Dog Trainer MOS ????

[Skosh59]

My wife walks our dog daily & happen to strike up a conversation with a neighboring gentleman that was walking two unruly german shepards.

He mentioned to her that he served in Corps during Vietnam as a dog trainer. I can't recall any such MOS during my tour & I checked a dozen MC sites & could find nothing relating to dog training. The way the dogs act shows me that this guy has a line of bull. I suspect that he may be a poser but, I want to get my ducks in row before I meet this guy.

A quick question for the old salts ?? Did the Corps have dog trainers during Vietnam or at any other time??

[NeverQuit]

I know when i was in 1/5 we had dog handlers but they were just 0311's sent to a course to train and to be able to control the bomb sniffing dogs.

[rb1651]

As a matter of fact, there is. It's in the 5800 field, (Military Police and Corrections). The actual MOS is 5812, Working Dog Handler. From About.com, here's the job description:

"Type of MOS : NMOS

Rank Range: SSgt to Pvt

Job Description: A military working dog handler is a military policeman who is additionally trained to properly employ a military working dog to conduct vehicle searches, searches of open areas, buildings, vehicles, etc., for the detection of explosives or illegal drugs and who also has the ability to search for lost or wanted persons."

So to answer your question, yes he could have been a handler, but not a trainer. My Dad was a handler and a Master Instructor of working dogs while in the Air Force, and I know that he trained all branches of the service while at Lackland AFB, Texas. The trainers of the dogs were from the Air Force to teach others how to handle the dogs.

This could explain why his shepards are not well trained. Just MHO.

[Skosh59]

Thanks Ron, I appreciate the quick response. :thumbup: