7/12/2012 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Long after normal business hours have ended on Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, security forces still gear up to protect the installation. For some members of the 902nd Security Forces Squadron, special four-legged furry friends tag along with them.
Staff Sgt. Edward Wallace, 902nd SFS military working dogs handler, and Troy, a 4-year-old German shepherd from the 341st Training Squadron's MWD Program at Lackland, are one such duo that patrol the base during the night.
Their shift typically lasts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"The first thing I do with Troy when I arrive is take him to the obedience yard and let him run around to stretch," Wallace said.
The obedience yard located across the kennels is adorned with pipe tunnels, hurdles that resemble window panes, stairs and a slab of cement with a narrow pathway that recreate some obstacles dogs may encounter on a military base.
Wallace and his assigned MWD are required to perform a minimum of two hours of patrol work during their shift, which includes physically patrolling areas, buildings and vehicles around base - and is the reason why exercise time is set aside to enhance Troy's performance, Wallace said.
"He's like my child; I have to take care of him so he can take care of me," he said.
This is the attitude trainers must adopt to get the best performance out of their dog; the level of bonding between their dogs and themselves can develop into a friendship of sorts given the proper time, he said.
The bond doesn't stop when the shift ends. The total time spent in the kennels and in the obedience yard is reflected in the relationship.
Each dog has a unique personality; nuances must be recognized and worked around so handlers can build trust with their dogs.
Wallace was quick to point out Troy was no exception to the rule.
"Troy is very emotional," he said. "It took me a lot of hours in the yard to get him comfortable with me. You want dogs to love their handlers. Only then will they be able to fulfill a task to the best of their ability.
"You have to learn what drives them."
The MWD Program at Lackland selects and trains German shepherds, Dutch shepherds and Belgian Malinois for various duties such as patrol, narcotics and explosives detection - the dogs are then assigned to handlers at various military bases who must prepare them to become operationally ready.
Troy is certified to handle narcotics and patrol work, but had some rough edges that needed to be smoothed out at first, Wallace said.
"When I met Troy, he didn't have a handler and he had sat out for a little bit," he said. "He was a 'green dog,' - he wouldn't sit or stand up (and listen to me)."
With some time and effort, Wallace reversed Troy's bad habits and they have now been a pair for almost two years.
"He was a bag of Legos and I had to rebuild him," he said.
Just as architects manipulate materials to form a structure, handlers fine-tune and mold their MWD for their mission. Handlers are also paired with dogs that best fit their personalities to help perform this task.
Senior Airman Clinton Patton, 902nd SFS MWD handler, used the term "successive approximation" to describe the fine-tuning process.
"We're continually shaping the behaviors of dogs until we get them where we need them," he said. "It's all about taking baby steps and working on one thing at a time."
The personalities of dogs determine how quickly they will mesh with handlers, thus affecting how quickly they learn commands taught to them physically and verbally.
But handlers make sure the dogs' work is not treated like a job.
"The dogs don't clock out and get a paycheck like we do," Wallace said.
Instead, everything that's done on- and off-duty is reward-driven, which makes much of what MWDs feel like play, Tech. Sgt. Santiago Bernal, 902nd SFS MWD section NCO in charge, said.
Outside of duty hours, the dogs' time in the kennels is spent however they wish, whether it be eating, sleeping or walking around.
The kennels are also the spot where dogs are checked daily for insect bites, bugs and wounds.
Other than creepy crawlers, the San Antonio heat and humidity - added to walking - are the main elements that take a toll on the base MWDs.
"When their heads start sagging and their tongues start lowering, you know they're slowing down and becoming exhausted," Wallace said.
Taking breaks is important to managing a MWD's health, which handlers constantly survey.
Wallace believes the safe environment on base helps ensure the health of Troy and himself.
"The tempo of Randolph is much slower than my last base near Las Vegas," he said. "A lot of things around here shut down at 9 p.m., which makes things become routine."
That's not to say night patrolers aren't ready for the unexpected, but routine nights can often turn into long nights, which Wallace said can bog down the duo.
"Just like people, Troy gets anxious during some nights, and you better believe he lets me know about it" - in the form of audible grumbles, he said.
And that's a common example of a queue when handlers must energize their dogs, which points back to the time spent training them in the obedience yard.
"Yes, they get bored easily and yes, the job can be difficult sometimes," Wallace said. "But that comes with what we do. Our dogs are an extension of us, which is to work for the mission.
"And there's definitely satisfaction in seeing our work come to fruition."