Photo By Erin Thompson | U.S. Infantry scout with "Scout Dog" in the Pacific Theater (National Archives)... read more read more
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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
ARMY QUARTERMASTER CORPS BEGINS TRAINING WAR DOGS
On 13 March 1942, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (QMC) began training the first dogs assigned to the Army’s new War Dog Program. These dogs assisted in all aspects of Army operations throughout World War II and beyond, including message delivery and scouting patrols.
Canine participation in combat dates back thousands of years, but their inclusion in American military operations only began in the twentieth century. The G-5, General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, made a proposal in early 1918 to procure dogs for World War I. The matter was rejected, and the only U.S. Army dogs in France were unofficial mascots not trained for official military operations. On the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack of 7 December 1941, the only dogs being utilized by the U.S. Army were sled dogs.
When the attack on Pearl Harbor highlighted the dangers of foreign enemies and saboteurs, the idea of employing dogs for sentry and patrol duties to enhance national security was again raised. An initial call for the use of dogs in the military came from an organization called Dogs for Defense, which was established by dog owners, primarily in New York, and later championed by the American Kennel Club. In response to this movement, the American Theater Wing War Service offered to donate dogs to the QMC to be used for national defense.
On 13 March 1942, the QMC began training the first batch of military dogs for its new War Dog Program, known colloquially as the Army’s “K-9 Corps.” By March 1944, the War Department had authorized fifteen War Dog platoons, with seven operating in Europe and eight in the Pacific. Though many dogs were trained for sentry duty, war dogs also played a valuable intelligence role. Scouting/patrol dogs were trained to move silently to avoid detection and to signal when sensing an enemy presence. The scout handler often led combat patrols ahead of infantry units. According to the QMC: "Scout dogs could often detect the presence of the enemy at distances up to 1,000 yards, long before men became aware of them. When a scout dog alerted to the enemy it would stiffen its body, raise its hackles, pricking his ears and holding its tail rigid. The presence of the dogs with patrols greatly lessened the danger of ambush and tended to boost the morale of the soldiers."
A total of 436 scout dogs served the U.S. Army during World War II. An additional 151 canines served as messenger dogs during the war, especially in the Pacific, where the need for stealth, agility, and protection of communication lines was made easier by the smaller island quarters. Messenger dogs were trained to move silently, take natural cover when moving between units, and held fierce loyalty to the two handlers between which it operated. A report from New Guinea in 1943 highlighted the excellence of messenger dogs in the Southwest Pacific, noting messenger dogs could cover distances between 600-1,000 yards at great speeds while offering much smaller targets for enemy fire. Messenger dogs were frequently used alongside scout dogs to deliver field reconnaissance reports back to headquarters or to rear positions.
Examples of exceptional scout and messenger dog work during the war included Bobo, a scouting dog handled by Sgt. John Coleman, who led a reconnaissance patrol through German-held territory and saved his unit when he alerted to enemy presence. Buster, a messenger dog with F Company, 155th Infantry Regiment, on Morotai Island, saved the lives of an entire patrol by carrying instructions to and from the ambushed unit and guaranteeing reinforcements. Although messenger dogs were believed to have provided limited usefulness during the war due to constantly changing variables in combat zones, scout dogs proved invaluable additions to military reconnaissance work and continue to serve the military today.
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| Date Taken: | 03.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2024 16:42 |
| Story ID: | 465782 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 219 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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