We went to Lackland Air Force Base to bring you amazing photos of military dogs and handlers who don’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” If you ever need inspiration to hang in there, not to quit, to just go another step, and another one, until the finish line, look no further than military…
COLUMBIA (WACH) — If Gabe could talk, he’d have some amazing stories to tell. He’s completed hundreds of combat patrols in Iraq and saved countless lives, all on four legs. Gabe is a retired military dog. The former pound puppy made a name for himself while he and his handler, Sergeant 1st Class Charles Shuck,…
KHAN NESHIN DISTRICT, Afghanistan – A team of two jumped out of the vehicle as it came to a stop at a chokepoint on the road. While Ace, an improvised explosive device detection dog, wandered around the vehicle, Cpl. Sean Grady, Ace’s handler and a pointman with Echo Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, began…
Through two tours of duty in Iraq Sgt. Rex was by Marine Cpl. Megan Leavey’s side. The pair worked more than 100 missions searching for roadside bombs, were injured in the line of duty and went through physical therapy together. When her military career ended, she felt the least she could do was adopt him.…
FORT JACKSON, SC (WIS) – A retired Sergeant 1st Class stationed at Fort Jackson is up for an award after a successful 170 combat patrols and many years in the service. Who is this mountain of a man with steel in his heart and ice water in his veins? He is not a man. His…
Dogs are often noted as heroes in the news, but in this case, army dog handler Sgt. Aaron Yoder took a bullet for his black lab, Bart, during a gun fight in Southern Afghanistan last month. The Taliban has begun to target these soldier dogs because of their amazing bomb-sniffing skills in an attempt to…
Pfc. Steven Olson, a dog handler with 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, and his dog, Alex, take a moment to enjoy an abundance of tennis balls. The Tactical Explosive Detection Dogs are calm and collected until they see a tennis ball. The balls, nearly 3,000 of them,…
SAN ANTONIO — Dogs suffer from post-traumatic stress, too. Years of war and frequent deployments have affected military working dogs just as they have humans, and Dr. Walter Burghardt is trying to do something about it. Burghardt is chief of behavioral medicine for military working dog studies, assigned to the Daniel E. Holland Military Working…
Navy Master-At-Arms 1st Class Ekali Brooks had reason to thank the crowd as he crawled inches at a time in full gear, adjusting his helmet while trying to reach the finish line. “Come on, Brooks!” a woman cried. “Come on! You’ve got it!” On a day when low crawl was high drama, he needed the boost. Brooks and…
Picture a sprawling grape field, row after row of low-leaning mud walls blanketed with dry leaves. It’s winter in Helmand, Afghanistan. In the middle of the field are 20 U.S. soldiers crouching for cover; they’ve just endured an insurgent attack. Now that the gunfire has quieted, K-9 handler Staff Sgt. Justin Kitts and his working…