21/10/2023
Our guest for this episode is a Marine who served as a Military Working Dog Handler assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), Camp Pendleton, California. He enlisted in 2007, attended The Basic Handlers Course at Lackland AFB in 2008, and was assigned orders to Camp Pendleton. He was the first USMC MWD Handler to receive orders from Lackland to a newly developing MWD Platoon for the MEF. Navigating a new unit fresh out of K9 School, he was assigned to MWD Grief M107, a Patrol Explosive Detection Dog (PEDD), and together they trained in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. This was an exciting time in the history of the Marine Corps MWD Program because an entire platoon of dog handlers was explicitly created to support combat operations. This platoon was dedicated to training, equipping, and producing combat-ready canine teams for the rigors of deployments. In 2010, The 1st MEF MWD Platoon from Camp Pendleton deployed to Afghanistan and established a canine area on Camp Leatherneck, later known as Camp Donahue. This group of dog handlers experienced a very active Afghanistan and supported various units throughout the Helmand and Kandahar provinces. In this episode, we discuss his time in the Marine Corps, training for deployment, his deployment experiences, and his return from Afghanistan.
Surviving with Grief: Available Now https://a.co/d/8Ycd3CH
In Canis Confiderus!
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DISCLAIMER:
The hosts and guests on this podcast share their personal experiences and do not represent the views of their affiliated organizations or the Department of Defense.
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