the bullets that cut him down.
In a recently launched program, U.S. Marines have taken Palochik's idea a step further by outfitting their dogs with Kevlar body armor, made from the same material soldiers wear, to protect the pooches from gunshots, knives and shrapnel.
The $1,000 suits also reflect a broad change in military policy in which dogs, once regarded as disposable, have become indispensable.
Military dogs sniff out bombs, mines and drugs, rescue lost or injured soldiers and patrol key bases. Military officials decline to say exactly how many dogs are on active duty, but the number has been widely reported to be around 1,400. In Iraq, the dogs' primary duty has been to search for explosives at security checkpoints. They also were deployed to sniff much of the equipment hauled in by news media as the war began.
"Our dogs are incredibly valuable," says Sgt. Nester Antoine, 24, kennel master at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, which has distributed canine body armor to more than 100 dogs and Marine handlers from Okinawa to Afghanistan and Iraq. "No one else can do the things our dogs do. They're needed everywhere."
Emotional, economic sense
Palochik says the armor makes sense on economic and emotional levels. It costs upwards of $50,000 to train each military dog and handler team. And a dog's death is as psychologically wrenching as the loss of a family member.
"Losing Tiger was as bad as losing a brother or a child," Palochik says.
About 4,000 military dogs were sent to Vietnam and 281 were killed in action — but none ever returned.
After wars in Korea and Vietnam, the United States euthanized its military dogs or handed them over to foreign governments. Despite pleas from their handlers and large numbers of U.S. families willing to adopt them, the dogs were thought to be too aggressive and too damaged by wartime experiences or diseases to become household pets.
"We would have done anything to bring our dogs back," Palochik says. "I shudder to think what happened to them after we left. They probably got eaten for dinner."
President Bill Clinton signed a law allowing handlers, law enforcement agencies and others to adopt retired military dogs in 2000. Now, former handlers get the first chance to adopt their partners when the military doesn't need them anymore. Usual retirement age for dogs is about 10 years.
The U.S. military first trained large numbers of dogs in World War II when about 10,000 became scouts, messengers and mine detectors. The Marines recruited Doberman pinschers at first. Now they have shifted to German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, with a few Labradors as explosive and drug detectors.
The Marines sent 327 dogs into combat in the Pacific during World War II, and 29 were killed in action. The biggest canine losses were at Guam, where 25 Marine dogs died.
Suit of armor
Today's canine body armor suits weigh about seven pounds and resemble black saddles with Velcro straps in front and underneath. Ice pouches keep the dogs cool in summer, and belt-loop attachments allow handlers to parachute and rappel down sheer cliffs with their dogs hanging from ropes.
In Albany, Cpl. Daniel Hillery says his dog, Aldo, took a few weeks to get accustomed to the confining armored suit. But the 4-year-old German shepherd hardly seemed to notice it while racing through a canine obstacle course here.
A thick Kevlar pad covers Aldo's chest, and slightly thinner material drapes over his back and sides.
"He didn't like it the first few times I put it on him," says Hillery, 24. "But now he gets excited whenever he sees it because it means he's going to work."
Some police departments also outfit their dogs with similar protective armor.
Palochik, a former Air Force technical sergeant who was wounded and sent home from Vietnam a few months after Tiger was killed, says the military has a moral obligation to defend its dogs of war.
"Dogs aren't like helicopters or jeeps or other inanimate pieces of equipment," he says. "They live and breathe, just like our GIs. They save American lives, and they deserve the best we can give them."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/0204/02wardogs.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: