Man’s best friend makes big find

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --   It was another routine day just outside Camp Taji, Iraq for Staff Sgt. Terry Mace and his K-9 partner, Palli.

It was an early November morning, and the two were doing their usual cache weapons search in the nearby town of Tarmiyah.

Sergeant Mace gave Palli the go ahead to do what he was trained to do.

It didn't take Palli long to discover what would be Sergeant Mace's biggest find of his Air Force career. As Palli sniffed out the exterior of a house, he immediately changed his behavior once he discovered something.

Palli wandered his way into a chicken coop where he sat down to signal he had located what he was searching for. Once Sergeant Mace moved his K-9 away from the area, Army troops moved in behind them to uncover what Palli had discovered.

There, they would find two AK-47s, 15 magazines of 7.62 ammunition, and a box of 200 loose rounds of ammunition.

Sergeant Mace said he was proud of his partner. With over 40 cache searches done on this deployment, this was the pair's biggest find.

"I was extremely proud of Palli. When the Army Soldier searched the coop and discovered the ammo, I was very happy and verbally praised Palli," said Sergeant Mace. "I also gave him a pat on the head and some ear scratchens. The Army Soldier pulled out another bag of ammo and then came the big surprise of them all, he discovered two AK-47's. I got really excited, so much so that I can't put it into words. Palli looked at me and you could see the excitement in his eyes. He couldn't sit still and wanted to go back into the chicken coop to see if there was more. "

Sergeant Mace and Palli are both assigned to the Elmendorf 3rd Security Forces Military Working Dog section, and after leaving for their deployment training in September, they made their return in March.

Out of his 11 years in the Air Force and working with K-9s, Sergeant Mace said he has never had a more outgoing dog.

"He's an awesome dog," said Sergeant Mace. "As soon as I tell him to search, he wants me to stay out of his way, so he can get the job done."

This was Sergeant Mace's fifth deployment, but his first with 3-year-old Palli, a patrol explosive detective dog.

"He's a real cheerful dog," said Sergeant Mace. "He's always working and trying to please me."

It doesn't matter if they're taking a walk to relax; Palli will be sniffing out cars, trying to find something to impress him, said Sergeant Mace.

Sergeant Mace said he formed a strong bond with his partner during their deployment. He said it's impossible to not get close to the dogs, since they're together around the clock. They eat, sleep and work together constantly.

Along with their cache searches, the team also initiated raids, searched for high value targets and did traffic control points.

Sergeant Mace and Palli weren't the only ones excited about their big find.

"You always hope for the king of all busts," said Tech. Sgt. Robert Black, 3rd SFS MWD trainer and Sergeant Mace's supervisor. "It depends on where you go and what the task is."

Sergeant Black also said with Sergeant Mace being one of Elmendorf's top dog handlers, they knew they could trust him with the responsibility to go down range and knew he would get the job done.

Nowadays to be a handler like Sergeant Mace, Airmen must have a certain amount of time in service and submit a cross-training package.

Dogs that are picked for the job go through an initial training class and once they graduate are constantly worked with to help improve their skills.

Sergeant Mace said some dogs are content with where they are from the initial training, but not Palli. He said Palli is always eager to learn more and stay a step ahead of the game.