At Sigonella, canines and their handlers
working hard to secure station
By Anthony Burgos,
Sigonella bureau
Anthony Burgos/ S&S
Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Spade and his partner Twain, a chocolate Labrador
retriever trained in explosives detection, search under the hood of a car at Naval Air
Station Sigonella, Sicily’s NAS2 gate. |
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Sicily — Man’s best friend also is man’s
best tool for force protection at the Navy’s base in Sigonella, Sicily.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, military installations have been placed on higher levels of
security. Although some bases in Europe have relaxed a bit, the Navy’s air station in
Sigonella remains at Threat Condition Charlie. And the operation tempo is beginning to
take its toll on some of Sigonella’s furrier protectors.
A typical search conducted by security patrolmen could take up to 10 minutes, but
Sigonella’s security department has a small army of four-legged force protection at
their disposal that’s cutting search time in half. The base is home of the
Navy’s largest military working dog kennel. Each one of the 16 dogs and their
handlers has been putting in a lot of overtime to keep Sigonella secure.
According to Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Hooper, a handler at the kennel, the dogs
usually work three- to five-hour shifts. "But they’ve been tired. Real tired
because they have been working 12 hours at a time," he said recently.
New parking lots were constructed well away from the base’s fenceline in nearby
farmland. Only official and mission essential vehicles are allowed on the base. Shuttle
buses have been transporting commuters back and forth to the front gate. For the past two
weeks, many Sigonella workers have been hoofing it to their offices and work centers.
Those lucky enough to be able to drive on to the base have to go through a checkpoint to
be searched.
Hooper and his partner, Ceazar, a German shepherd trained in explosives detection, were
working the front gate at Sigonella’s NAS2 base recently. When one car drove away
after being searched and another filed in place at the checkpoint, Ceazar seemed fidgety.
He couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to sit down. "The ground is real
hot. It’s uncomfortable for him," Hooper said.
Heat exhaustion and dehydration have already claimed the life of at least one rescue
dog at Ground Zero in Manhattan. Officials there have a canine medical treatment unit for
the more than 300 rescue dogs involved in rescue efforts.
Heat-related illnesses are a threat to the military working dogs in Sigonella.
Temperatures at the Sicily base have consistently reached the mid-80s to low 90s. Paw burn
and dehydration are two major concerns for the dogs. Kennel staff are taking steps to make
sure the dogs remain healthy during the stressful, long shifts they are working.
"The veterinarians have been visiting the kennel two or three times a week,"
Hooper said. "We usually take them to the vet for their visits."
The military working dog department has air-conditioned vans with cages in the back
when the dogs need to take a break. Every checkpoint also has a few cases of bottled water
readily available for the dogs and the patrolmen manning the gates. And the teams rotate
out every other day, "so they don’t get burned out," said Petty Officer 2nd
Class Kenneth Spade, another dog handler at the base.
Spade said that although the dogs don’t comprehend why they are working longer
days, they do feel that something is not normal.
"I think they can sense the tension in their handlers," he said.
But you wouldn’t be able to tell that by looking at his partner, Twain, a
chocolate Labrador retriever also trained in sniffing out explosives.
Twain casually walked from car to car, wagging his tail as he searched vehicles at the
gate. And whenever he got the chance, he’d lay down in any shady spot for a break.
"He’s real laid back," Spade said. "He’s ‘Mr.
Congeniality.’"
Even when threat conditions are low, Sigonella’s working dog team keeps busy. They
perform security sweeps when important visitors come to the base, ships pull into nearby
ports and they even deploy to other bases for temporary assignments. Last year, one of
Sigonella’s dogs helped local police with the biggest drug bust in the city of
Catania, Italy. But for now, they are focused on keeping their own community safe.
"It’s a total team effort, but our dogs amplify our ability to detect
explosives," said Sigonella’s kennel master Chief Petty Officer Scott Thompson.
"We wouldn’t be able to do this job without them."
Back to September stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from August, 2001
Stories from July, 2001
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
