Air Force
Search-and-rescue dog ends military career with a record of service and saving lives
Stars and Stripes
May 11, 2025
Callie, the only certified search-and-rescue dog in the Department of Defense, retired from service during a ceremony at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jan. 24, 2025. (Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)
Callie — the only search-and-rescue dog in the Department of Defense — spent six years with the Kentucky National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron where she deployed six times in support of rescue missions across the U.S., logged 750 flight hours in military aircraft and located people in natural disasters.
During her career, Callie completed 15 military free-fall jumps and numerous rappelling missions. She also suffered multiple puncture wounds, a corneal abrasion, at least two knee injuries and a rattlesnake bite that nearly killed her.
“The truth is, Callie is an amazing canine,” said Maj. Bryan Hunt, commander of the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron. “She proved a lot of different concepts to the entire rescue community as a whole.”
Tech. Sgt. Rudy Parsons, a pararescueman with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, and his search and rescue dog, Callie, exit a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter as part of Callie’s familiarization training at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Ky., Nov. 29, 2018. (Joshua Horton/U.S. Air National Guard)
Tech. Sgt. Rudy Parsons, a pararescueman with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, and his search and rescue dog, Callie, ride in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter as part of Callie’s familiarization training at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Ky., Nov. 29, 2018. (Joshua Horton/U.S. Air National Guard)
Master Sgt. Rudy Parsons, a pararescueman in the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, searches debris fields with Callie, his search-and-rescue dog, in Cookeville, Tenn., March 3, 2020. (U.S. Air National Guard)
Master Sgt. Rudy Parsons, a pararescueman with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, and Callie, his search and rescue dog, land at Volk Field, Wis., July 17, 2019, as part of a domestic operations exercise. (Joshua Horton/U.S. Air National Guard)
Master Sgt. Rudy Parsons, a pararescueman with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, and Callie, his search and rescue dog, participate in Patriot North, an annual domestic operations exercise designed to provide natural disaster-response training at Volk Field, Wis., July 15, 2019. (Joshua Horton/U.S. Air National Guard)
Callie and her handler, Master Sgt. Rudy Parsons, played a key role in Nashville, Tenn., when they searched debris fields for survivors following devastating tornadoes. In 2019, the duo, along with other airmen from the Kentucky National Guard, deployed to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in response to a magnitude 7 earthquake and conducted search-and-rescue efforts, ultimately saving lives.
“I had always been the sarcastic guy in the room,” Parsons said. “I always had a really negative quip. But when Callie came into my life, there was a massive shift. I wanted to be more uplifting as opposed to tearing things down.”
Callie and Parsons received Meritorious Service Medals for their significant endeavors during a ceremony at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base on Jan. 24. The ceremony also marked Callie’s retirement from military service, according to a service news release from Saturday.
Parsons, who said the experience working with Callie changed his life, left his post with the 123rd after 11 years as a pararescueman to assume a new role as career field functional manager at the Air National Guard Readiness Center in Maryland.
“We are extremely proud of what Rudy was able to accomplish with Callie,” Hunt said. “We were fortunate to have had him for as long as we did, and I cannot think of a more-deserving senior NCO to serve as functional manager at the Air National Guard Readiness Center.”
Callie, the only certified search-and-rescue dog in the Department of Defense, is ready for some well-earned play time at the conclusion of her retirement ceremony at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jan. 24, 2025. (Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)