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Competition brings out the 'beast'

By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss, Public Affairs / Published November 23, 2010

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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- It was all about chompers and sniffers during the 2010 Hawaiian Islands Working Dog Competition at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Nov. 15 to 19.

Thirty-nine handlers from the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as the Honolulu Police Department, Japan, Alaska, Ft. Huachuca, and Ft. Leonard Wood brought their K-9s through a series of events last week that served to both reward the dog teams for their hard work throughout the year and bring different services together.

"We started the week with building, warehouse and vehicle explosives detections and searches," said U.S. Army Master Sgt. Donald Nelson, 558th Military Police Company senior-ranking judge for the competition, sponsored by the 728th Military Police Battalion and the 13th Military Police Detachment. "We took them to a [movement over urban terrain] site and had them go through buildings with gunfire and bombs going off; also explosives search. [Thursday] we took them through the agility obstacle course."

The week ended with Friday's obedience course, handler protection/aggression demonstration, and the hardest-hitting dog competition, won by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ricky Renfroe and his Belgian Malinois, Jimmy. Both are assigned to the 647th Security Forces Squadron here.

"He's very high-strung; he likes to bite people," Sergeant Renfroe said of his 4-year-old dog, who almost died of heat stroke last year in training but recovered after several months of rehabilitation.

That statement alone proves this is not like any regular dog competition. The tricks of these beasts' trade are their abilities to detect and bite, and the prettiest dog isn't named the winner.

"There is just no replacement for a dog's nose," Sergeant Nelson said. "Dogs smell as we see. On the battle field, every team that goes out - and we have dogs attached to mostly special forces and infantry units - sees them as an invaluable asset."

A lot of teams will not even go out without a dog, he said. They can smell and hear things we never could.

"They've saved numerous lives, just like in Vietnam when dogs could hear trip wires," Sergeant Nelson continued. "They've stopped people from going through booby traps and danger areas. They're valuable to the mission, both abroad and out here."