Photo By Marc Loi | Staff Sgt. Randy Cottner of St. Louis, indefinitely re-enlisted Nov. 4, effectively...... read more read more
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan – On Nov. 4, Staff Sgt. Randy Cottner, a military police dog handler deployed here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, took another step toward the unknown when he re-enlisted for the last time, making an indefinite commitment to wear the uniform he’d worn for the last 11 years.
Of few words, the St. Louis, Mo., native limited his post re-enlistment speech to a simple “thank you for coming” and of the reason to re-enlist indefinitely, effectively making a nine-year commitment to the Army. Cottner had just equally limited words: “It was good for my family.”
Yet, talk to him about his work – the dog he now handles, and his love for dogs, and Cottner lights up. He’d had a dog ever since he could remember, he confided, and when he was 7, one of his dogs ran away. He still remembers that dog, Cottner said, and ever since becoming a dog handler nine years ago after a stint in Germany as a military policeman, he’s remembered every dog he’d ever handled.
Brand new to Fort Campbell, Ky., Cottner was given a dog that he described as slow and mellow. But slowly, as the relationship between he and the dog developed, they found just the right mix, allowing him to build a friendship with the canine as he would later do with all the dogs under his charge. Then, at Fort Drum, N.Y., where he is now stationed, the next dog Cottner was given was more hyper and aggressive – a trait that proved valuable for a military working dog. But as with the previous, he’d also taken the time to find the right mixture of mellowness and more aggressive attitude for the dog, and in the end, it worked.
Now, here in southern Afghanistan where he arrived more than 10 months ago, there’s Bodo – the massive German Shepherd with whom he goes out on mission and trains to find explosives often hidden under the desert ground by the enemies.
“This one is just right,” Cottner said of the dog sat by his feet in the makeshift office made of wood, occasionally letting out a whine while playing with a ball. “He wants some attention. He wants to play.”
That understanding of the dog’s language and behavior, Cottner said, is key to a handler – be it during a patrol or on the forward operating base.
“I know he’s going to get sick before he gets sick,” Cottner said. “You have to be able to read the dog’s change in behavior and be able to control them.”
Cottner’s expertise at his job and his knowledge of the dog is one of the reasons his reenlistment will benefit the Army, said Capt. Jake Porter, the provost marshal at Forward Operating Base Spin Boldak. Cottner’s training, as well as that of Bodo and other dogs, costs the military tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of which is saved with Cottner’s re-enlistment.
“There are a lot of contracting companies offering a lot of money [to former military members] to come out here and do essentially the same job,” Porter said. “And so for any military police dog handler to reenlist, that’s something I really commend.”
Part of the reasons dog handlers are in such high demands for the military, Porter said, is the expertise they provide and the technical requirements it takes to be a handler. While the military considers dogs one among the many weapons in its arsenals, that the dogs are living creatures rather than inanimate objects, makes handling such a sophisticated weapon a challenge for handlers.
“Imagine your M-4, and now imagine your M-4 can communicate with you, and has good and bad days and a personality,” Porter said. “That’s what handlers have to able to deal with.”
Early on in his relationship with Bodo, both the dog’s personality and ability to communicate challenged Cottner, but was also something he was later able to tame. When he was first assigned Bodo, the toughest challenge in building their relationship was allowing the dog to run freely, without a leash, while on patrol.
Though it took some time, the canine eventually got used to it, and on each mission, now runs freely through the dense orchards that Cottner sometimes patrols, he said.
“It’s a lot easier to walk through the trees and vines without a leash,” Cottner said of the reason he prefers to let Bodo and other dogs loose on patrol. “But the first month, he tested his ground.”
Part of Bodo’s test – much like that of a child, Cottner said, was how far it could get away with not obeying orders, like the numerous times Bodo held on to a ball after being told to let go of it.
“They’re testing their limits,” Cottner said. “They’re thinking ‘this guy is telling me to let go of the ball – let’s see how long I can try hanging on to it.’”
But Cottner established his ground in that first month and, ever since, he and Bodo have established a relationship that has him taking care of the dog, while Bodo puts his trust and affection toward his handler. During his re-enlistment ceremony, Bodo was right by Cottner’s side and followed him, tail wagging, as he greeted guests in attendants. In fact, the dog even goes home with him each night rather than being left at the kennel.
Yet, taking the canine home each night isn’t the only way Cottner, a self-described dog lover with two more at home, takes care of his dog. He also ensures the dog follows a strict diet regiment and is protected from the common diseases often found in animals here.
“There is a lot of rabies awareness here,” Cottner admitted.
Especially in Afghanistan where stray and rabid dogs could be found at the various camps’ parameters, looking for food from soft-hearted pet owners, American service dogs especially run the risk of contracting diseases from the dogs .
More than worrying about Bodo’s interactions with local canines that might give him diseases, Cottner’s biggest fear, he said, comes during patrol missions where Bodo’s job – although it seems more like a game to the canine – is to sniff out explosives often found in improvised explosive devices.
“My fear is that he ends up sitting on a pressure plate,” said Cottner, referring to the dog more as a person than an animal, an accessory used to make the Army’s warfighting effort easier. “When he finds something, his response is to sit.”
And Cottner’s worries are valid – especially in Afghanistan, where IEDs are responsible for the majority of coalition forces’ casualties, enemies often use various techniques to deploy the IED. One of those is the pressure-plated IED, in which a trigger is set to go off the instance weight is put on it. At about 65 pounds, Bodo runs the risk of finding explosives buried under the sand, sitting on it and thus triggering an explosion.
Yet, despite the worries, Cottner said he also takes great care in understanding that there are times when bonds must be broken – especially in the military, where friendships often drift apart as soldiers change duty stations. Such partings are also true for dogs and their handlers.
“We try not to get too attached,” Cottner said. “Sometimes it’s hard because [in Garrison], you can’t bring them home at night and when a new handler comes, sometimes you have to drop leash and move on to other dogs.”
Despite the possibility of having to give a dog up at anytime, Cottner said he embraces his job, partly because being a soldier is all he’s known, and because of the possibility of working with what he described as “man’s best friends” each day he comes to work.
“They’re just loyal,” he said. “They’re man’s best friends. They work just for your attention and praises.”
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2011 02:12 |
| Story ID: | 80140 |
| Location: | SPIN BOLDAK, AF |
| Web Views: | 351 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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