PENSACOLA, Fla. – U.S. Navy Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Katzumy Rodriguez, a military working dog (MWD) handler and her dog, Ttyke, assigned to Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola Security Forces, won top honors at the U.S. Air Force 96th Security Forces Squadron’s K-9 skills competition at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, May 16.
Twenty-three Air Force, Army, Navy and local law enforcement teams participated in this year’s competition, which was a part of the 96th Security Forces Squadron’s Police Week activities. The dogs and their handlers competed in several events throughout the competiton, including bite work, explosive detection, building searches and an agility course.
“I put my blood, sweat and tears into working with any dog that I get,” Rodriguez said. “I love this job, and I love to be the best. Ttyke was bred to be a working dog at Lackland [Air Force Base, San Antonio] and he is a very intelligent dog. We both put in a lot of work and I’m glad that it shows.”
Rodriguez, originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said that she wanted to be a MWD handler when she joined the Navy in 2019 and was lucky enough to start working with dogs as soon as she completed A-School.
“When I joined the Navy, I wanted to do something that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do on the outside,” she said. “I’ve just loved dogs for my whole life, so I thought this career would be perfect for me.”
NAS Pensacola, referred to as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," is designed to support operational and training missions of tenant commands, including the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center (NATTC); Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC); the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT); Marine Aviation Training Support Groups (MATSG) 21 and 23 and serves as the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).
Date Taken: | 05.30.2024 |
Date Posted: | 05.30.2024 15:43 |
Story ID: | 472618 |
Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
Web Views: | 249 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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