Military Working Dogs

The Lackland Training Detachment (LTD), 701st MP Battalion, is located at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), San Antonio, Texas. Because of our location, many individuals do not know we exist or what our mission is. Our mission has a broad impact on the Military Police Corps, the U.S. Army, and other military services. In this Joint service environment, we assist in the training of all military working-dog (MWD) handlers, MWDs, and traffic-accident investigators deployed worldwide.

Our History

The title of the unit has changed many times since World War II. Initially, command and control was under the Quartermaster Corps in Front Royale, Virginia, and the Infantry at Fort Carson, Colorado. The Army Dog Training Center at Fort Carson was largely used during 1954 to 1957 to train MWDs for the U.S. Air Force. In 1957, this center was deactivated and the responsibility for training was transferred to the Air Force. The Sentry Dog Training Branch was established at Lackland AFB in 1958.

An Army detachment was transferred to Lackland AFB from Fort Carson. The unit was comprised of six dog-handler instructors, one NCOIC, and one clerk. The unit has participated in training thousands of MWDs and handlers in both war and peacetime. During the Vietnam War, the Army trained scout dogs, combat tracker dogs, mine dogs, tunnel dog teams, and marijuana-detector dog teams at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

In June 1973, the interservice training review executive committee made the decision to transfer the MWD Training Program to the U.S. Air Force. In October 1973, the last marijuana-detector dog class graduated from the U.S. Army Military Police School (USAMPS), Fort Gordon. In January 1974, all training and handler instruction was transferred to Lackland AFB.

On 2 October 1974, the USAMPS Training Liaison Detachment was established at Lackland AFB. On 10 November 1982, the detachment was redesignated as LTD, USAMPS, 701st Military Police Battalion assigned to Fort McClellan, Alabama, attached to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, with duty at Lackland AFB. Along with the MWD, LTD, the 701st MP Battalion also instructs students at traffic-management and accident-investigation course and provides administrative support for the U.S. Army Signal Corps Electronic Principles School. They also have a dog-training section (DTS) responsible for the training of explosive detector dogs (EDDs) and patrol dogs that are deployed worldwide.

Dog-Training Section

The DTS is a multiservice section comprised of 70 personnel. Of these, 18 are Army MP that are OPCON to the 341st Training Squadron. The DTS trains all dual-certified patrol/EDDs for the four branches of military services. On average, DTS produces 200 EDDs annually.

EDDs are trained and certified to detect, at or above 95 percent accuracy rate, on nine different explosive odors in many different areas such as offices, barracks, theaters, warehouses, luggage, and vehicles.

After the MWD is trained in explosive detection, it is then trained in patrol. Patrol training consists of obedience, an obedience course, out and guard, building search, and scouting.

Out and guard is a new technique of training at Lackland AFB. This technique has been in use by many other countries and law-enforcement committees. It incorporates false run, false run into a bite, search and reattack, escort, and stand off. For years, we have trained our MWDs to attack a suspect and return to the handler on command. Now, we train them to attack and stay in front of the suspect and watch the person until the handler has detained the suspect.

All phases of patrol training have uses in both combat support and law enforcement. If a building has been found unsecured, an MWD team can clear it better and faster than an MP team. In a combat-support role, an MWD team can assist an infantry platoon to clear a building in an urban combat situation. Only the amount and type of training the MWD has received will limit its use.

Military Working-Dog Handler's Course

The 341st Training Squadron also operates the MWD Handler's Course. Instructors that teach the course are from the four branches of service, and the Army has seven instructor positions. All instructors must have an associate's to instruct at the handler's course. College credit is awarded for this course through the Community College of the Air Force. The students are trained in two separate blocks of instruction. Students in Block One are taught all aspects of patrol training and handling of an MWD. In Block Two, students are trained to handle and train an MWD in detection.

The first five days of Block One are classroom instruction. Students learn how to maintain the equipment they will be using to train the MWD, safety procedures, kennel maintenance, health and first aid, principles of conditioning, and how to maintain records and reports.

At this point, the student is assigned the dog he will be training and working. In 1988, the handler's course stopped training MWDs and only taught students how to handle a dog. All MWDs were trained by the DTS. In 1996, in an effort to produce a well-rounded dog handler, the handler's course began training all patrol/narcotic detector dogs (NDDs) for the field. Students under strict guidance and supervision of the instructors train the dogs. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of each class has the opportunity to train a dog.

Once the students have built some rapport with the dog, they start the hard work of training their MWD. They will train their dog in all of the same areas of patrol the dogs are taught in DTS. After 6 weeks of training, each student must complete a certification in Block One before moving on to Block Two. Certification includes obedience, obedience course, out and guard, building search, and scouting. If the MWD has progressed in training at the same rate as the student, the student will be given the opportunity to certify the dog as a patrol dog and take the dog to Block Two.

Once certification has been completed, students move on to Block Two. Over the next 5 weeks, they are taught how to train and handle a dog in detection. Although the students are training their dogs on narcotic odors, they are taught that there are minor differences between narcotic and explosive searches. The exception is the safety factor involved while searching for explosives. Students run through many scenarios; some are set up to simulate narcotic searches, and some are set up as an explosive search. By using both types of scenarios, the students have the opportunity to see both aspects of detection work. At the end of the 5 weeks, handlers are once again put through a certification process. This time they search buildings, vehicles, warehouses, luggage, and office areas. If all goes well, the students are certified as MP dog handlers. All students who graduate from the handler's course know the basics of dog handling. They need continuation training once assigned to a kennel. As in Block One, if a dog is ready for certification the student could be given the opportunity to run the dog through certification.

The handler's course produces all of the NDDs for the four branches of military service worldwide. The NDD is trained by students, to a 90 percent accuracy rate, on four narcotic odors in all of the same areas as the EDD. On average, the handler's course trains and certifies over 400 MWD handlers and 100 NDDs annually.

Traffic-Management and Accident-Investigation (TMAI) Course

The TMAI Course is a Department of Defense (DoD) course designed to teach law-enforcement members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and DoD police the components of an accident investigation. There is one Army instructor for the course who is under operational control of the 342d Training Squadron.

This 19-day course is crammed with important topics. Although the course's emphasis is on analyzing evidence for traffic accidents and speed calculations, students are taught the legal aspects of installation traffic accidents. They also learn about drugs and alcohol countermeasures, investigative planning, and analyzing components of a traffic accident. To ensure that students grasp the important classroom details, there is a 12-hour final exam they must pass to complete the course.

The most important part of this course is analyzing accident components. It is crucial because all accident evidence comes from the accident scene. Students must collect and record the information accurately. Commanders, insurance companies, civil engineers, and other legal authorities will rely on this information.

Instructors for the TMAI Course train four international mobile training teams annually. The locations for the teams are Alaska, Germany, Hawaii, and Japan, training 75 traffic accident investigators. Another 175 students are trained at the residency course at Lackland AFB for use at installations worldwide.

The Detachment

The LTD's operations section consists of four soldiers who provide all logistical support for permanent-party personnel and students attending five separate courses offered to the Army. Our mission is to provide the best quality instruction to all MWD handlers and TMAI students. We provide the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force with the best-trained MWDs worldwide. We also provide all facets of leadership, training, and support for all Army permanent party and students assigned to this detachment.

Sergeant First Class Timothy G. Dawson and Staff Sergeants Eugene A. Marchand, Jr. and James F. Teatom were assigned to LTD 701st MP Battalion, Lackland AFB, Texas, at the time this article was written.

COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group