K-9s to receive updated facility

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Alexandra Longfellow
  • 2d Bomb Wing
Barksdale Air Force Base- LA --  A group of security forces Airmen are tasked with a special duty--handling a specially trained K-9 companion. 

Unfortunately, these partners have been overcoming obstacles presented from an out-to-date kennel facility. 

The current facility is more than 20 years old and was not meant to house the amount of MWD's currently assigned here. 

The handlers had to hand-dry floors of the kennels to compensate the faulty drainage systems. The handlers also had to hand-wash and dry the dog's kennels to prevent a dermatitis on the K-9s and the spread of bacteria. 

The handlers have gone to such extreme to keep their K-9s healthy and happy because MWDs are a vital component to Barksdale. 

The military working dogs not only ensure protection on Barksdale, but benefit local and regional areas with explosive detection support during emergencies. 

However, the MWDs are not born with this talent. All dogs are trained at Lackland AFB, Texas at the Department of Defense School. The dogs go through an initial training phase and put through rigorous training exercises to make sure they meet required standards. If the dogs do not meet the standards, they are washed out and can be adopted out to civilian law enforcement or to the general public. 

The average age of a MWD, when it enters training varies from 1 to 2 years. Once they complete training, they are assigned to a base for the rest of their career. Most dogs stay on duty for 10 to 12 years. 

Once qualified, Barksdale's MWDs team supports the United States Secret Service, Department of State for presidential and distinguished visitor events, Federal Bureau Investigations and is continuously fighting the Global War on Terrorism. 

Not only do they support these services, but the canines conduct joint training with local law enforcement K-9 units in addition to protecting Barksdale. 

Military working dogs area of responsibility consists of Barksdale's vast 22,000 acre reservation. Handlers and their partners inspect for contraband and explosives in base facilities, parking lots and provide a physiological deterrence for those attempting to commit crimes against the personnel and resources from base. 

"Our mission is to conduct force protection sweeps on the installation to protect personnel and property assigned to Barksdale," said Staff Sgt. William Johnson, 2d Security Forces Squadron, military working dog handler. 

To ensure the MWDs are able to perform their duties, the 2d Security Forces Squadron handlers and their companions train every day until they are certified. Certified teams train once to twice a week but all teams are required to do basic obedience training and the obstacle course daily. 

Training is not only fundamental for on-station protection, but also overseas. 

"The teams not only train together," said Tech. Sgt. Marc Oliver, 2d SFS, kennel master. "But they also deploy together. For a handler, his MWD is the best partner he could ever have. We like to call the dog our Wingman." 

Since the MWDs are such vital players on Barksdale, Congress approved funding for a new, much needed up-to-date $1.9 million state-of-the-art dog kennel to replace and upgrade outdated facilities. 

"Realizing that our current facility and living conditions for the dogs were not acceptable, we as a kennel section, did a lot of self-help projects around the facility to ease many of the issues we were having," said Sergeant Oliver. 

The new facility will also have an area where the handlers can conduct various types of training with their partners. The K-9 unit will have a dishwasher for washing the MWD's feeding pans, currently the handlers have to hand-wash and dry. 

"A new facility means we do not have to worry about our partners getting hurt," said Sergeant Oliver. "The bonus is our dogs can live in a comfortable environment and the handler can sleep at night knowing that his partner is sleeping well." 

The new installation will have a veterinarian treatment room which will be used to perform routine physical examinations and provide an area for emergency first-aid treatment. 

"Currently our handler's locker area, food preparation and medication area is all in one room," said Sergeant Oliver. "We will have a separate room for each one of those facilities in the new building."