Green Energy
I blogged about this issue last May, Michael Yon agrees as he notes in his latest post "Walking the Line 2007:"
The Army has prohibited soldiers from adopting dogs since at least World War II, but I have yet to visit a base where combat soldiers or Marines did not keep dogs, often secretly. I did not mention these dogs because it could mean a death sentence but they were always there. The “Deuce Four” battalion up in Mosul adopted a dog named Sheba, who one day brought the heart of a suicide bomber to the soldiers (long story), and the medic had to pull on the blue latex gloves to take the heart from Sheba. When “vector control” people tried to take Sheba away, soldiers told me, the battalion commander threatened the “vector control” people never to come back. A soldier told me that Sheba has retired happily-ever-after from Mosul to Colorado with a Deuce Four soldier.
Some smart people believe that we should never pass a law or make a rule that cannot be enforced, and some people think the smart thing to do about soldiers and their dogs is to just vaccinate the dogs and forget about it. Deuce Four soldiers said that Sheba alerted them at several important times. Another unit, the Tennessee National Guard, kept so many dogs that some of them slept right outside the mess hall and were too lazy to roll over. But at night those dogs were along the perimeter, coming and going out of the wire, and barking at anyone who approached.
- Gurkhas. Great Pickels, Fearless Fighters. Oh Wait... Okay. Well, At Least They're Fearless Fighters
Gurkha who returned to base with Taliban commander’s head, cleared for duty From Britain First The Nepalese soldier with 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles who was removed from Afghanistan after beheading a Taliban commander, has now been cleared...
- Fort Benning Threat
from The Army Times: Note said Hood-style shooting could happen By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Nov 23, 2009 10:58:25 EST A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were...
- Rules Of Engagement: A Symptom Of Why We Are Losing The War
The Captain's Journal has been running a series of posts on the moral abomination that are the US military's current Rules of Engagement. The latest entry has several must read quotes from American soldiers trying to fight a war in Iraq with "their...
- Next Candidate For The Infidel Babe Of The Week: Us Army Pfc. Jessica Lynn Nicholson
BAGHDAD, Iraq — When quick action is required in an emergency situation, a soldier often doesn’t have time to think. The soldier’s training and instincts take over. Pfc. Jessica Lynn Nicholson, 21, a 1st Armored Division soldier with Headquarters...
- Rin Tin Tin Rules
It was September 1918 and the Allies stood poised for the final assault upon the Kaiser's weakened army. On September 15 1918 American Lee Duncan of the Air Corps found and adopted a German Shephard pup. He named the pup Rin Tin Tin. It is not uncommon...
Green Energy
Instant Morale: Four Paws and a Tail
I blogged about this issue last May, Michael Yon agrees as he notes in his latest post "Walking the Line 2007:"
The Army has prohibited soldiers from adopting dogs since at least World War II, but I have yet to visit a base where combat soldiers or Marines did not keep dogs, often secretly. I did not mention these dogs because it could mean a death sentence but they were always there. The “Deuce Four” battalion up in Mosul adopted a dog named Sheba, who one day brought the heart of a suicide bomber to the soldiers (long story), and the medic had to pull on the blue latex gloves to take the heart from Sheba. When “vector control” people tried to take Sheba away, soldiers told me, the battalion commander threatened the “vector control” people never to come back. A soldier told me that Sheba has retired happily-ever-after from Mosul to Colorado with a Deuce Four soldier.
Some smart people believe that we should never pass a law or make a rule that cannot be enforced, and some people think the smart thing to do about soldiers and their dogs is to just vaccinate the dogs and forget about it. Deuce Four soldiers said that Sheba alerted them at several important times. Another unit, the Tennessee National Guard, kept so many dogs that some of them slept right outside the mess hall and were too lazy to roll over. But at night those dogs were along the perimeter, coming and going out of the wire, and barking at anyone who approached.
The puppy in the photo above ran from soldier to soldier, got petted a while, wagged its entire body, and made everyone smile. While I was walking it ran between my boots from behind and I nearly crushed the poor thing. It yelped, and when I reached down to apologize and pet him, my heavy camera smacked him in the head and he yelped again. A soldier just rolled his eyes but the puppy stayed by.
BREAK TIME – U.S. Army Spc. Robert Dami, from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, plays fetch with his military working dog Jay at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, June 1, 2006. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Katrina Beeler
Crossposted at The Dougout
- Gurkhas. Great Pickels, Fearless Fighters. Oh Wait... Okay. Well, At Least They're Fearless Fighters
Gurkha who returned to base with Taliban commander’s head, cleared for duty From Britain First The Nepalese soldier with 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles who was removed from Afghanistan after beheading a Taliban commander, has now been cleared...
- Fort Benning Threat
from The Army Times: Note said Hood-style shooting could happen By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Nov 23, 2009 10:58:25 EST A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were...
- Rules Of Engagement: A Symptom Of Why We Are Losing The War
The Captain's Journal has been running a series of posts on the moral abomination that are the US military's current Rules of Engagement. The latest entry has several must read quotes from American soldiers trying to fight a war in Iraq with "their...
- Next Candidate For The Infidel Babe Of The Week: Us Army Pfc. Jessica Lynn Nicholson
BAGHDAD, Iraq — When quick action is required in an emergency situation, a soldier often doesn’t have time to think. The soldier’s training and instincts take over. Pfc. Jessica Lynn Nicholson, 21, a 1st Armored Division soldier with Headquarters...
- Rin Tin Tin Rules
It was September 1918 and the Allies stood poised for the final assault upon the Kaiser's weakened army. On September 15 1918 American Lee Duncan of the Air Corps found and adopted a German Shephard pup. He named the pup Rin Tin Tin. It is not uncommon...