Navy SEAL Dogs (25 page)

Downrange
a combat zone

EOD
Explosive Ordnance Disposal; EOD members remove and dismantle IEDs and other explosives

Esquive
French for “dodge or sidestep”

Firebase
an area in a war zone where artillery can be housed to provide heavy firepower

FOB
forward operating base; a secured military position for U.S. troops fighting in another country

Force Reconnaissance
a special operations force of the U.S. Marine Corps

Fusillade
shots fired at the same time or in rapid succession

Green Berets
a special operations force of the U.S. Army

Guerrilla
a member of an unofficial military unit, often fighting to overthrow a government

High-value target
most often a person, but sometimes a thing, that is important to the completion of an enemy's mission and that an opposing force tries to capture; as an example, Osama bin Laden of the militant group al Qaeda was an extremely high-value target who was eventually captured and killed by U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six

Humvee
a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or a four-wheel-drive military automobile

ICOM radio
two-way radio communication device

IED
Improvised explosive device, a kind of homemade explosive

In country
in foreign territory, especially a combat zone

In theater
in military terms, a place where the action is

Insurgent
a person who revolts against established authority or government

JDAM
Joint Direct Attack Munition, a kind of guided bomb

Klick
a kilometer, which is about two-thirds of a mile (.62 mile) or about 3,200 feet

Maritime
related to the sea

MARSOF
a special operations force of the U.S. Marine Corps

Multipurpose K-9
a trained working dog with more than one skill set; Navy SEAL dogs, for example, are often trained to detect explosives and also apprehend “bad guys”

Munitions
military supplies, such as weapons and ammunition

MWD
military working dog

No-man's-land
unoccupied land that is under dispute

On comms
communicating with headphones

Outpost
troops stationed away from a forward operating base

Paramilitary
a military-like force that isn't officially a part of any country's military

PKM
a Russian-made machine gun

Quartermaster general
staff officer in charge of supplies

Rack
military term for bed or cot

Rangers
a special operations force of the U.S. Army

RDX
Research Department Explosive, an element found in many military explosives

Reconnaissance
exploring and gathering information behind enemy lines

Seabee
a member of one of the construction battalions of the Civil Engineer Corps of the U.S. Navy

SEALs
the U.S. Navy's elite special operations force; SEAL stands for Sea, Air, and Land, the ways they are able to literally approach a mission

Security perimeter
a boundary where security controls are in place

Shalwar kameez
traditional clothing worn by some Afghanis

SOP
Standard Operating Procedure

Sympathetic detonations
detonations usually caused unintentionally by a larger nearby denotation or explosion

The War to End All Wars
term used for World War I

Trench warfare
a kind of fighting used in earlier wars that involved troops fighting from the protection of trenches or ditches in the ground

 

COMMANDS USED WITH MWDs (FROM THE DUTCH)

Braafy
   a word of praise

Los
   “Release!”

Reviere
   “Search for a person!” (used in apprehension work)

Szook
   “Search!” (used in detection work)

 

REFERENCES

Air Force Special Operations Command. “Heritage of the Combat Search and Rescue Professionals.”
http://www.afsoc.af.mil/library/afsocheritage/afsoccsarheritage.asp
.

Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities. “The Dog's Sense of Smell,” June 2011.
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0066/UNP-0066.pdf
.

Alsop, Nigel.
Cry Havoc.
Chatswood, NSW, Australia: New Holland Publishers, 2012.

Bilger, Burkhard. “Beware of the Dogs.”
The New Yorker
, February 27, 2012.

Cawthorne, Nigel.
Canine Commandos: The Heroism, Devotion, and Sacrifice of Dogs in War.
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2012.

Congressional Research Service. “U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom.” September 28, 2010.

Cordesman, Anthony H., Marissa Allison, Vivek Kocharlakota, Jason Lemieux, and Charles Loi. “Afghan and Iraqi Metrics and the IED Threat.” Center for Strategic & International Studies, November 10, 2010.
http://csis.org/publication/afghan-and-iraqi-metrics-and-ied-threat-afghanistan
.

Elson, William Harris, and Christine M. Keck.
Junior High School Literature.
Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1920.

Johnston, J. M. “Canine Detection Capabilities: Operational Implications of Recent R & D Findings.” Institue for Biological Detection Systems, Auburn University. June 1999.
http://www.barksar.org/K-9_Detection_Capabilities.pdf
.

Lemish, Michael.
War Dogs.
Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, 1999.

Merritt, Sue Rogers. “Combat Tracker Teams: Dodging an Elusive Enemy.”
Vietnam,
October 2001;
http://www.historynet.com/combat-tracker-teams-dodging-an-elusive-enemy.htm

Nosaka, Ray. “Secret Mission: Dog Training.”
The Hawai'i Nisei Story
.
http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1153256967265.html
.

Pets for Patriots. “America's Four-legged Warriors.”
http://m.military.com/off-duty/pet-corner/2012/05/07/military-working-dog-americas-four-legged-warrior.html
.

The author, two weeks before joining the Navy, atop the World Trade Center in NYC, aptly wearing a SEAL T-shirt.

The author and “Bud,” the dog that started it all.

The author in headdress in central Iraq.

The author on patrol with the acrobat-ninja dog Luke.

The author in front of the U.S.S.
Cole
after it was attacked in Yemen.

SEAL Team Three Echo platoon, after the oil platform takedown operation and two days before the ground war started in Iraq.

The author with Barco, the uphill-runaway-freight-train of a dog.