Military Police Dogs--No Not Feists, Yet!

My nephew recently retired from the Navy. He served 20 years! I am proud of his service to our country. He is now going to college. I wonder if any of my Blog readers can guess one of his areas of expertise? I bet some of you guessed it! Dustin was a Military Police Dog Handler! It's in our genetic make up to want to work with dogs! I am posting two photos of the type of dog his partner, Axel, was. Below the photos is a story about one of their assignments.

THE HALSEY ROAD INCIDENT

My Naval career spanned from 1989 to 2009. Between 1991 and 1995, I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. My rate, which is the same as job title, was Master-At-Arms, the Navy's equivalent of Military Police. There are different specialties one can attain within the Master-At-Arms rating. At this time mine was NEC 2005, Military Working Dog Handler, or if you will, a police dog handler. My partner was a 70 pound, light brown and white, seven year old German Shepherd, named Axel.

Axel was an outstanding police dog. He performed all critical tasks, semi-critical tasks and non-critical tasks excellently. He was what was referred to in the dog handling world as a push button dog. Meaning he did everything he was trained to do and he did it well. I pulled the night shift for 3 straight years while I handled Axel. The primary reason for our late night assignment was Axel’s performance as a straight patrol dog. He knew his purpose was to find bad guys and bite them if need be. Axel could locate people downwind from 250 to 300 yards away. He could track an individual a mile off over dirt, grass, gravel, and pavement. He could enter a building, smell the bottom of closed doors and tell me whether or not someone was inside the room. He could also track people hidden in buildings or warehouses. Axel and I were an outstanding team and my superiors wanted us out there. They needed us.

The night in question, if my memory serves me right, was in August, 2002. The U.S.S. Ranger CV-61 (Aircraft Carrier) was visiting Yokosuka. Axel and I pulled duty the first weekend the Ranger docked. Over 5,000 sailors hit town that weekend to blow off steam. Sailors can blow off a lot steam after being out to sea for a month or two. Around 0030 hours in the morning, I received a radio communication from dispatch concerning glass breaking on Halsey road. Dispatch instructed me travel to Halsey Road and investigate. Halsey Road was the area where two-star and three-star admirals lived. From time to time a drunk sailor would wonder up Halsey Road, even though it's posted with huge signs stating, "WARNING, KEEP OUT, Restricted Area, All Unauthorized persons will be apprehended or detained".

I suspected we had a sailor off the Ranger who gotten lost or disoriented and now was where he shouldn't be. Proceeding up Halsey Road, I did not see anyone or hear any type of disturbance. After reaching the top of Halsey, I met two fellow patrolman, Bush and McKay. McKay was the senior patrolman and Bush was the second senior patrolman. McKay radioed back to dispatch stating we had no contact with unauthorized individuals and saw no signs of a disturbance. Dispatch shot back, "Stand By" while they reestablished contact with complainant. That's when the third level window to the three stars’ house slid open and a woman, identified later as the Admiral's wife, screamed, "Get up here, he's in the house"!

All three of us looked at one another with an expression of "What the %@#*" I quickly grabbed my partner from my patrol vehicle, hooked up to the leash and sprinted to the left side of the house, toward the kitchen entrance door. I knew from experience that that was the weakest door. McKay and Bush promptly kicked the door in and stepped back, looking at me. I didn't hesitate at all, I commanded Axel to "Find Him" and off we went into the house. Axel was feeding off my adrenaline and excitement. He was a totally different dog, aggressive, snarling and pulling me up the stairs. On several of the walls in the house hand prints were smeared in blood. I thought to myself, "Crap, what has this guy done." As Axel and I reached the top of stairs, I saw a room just off to the left and across the stairs. Axel strained to charge that direction. I eased up to the door, gave enough slack to the leash to allow Axel a few feet inside. I watched as Axel locked onto something with his eyes. He began aggressively pulling on the leash, trying to get near his target. Salvia spewed from his mouth each time he barked. I leaned my head inside a split second to get a quick look. I spied a Caucasian male, late 20's maybe early 30's, laying on the floor with his hands up. He was bleeding from his left hand and wearing only a pair of blue shorts. He yelled out to me "Don't shoot, don't shoot!" I stepped into the room quickly noticing it was bedroom. He was lying his back with his hands extended in the air. I told him to rollover to his stomach and place his hands in the small of his back. He did as I instructed. I informed him I was coming forward to search him and if he moved even slightly my dog would open up several new holes in his body. He got the message to be absolutely still. I yanked firmly on the leash to get Axel’s attention. After his eyes locked onto mine, I gave Axel a loud, firm, stay command and proceeded forward to search my suspect. Keeping a close watch on Axel, I saw him inch forward ever so slightly. He really wanted to tear this guy to pieces. Since the perpetrator only wore a pair of blue shorts, it didn't take long to cuff and search him. I found his wallet and inside was his military I. D. card. I called out to Bush and McKay and saying "look in here boys, we got us a Lieutenant." The suspect said, "That's right, I'm an F-14 pilot." Bush took his I.D. from me and pointed it straight at him and saying "No Sir, you were an F-14 pilot."

We escorted him out of the house. Thankfully, the admiral’s wife was unharmed. The blood came from the suspect’s hand. He had cut his hand deeply when he broke the back bay window with a rock or when he crawled through it. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) took custody of the suspect. The Command Duty Officer and Officer of the day were comforting the Admiral’s wife as Bush, McKay and I went outside. We had a smoke, some laughs and took a little of a break to let the adrenaline dissipate from our systems. As I watched the smoke curl from our cigarettes upward into the night air, I knew this was one episode in my career I will never forget.