Maria Goodavage - Soldier Dogs

SOLDIER
DOGS

SOLDIER
DOGS

THE UNTOLD STORY OF
AMERICAS CANINE HEROES

MARIA GOODAVAGE

DUTTON

DUTTON

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First printing, March 2012

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Copyright 2012 by Maria Goodavage

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Goodavage, Maria, 1962

Soldier dogs : the untold story of Americas canine heroes / Maria Goodavage. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 978-1-101-57710-3

1. DogsWar useUnited States. 2. DogsTraining. 3. DogsWar use History. I. Title.

UH100.G66 2012 355.424dc23

2011049674

Printed in the United States of America

Set in Granjon

Designed by Jaime Putorti

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

CONTENTS

Military working dogs are amazing in every aspect, and
even more so when you realize that they risk their lives
and save yours, all so they can have a ball.

AIR FORCE STAFF SERGEANT
CHRISTINE CAMPOS, DOG HANDLER

PART ONE

DOGS IN HARMS WAY

WALKING POINT

I ts 7 A.M. , just north of the town of Safar, Afghanistan, and Fenji M675 is already panting. Her thick, black German shepherd coat glistens in the hot August sun. Fenji is out in front of ten marines, leashed to a D-ring thats attached to the body armor of her handler, Corporal Max Donahue. Hes six feet behind her and holds his rifle ready.

Fenji leads the marines down the flat dirt road, past the trees and lush vegetation in this oasis amid the deserts of southern Afghanistan. She ignores the usual temptations: a pile of dung, a wrapper from a candy bar. Her mission doesnt include these perks. Her nose is what may keep them all alive today, and she cant distract it with the trivial. Coalition forces have been sweeping Safar of insurgents and their bombs, allowing the Safar Bazaar marketplace to reopen and locals to start living normally again. The Taliban had to go somewhere else. So they headed north. And they planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) like seedlings among the poppy fields and grape fields and off to the sides of roads, under thick weeds.

Around here, any step you take could be your last.

And thats why Fenji is in the lead, walking point. IEDs are the top killer in Afghanistaneven with the highest technology, the best mine-sweeping devices, the most sophisticated bomb-jamming equipment, and the study of pattern of life activities being observed from remote piloted aircraft. But there is one response that the Taliban has no answer for: the soldier dog, with his most basic sensesmelland his deepest desiresome praise, and a toy to chew.

Seek! Donahue tells Fenji, and they continue down the road, leading the men from the 3/1 (Third Battalion First Marines). She walks with a bounce to her step, tail up and bobbing gently as she half trots down the road. Every so often she stops and sniffs a spot of interest and, when she doesnt find what shes seeking, moves on. She almost looks like a dog out on a morning stroll in a park. Donahue, in full combat gearsome eighty pounds of it, including water for his dogkeeps up with her.

Fenji stops at a spot just a foot off the side of the road. Shes found something of great interest. Without taking her eyes off the spot, she sniffs around it swiftly and her tail starts to wag. Suddenly she goes from standing up to lying down, staring the entire time at the spot. The men have stopped walking and are watching her. Her wagging tail kicks up some dust. Everything is silent now. No more sniffing, no crunching of boots.

Suddenly a hushed, enthusiastic voice cuts through the dead quiet. Fenjiii! Thats my girl! In training exercises, Donahue is a lot more effusive, but out of respect for the bomb, he makes his initial praise short and quick, calls her back, and they un-ass from the area. It could be the kind of IED someone sets off from a distance, not the type that goes off when you step on it. One of the marines marks it with a chartreuse glow stick, and they move on.

Within the next hour, Fenji alerts to three more roadside bombs. Donahue lavishes her with quiet praise every time. Twice after her finds, shortly after they get away from the bombs, he tosses a black Kong toy to his dog and she easily catches it. She stands there chewing it, reveling in the sound of Donahues praise, the feel of the hard rubber between her teeth, and the gloved hand of her best pal stroking her head. Life doesnt get much better than this for a military working dog. These are the moments these dogs live for, when all the years of training, all the hard work, come together.

Im proud of you! Donahue tells her, and he means it, and she wags hard. She knows shes done well. Shes been with him for seven months now, and she has a great fondness for Donahue, her first handler, and he dotes on my sweet girl. She liked him from the moment they met at Camp Pendleton back in February. Nearly everyone who meets Donahue reacts the same way. Theres something about his big personality, his love of life, his dry humor, the way he looks after you. Fenji fell right in with him, and he immediately took to her. She was young, bright, eager to learn from him, and he swears she has a sense of humor. He once said that she gets his jokes before his friends do. Thats probably because she tends to wag in his presence regardless of jokes. Shes just happy to be near him. Shes three years old, hes twenty-three, and together theyre a formidable bomb-finding force.

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