SiteBuilder Note: Dassault Hanger Is A USAF Installation On A French Air Force Base, Security Is Strict And Is Provided By The French Air Force; This Is The Base Commander's Warning To All New American Arrivals!


Warning!!! Mobile French AF Military Commandos support our Dassault Hangar operations.

They work the perimeter of our facilities, are well armed and usually travel in groups of three or four. You'll recognize them by their green type uniforms and military working dogs (the dogs frequently work off-leash and are trained to attack the groin area).

 

The State of Israel, along with the IDF, quite possibly uses the largest number of Military Working Dogs of any country today, with the possible exception of France.

Within the military, the exact number of dogs is classfied, the Army, Air Force and Navy, all have K-9 Units, used mostly for routine security: patrol (security) dogs, detector (explosives) dogs, and some search & rescue dogs.

Add to that the Border Police K-9 Units, who use both patrol (security) and sniffer (explosive detector) dogs, within certain zones, and on their borders.


 

And interestingly enough, it was only recently, that the civilian police departments in Israel added patrol dog units for crowd control, etc. Jesusalem's Police Dept. purchased a number of dogs in 2000, from private resources in the U.S.A., who also trained their K-9 handlers.


 

The Israeli military's crack Palat Search and Rescue Unit, the only non combatant unit of 7142, is made up mostly of reserve and active duty soldiers, doctors, nurses and sniffer dogs; this Palga is used mostly for civil disasters. Highly trained, they use some very specialized equipment, developed by the unit's own experiences worldwide.

This IDF Unit uses search and rescue (sniffer) dogs, of various breeds; mostly older females, who are retired at age six from other Palgat units.


 

In 1988, the IDF's Dog Unit came under sharp criticism after an unsuccessful mission in Lebanon code named Operation Kahol ve Hoom, caused the deaths of four dogs.  The Unit's commanding officer was suspended putting into question the future of the special detachment.

But Unit Oket'z 7142 has slowly regained its credibility within Israel today, and is currently being used in Israel's campaign (2002) against the PLO terrorist groups within the West Bank.


 

Last year alone,  the Unit's dogs detected at least ten bombs in South Lebanon preventing heavy losses among the Israeli Defence Force soldiers.

Unlike in other countries, the Unit's Dog Teams are always together, whether on patrol, in training, and even when they are on leave.

In Lebanon, the soldier and the dog live together in one room and sometimes even share the same bed. The bond between the soldiers and their dogs is extremely close.


Photographs Are Courtesy Of David Cohen @: Israel Special Forces Page; & Alberto Susterman @: Israel Inside! Page. Both Web Sites Are Listed On The 50th Link Page, Which Can Be Access Off The Department of Defense Page.

 

The main organizational components of the base consist of: Dog Training Headquarters, two Training Companies, Special Training Group, a Support Platoon and Veterinary School and Clinic.

The commander of the K-9 School is a Colonel Josef Ruzicka, who has over 30 years experience training K-9 handlers in the Czech Republic. The Veterinary and Training School is the central government training facility for all Czech dog handlers and service dogs of the Army of the Czech Republic today!

 

The dog school's training mission is to provide for cynological service of all military units, that use MWD to guard government facilities, provide troop protection against terrorism, anti drug detection, and search and rescue service units, etc.

The training method (use award system) used is I.P. Pavlov's teachings on higher nervous activity of dogs and the up-to-date ethological knowledge.

 

The K-9 School's training course is from 7 to 12 weeks long; and the school is able to train 600 handlers and 450 dogs per year.

Staff at the Dog School cooperates with all the cynologists of the Czech Republic Police departments, Custom Officers and Civilian Security Agencies. They also participate in top-level competitions, both at home and abroad.

For the last eight years, the dog school's staff has exchange information and experience with the leading cynologists and military men from over 23 countries. All this contributes to their technical skills, professional maturity and self-confidence.

 

The Army of the Czech Republic currently has 1350 dogs in use, at 82 installations. The majority of the dogs are German Shepherds, French Briard Shepherds, Rotveilers, Dobermans, Belgian Shepherds and several mixed breeds. Interestingly, bitches are used only occassionly in the Czech Army.

 

K-9 dogs get a good deal at Russia's border posts. Plenty of respect and attention, their own place to sleep and a special diet comprising twice as much meat as the men get.

If there's no meat, the dogs get fed canned dog food. That costs more, but the FPS commanding officers know that the expense pays off because the dogs are the most loyal, effective and essential support they can have.

Every border post in Russia's 10 regional departments of the Federal Border Service (FPS) includes dogs among its personnel. The dogs have their own master – an instructor or dog handler and, like small children, are lavished with constant attention.

"The military can't do without dogs. In the army and navy, they guard arms stockpiles, nuclear installations, closed garrisons; and in the border guards service, they guard the border," said head of the FPS canine division Lt. Col. Vladimir Yakovlev.

 

"The dogs usually specialize in different areas. Some track mines, others hunt for drugs or alcohol, and then every post has three or four dogs that can pick up a trail. The border guard headquarters makes sure there are enough properly trained dogs for all the posts.

"Even though money is tight, we try to give the dogs all they need, and they pay us in kind – the dogs help catch the culprits in almost every case of violations at the border," Yakovlev said.

Yakovlev said drug traffickers on the border between Russia, Tadjikistan and Afghanistan are a common example.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia and Tadjikistan agreed that Russian border guards would patrol the border with Afghanistan. This is an ideal border for drug traffickers trying to cross undetected.

 

The gorges of the Pamir Mountains with their streams, rivers and dense mountain bush mean that technology is of little use in these conditions, and that is why the dogs are so valuable.

"The dogs are hugely important on the Tadjik - Afghan border. We have, for example, a record - breaking dog – Beri the German shepherd," said Yakovlev.

