Marine & Air Force Dog Handlers Work Together in Al Qa’im

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story by Sgt. Jerad W. Alexander
February 14, 2006

Inter-service rivalry is almost a tradition in the armed services, Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen have all, at one time or another, joked about believed deficiencies in other services. Nothing is truer than the rivalry between the Marine Corps and the Air Force.
Conflicts in the 21st Century, however, have yielded more opportunities for service members of all branches to work together toward a common goal. The western Al Anbar province of Iraq is no exception.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew D. Pierce, a military working dog handler with the 62nd Security Forces Squadron out of McCord Air Force Base, Wash., is about as far away from his parent service as any airmen can possibly get. The 29-year-old dog handler is working with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, here, near the Syrian border just south of the Euphrates River.
“It’s definitely a different type of environment,” said Pierce, a native of Winchendon, Mass. “I understood before coming out here that I’d be putting my neck on the line day-to-day.”
Pierce, and his 3-year-old German Shepherd, Ajax, both work with 29-year-old Portsmouth, Va., native, Marine Sgt. Timothy R. Johnson, a dog handler out of Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii – known as K-Bay by the Marine stationed there.
“I like their motivation to get stuff done,” said Pierce. “They’re always ready to get out and do what needs to be done.”
According to Pierce, he prepared in advance to come to Iraq. He conducted training in desert operations, convoys and other related tasks to help him adjust and successfully work in this combat environment.
Dog handlers in Iraq are used to locate munitions caches, often during combat operations. Together they run through search missions know as “cordon and knock” operations and other sweeps in the region.
“Nothing I’ve done in the states applies here,” Pierce said. “I haven’t, however, been put into a situation that I wasn’t trained for.”
“This is my first time working with the Air Force in Iraq,” said Johnson while tending to his five-year-old German Shepherd, Bingo. It is also Pierces’ first time working with Marines.
According to Johnson, the job of being a military working dog handler by-and-large overrules any inter-service strife.
“What I’ve seen, the conflict comes in when dog handlers train a dog, which is an art unto itself, and they believe their way is the only way. Add different services into the mix and it just gets worse,” Johnson stated. “It’s not the case here.”
Military working dog handlers through out the Armed Forces all receive their introductory training at the same location, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. So according to Johnson, they received the basic training and a basic understanding of the other services, which minimizes any possible tensions.
It isn’t all smooth flowing, however. The dogs themselves tend to show off in front of each other. According to Pierce, Johnson’s dog, Bingo, is known to strut around in front of Ajax when he’s out of his cage.
“We haven’t really introduced the dogs,” said Johnson. “Bingo is a bit of a bull in a china shop.”
Despite the posturing of the dogs and the ‘alpha-dog’ mentality that drives them, the same doesn’t apply to their handlers.
“Military life in general can be a little different,” said Johnson. “But honestly, its all one team, one fight.”

Wild Thing’s comment….
On the ground the Marine Dogs will kick the AF dogs asses but AF dogs will know how to call in an air strike, will plan egress and will look really good doing it. heh heh