Dogs are faithful companions. They will often follow their human handlers and caretakers into unsure and dangerous territory, including military deployments and hazardous missions. The following tribute aims to recognize their efforts and includes some of Coastal Virginia’s local heroes.
Military K9 History
Throughout history, dogs have served courageously on the battlefield. Because of their speed, agility, and smaller stature—making them harder targets for the enemy to catch or shoot—they have been used as messengers; couriers of food, ammunition, and/or medical supplies; sentries while troops rest; gas and bomb detectors; and more.
However, battle canines were not officially recognized by the American military until March 13, 1942, when a private organization called Dogs for Defense was established to recruit civilian’s dogs for the U.S. military’s War Dog Program. This was officially the birth of the K-9 Corps.
Faithful companions: Stubby and Chip. Sallie is shown at top of page.
However, there have been several dogs who have been recognized throughout history for their contributions to the U.S. military:
- Sallie: The mascot of the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. Part of the unit from puppyhood, Sallie would lick the wounds of her injured comrades and lift their spirits.
- Stubby: A stray smuggled into Europe by a soldier with the 102nd Infantry Regiment during World War I, Stubby served in 17 battles, alerted soldiers to gas attacks, and even captured a German spy dressed as a U.S. soldier. He was the first dog to receive a rank—sergeant—from the U.S. armed forces.
- Chip: Served overseas during World War II as one of the first members of the K-9 Corps. During an invasion in Sicily, he attacked an enemy machine gun nest, sustaining a scalp wound and powder burns, but saved the lives of his team. Seventy-five years later, Chips posthumously received the Dickin Medal, a prestigious international award for animal warrior valor.
Atlas
Closer To Home
Coastal Virginia is home to a large armed forces population, which includes a number of military dogs too. These dogs serve in action—although specifics on this is classified and unobtainable for this article—on deployed ships, on base and as assistants to wounded veterans.
Most dogs who serve on bases or in action are trained at the Puppy Program in Lackland Airforce Base in Texas. After basic training and certification, they are shipped off to various bases throughout the country, as well as overseas.
Naval Station Norfolk currently has the largest number of working canines on base in the United States. The 17 dogs they have include German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, as expected, to perform detection and protection sweeps of the base, but they also currently have Tina, a Jagterrier, a versatile hunting breed from Germany, who deploys her talents for paraphernalia detection in smaller spaces such as submarines. It’s difficult to carry an 80-pound Malinois up a ladder, but Tina can be easily carried just about anywhere.
One famous Norfolk alumna is a Golden Retriever named Bud, who is retired now but was probably the Navy’s only Golden working dog. When he retired, he was adopted by his handler, Officer Brian Gardill, who is currently a K-9 police officer at NAVSTA Norfolk.
Atlas
Dogs Who Heal
Coastal Virginia is also home to a nonprofit organization called Mutts With A Mission. They train dogs to serve as good mental health ambassadors aboard Naval ships or as assistants to wounded or disabled members of the military.
Called Expeditionary Facility Dogs, Mutts With A Mission has “Ship Dogs” serving on the USS Gerald R. Ford (“Sage”), the USS Wasp (“Ike”), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Demo”), and the USS Harry S. Truman (“Rudder”). Mutts With A Mission is accredited through Assistance Dogs International, which is one of the requirements for a program that loans dogs to combat ships.
“In working with the mental health teams—the DRCs (Deployed Resiliency Counselors), EPICs (Educational, Professionalism, and Information Centers), and Command Comate Specialists—our Ship Dogs will facilitate social interaction, emotional interaction, detect emotional anxiety, reduced stress, help relax hypervigilant states, and mitigate operational and combat stress,” says Brooke Corson, founder of Mutts With A Mission. “They help the mental health professionals facilitate conversations with sailors and marines that may not happen otherwise.”
Because of social stigmas surrounding mental health, Corson says that sailors and marines serving on ships may resist seeing a mental health counselor, but they will go see the dog, which provides an avenue for counselors to start conversations.
“I know for a fact that several of these dogs have prevented suicides for sailors,” says Corson. “A recent study that is still being conducted found that Demo was especially effective at helping to lower mental stress onboard the Eisenhower while it was deployed.”
Daisy
Helping Paws
Brent Martin was a communications specialist with the Navy who spent 20 of his 24 years of service working with Naval Special Warfare. During his career, he deployed to the Middle East 14 times, 12 of which included “boots on the ground” between different AORs (areas of responsibility or combat zones).
It’s not surprising then, that he came home with PTSD.
Through the Navy’s Special Warfare and Special Operations community’s Warrior Care Coalition, he was introduced to Mutts On A Mission, who helped him train his dog Atlas to assist him through the tough stretches.
Sage
“Atlas’s main purpose is mobility and redirection,” says Martin. “With my PTSD, I have certain tics, so when I start to get overwhelmed, he’s trained to cue in on that. When he picks up on those tics, he redirects me to—for lack of a better phrase—get out of my own head and pay attention to him. That breaks the cycle and keeps me from getting as spun up as I would have in the past.”
Giving Back
Mutts On A Mission runs on private donations alone—no government assistance. If you’d like to help them give back to the military, visit muttswithamission.org
