JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Darla busted into the Permafrost Pub on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska with one thing on her mind:
Drugs, now.
She took off down the wall, frantically searching high and low behind every vent and in every crevice – even the billiard-ball dispensers weren’t spared.
Her handler, Pfc. Brad Bourne, a K-9 military policeman assigned to the 549th Military Working Dog Detachment followed quickly behind her, keeping an eye out for niches his determined ally might have missed.
When such an opportunity presented itself, Bourne need only slide a hand up the wall or around a vent and Darla’s nose would follow.
The evaluation team watched from a distance, each wearing the masks of an individual intentionally not looking in certain directions in the room, as they offered the occasional stern bit of encouragement.
The German shepherd and Bourne quickly and systematically covered every inch of the pub in less than their allotted 35 minutes. However, when they finished, they didn’t sit on their rumps and enjoy some dog treats, they started again – using every second to find any potential threats in the room.
Darla and Bourne weren’t the only team being evaluated on explosives and illicit-drug detection March 13th, but when it was all said and done, they headed out for aggression training, where the teams were tested on their ability to detect and neutralize hostile threats safely.
“We have the best job in the Army,” Said Staff Sgt Craig Wellener, a military working dog handler with the 549th Military Working Dog Detachment, U.S. Army Alaska, with a laugh. “The bond is indescribable, especially when we deploy with them.”
Downrange, the first thing a K-9 MP sees many mornings is a wet nose – or a rump as the dog keeps one of their comrades dry in the cot next to them, Wellener said.
For MPs, maintaining a consistent level of readiness is crucial because every situation they walk into is a potentially dangerous one, whether they’re downrange or at home station.
Thus, the training is as close to real as they can simulate. For the detection training, they offer a strict time limit and use real drugs and explosives, Wellener said.
Training over, Darla sat patiently by her handler as he reported to the evaluators until she was rewarded with a rubber dog toy, a bit of rough housing, and a walk to her kennel where she would wait for her next hunt.