"Beri and Senior Warrant Officer Shishin, the dog's master, have detained to date four people illegally crossing the border and detected nine weapons, 360 pieces of ammunition and 274 kilograms of drugs.

"Shishin was awarded medals – the Suvorov medal and the medal "for distinction in guarding the state border." As for Beri – the dog is rewarded by getting extra food and extra attention from the men."

 

Another example where dogs were useful was at the Sovietsk border post in the Kaliningrad region. While inspecting a truck, Alexei Deryabin, a junior sergeant (equivalent to a corporal in Western armies), and his dog discovered a cargo of smuggled vodka being sent to Lithuania.

In another case, a search dog, Dina, and her instructor Sergei Valiyev, came under fire with their border patrol along the Tadjik-Afghan border. When the fighting was over, Dina helped search the area and discovered five corpses, a sack of heroin weighing nearly 10 kilograms, two Kalashnikovs, ammunition and radio equipment.

Yakovlev was reluctant to give specific figures, pointing out that dogs are considered strategic weapons, and so figures relating to them are secret. However, the training center is open for viewing.

 

The dog training center is in the midst of a thick forest and swampland and is surrounded by a concrete fence. With its numerous kennels, enclosures and dogs, it doesn't look much like the average military base.

"The fence is nothing, we have the trainee dogs guarding the perimeter, and no one can get past them," Chernov said. The officer has been training dogs for the border guards for more than 20 years now and is one of the most experienced canine specialists in Russia.

Every year, the center trains several hundred dogs for the FPS, as well as training dog handlers and instructors.

"Our dog center is constantly developing, we've got a good foundation for this," said chief dog breeder Major Sergei Gogolev.

A military vet by training, Gogolev has been with the center since the day it opened. "We made all the enclosures for the dogs ourselves. Now that's all in the past," Gogolev said.

"Now, as well as raising and training, we also work on selective breeding and try various types of diets."

Gogolev has almost 100 men under his command. Each is responsible for several dogs or puppies.

 

Raising and training the dogs is no easy business. The market value of a fully trained dog is $2,000-$3,000.

The center works mostly with German shepherds, but also with Spaniels, Rottweilers and Dobermans. Between 10 and 15 different breeds are represented at the center, and the animals also take part in prestigious dog shows. They serve not only in the FPS, but also as rescue dogs and in the Emergencies Ministry.

 

Within today's Yugoslav Army, military working dogs are used and handled by their Military Police Units, Frontier Guards and by some infantry units.


 

Australia:

 

Dogs were first introduced into the Royal Australian Air Force during 1943, when asset security was provided by untrained and extremely savage dogs, which were placed loose inside warehouses and compounds, tied to aircraft or fixed to long lines, so they could run back and forth along a fence lines etc.

 

It wasn't until August 26, 1954, ten years later,  that trained patrol dogs and K9 handlers were finally introduced into the RAAF; and that the RAAF Police Dog Training Centre was formed, at No. 1 Central Reserve, RAAF Albury, New South Wales.

Today,  the Royal Australian Air Force,  is the largest single corporate user of military working dogs in Australia. Its 195 MWD have an important role in the security of high-value RAAF assets at some 12 bases and establishments located across Australia. The RAAF currently has about 180 trained dog handlers on active duty.

The RAAFs basic preparation and dog training course is four months, and is conducted at the Security (Dog Training) and Fire School, located in Amberley, Queensland. The School is also responsible for training all service dogs used by all of its Defence Forces.

 

Breeds used are German Shepherds and mixes, and Labs, although they are moving towards replacing the German Shepherd, with the shorter hair Belgian Shepherd, who is better able to handle the extreme temperatures at some air bases, and installations.

The first Australian Army and Navy Police Dog sections were introduced in 1977, and became fully operational in 1978. It should be noted, that units of the Australian Army were using patrol and tracker dogs, as far back as the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, and in Borneo. Dog training then, was conducted by members of the British Army's RAVC and SAS units.

 

1967  during the Vietnam War, the Australian Army provided two units of Tracker Dogs, that were trained, by the Tracking Wing, of the School of Infantry, at Ingleburns, a small military base located outiside of Sydney, in 1966. The Tracking Wing was closed by the government  when Australia's involvement in Vietnam ended.

Military working dogs of the Australian Defence Forces have served since the eighties, under the United Nations' flag in: Sinai, Cambodia, Borganville, and today in Kosovo and East Timor with Anzac.  Australia's combine military services use more MWD today, than at anytime in its history!

 

New Zealand:

In 1966, during the Vietnam War, it was instructors from New Zealand's Royal Army SAS, who were secretly responsible for the training of the United States' first Combat Tracker Teams, along with instructors from the British War Dog Training Unit No. 2 (WDTU-2), RAVC, at the British Jungle Warfare School, at Johore Bahru, Malaysia.

However, this wasn't their first experience with Tracker Dogs, by any means, as units of the New Zealand Army, like their neighbors to the north, used Patrol and Tracker Dogs during the Korean War, as part of the Commonwealth Division; then during the Malayan Emergency, and again in Borneo.  Dog training was conducted at the time, by members of the British Army's RAVC and their SAS units.

 

Today, New Zealand has a small regular army consisting of 4,600 personnel. The overall size the NZ Defence Forces counts about 10,000, divided between their Air Force, Army and Navy.

Within the Royal Army, service dogs are used by units of the Military Police, Special Air Service (SAS), and their demining engineers, as part of the UN's peacekeeping mission in East Timor.

And in the Royal Air Force's new Air Security, dog handlers provide resource and air base security, SAR, and unique to New Zealand's Air Force, they also conduct combat patrols. The  Royal Air Force Training School for air dogs is located outside of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.