MWD School

Day 51 – The End

cristina122 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:54:27 +0000

Graduation, finally! Today was another very short day. We had graduation practice, then went home and changed into uniform, then returned for the real thing. We sat in alphabetical order, then TSgt Burnett started the ceremony by saying that our class was set apart from most because we had higher test scores than average, and our capabilities as dog handlers left him in no doubt that we would do great out at our assignments. We each were called up to receive our graduation certificates, then there were some awards to give out. I received Top Dog for Block 1 Patrol training, Wylie received Top Dog for Block 2, and then I was called back up because I received the Commander’s Award, which is overall most achieved graduate with an academic average score of 98% or above and “high standards of leadership, teamwork, and character”. I was really surprised and grateful to receive both awards. Another MA2 and I also received a Letter of Commendation from our course Chief for our involvement in the K9 demonstrations and the 5k run we participated in.

After the ceremony was over, TSgt Burnett came up and shook my hand and told me to come back as an instructor when I’m done in Sigonella. That’s a very high compliment to be paid to a student, and it caught me off guard. It’s too bad I’m getting out of the Navy after my tour in Sigonella is up though, eh? ;o)

I fly out very early tomorrow morning for Sigonella. I can honestly say that dog school has been one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in my Navy career thus far. I met some awesome people that I hope to see again down the line, and for being a school environment, I’ve never goofed off or laughed so much. I couldn’t have asked for better instructors or better classmates. I will remember it always.

Day 50 – Final Loose Ends

cristina122 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:44:03 +0000

Today we did an end of course survey about the course itself, and the facilities here on base, like my hotel room, the galley, the gyms, etc, then we took our dogs to the vet for a final check up, then we turned in all of our gear. Belts, leashes, kongs, collars, all that stuff.

It was a really short day. We were let loose early, which was good because I was able to go get my service record and plane tickets to Sicily.

Day 49 – Certified!

cristina122 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:05:03 +0000

We certified today! It was in a warehouse and everyone did fine. A few hits on some of my classmates, but nothing to fail them. I didn’t get any hits, which was a nice change from when we certified in Block 1.

Tomorrow is gear turn in and final vet checks, then graduation practice, and then we graduate Friday morning. I don’t know when I fly out to Sicily yet, but I hope to be there by Monday morning because I’m already scheduled for Indoctrination starting then.

Days 47 and 48 – Mud and Misery

cristina122 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:02:43 +0000

We came back from holiday leave without much enthusiasm. First, because we had to come back, and second, it was freezing cold, windy, rainy, and extremely muddy. We did barracks training both days. Some people were a little rusty, but we easily got back into the swing of things.

Day 46 – Finally Friday

cristina122 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:42:22 +0000

Well we finally reached the end of our week before the 16-day Christmas exodus. We ran a training problem this morning, then I had to take Rony to the vet for a check-up. They checked his eyes, then his stomach. Rony didn’t go out to the field to be a real MWD because he’s struggled with intestinal disease his whole life, plus his partial blindness. Since he’s still been having stomach issues since I picked him up, the vet is putting him on antibiotics. It’s good we’re going on this long break, hopefully he’ll be better when I see him again in January.

This won’t be updated until January since I’m going on leave TONIGHT!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Day 45

cristina122 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:18:33 +0000

We had different instructors than normal today. We went to a new wearehouse to do training and they said I did great. Our class is doing good as a whole, which is good, since we only get two days to review after break then we certify.

After lunch we watched another class train dogs, which was pretty lame considering they’re students too so they don’t really know how to train dogs yet, but that’s the way this place works.

Day 44 – …

cristina122 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:38:19 +0000

The military is really good at complicating situations and having massive breakdowns in communication. Today was a perfect example.

Today was “Wingman Day” on base here. We were supposed to take a day away from training and do something out of the norm, to look out for our “wingman”, our fellow military member. We were going to be in PT gear and go to Fisher House, which is actually three large buildings where families of wounded military members stay while the military member recovers from injury, illness, or surgery here. We were going to go clean the building, help move 36 new TVs into rooms, and do some landscape work, as well as visit with patients and families.

Before all this, we had a commander’s safety brief, which was kind of dumb because we’re having another one on Friday before we all go on Christmas vacation.

Well, we had seven classes show up to Fisher House once the brief was finally over, along with trainers and civilians, and they didn’t need that many people. So they sent all the students and instructors back to the school house. By this time, it was past 9:00. The instructors told us to go home and change in to uniform and bring our dog gear and be back by 10, but to bring our PT gear back with us because we would have to change AGAIN after lunch to participate in “festivities” in the afternoon. We came back by 10, pulled a few dogs, and did some training for about an hour. We went to lunch but didn’t have to change back in to PT gear. After lunch, we basically sat around in a classroom and told stories and jokes and stuff until it was time to leave. So it was pretty much a wasted day. Tomorrow is back to normal though. It’s weird to think we only have four total days of dog training left before we certify on the 7th of January and graduate on the 9th.

Day 43 – Scenario

cristina122 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:04:22 +0000

Today we did barracks training again. It was bitter cold again. Rony and I did really well during the problem. Once everyone had run through the problem, we still had some time before we could put the dogs up and go to lunch, so the instructors decided to run a scenario on us. We had a “bomb threat” and had five minutes to clear an entire floor of the building. I finished with 30 seconds to spare, but Rony didn’t find the explosve, even when the instructor had me go back and put his nose right on it. He said I still did well though. Look for video up soon.

Day 42 – Cargo Plane

cristina122 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:01:05 +0000

Today we did detection training in a cargo plane. It was very different; there were a lot of obstacles and dangers to the dog and handler, but it went well. What sucked is that it was 35 degrees, so we could stand outside and freeze, sit on the bus and freeze, or stand in the plane and freeze.

Day 41

cristina122 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:27:17 +0000

Today was a good day. We finally went to the huge warehouse on Kelly Air Base. I went first so I could videotape my classmates. Wylie taped me, so look for those videos and more pictures over the weekend.

Rony missed all three aids today. Two of them weren’t my fault or his; the way I was presenting just happened to cause him to miss them even though I was keeping a systematic search pattern. An MWD out in the fleet would have found them because my presentations were within the area where odor was, but the dogs here are here for a reason. They’re either sick or broken or not good enough at detection to make it out in the fleet, so they’re used as training aids. Rony didn’t find the third aid even though he showed a lot of interest, but not a single dog found it today, so MA1 chalked it up to the aid being old. I brought Rony back to two of the aids and he found them, so he was still able to get some praise and get his kong.

I don’t stress it when Rony doesn’t find anything because they’re grading me, not the dog. I would only stress if the reason he didn’t find anything was because I didn’t give him the chance to, either by not presenting the area, or pulling him away from the odor. You could walk a cat through a training problem and still certify with it because the instructors could care less about what the dog does. Of course, out in the fleet, they’re watching us both.