WAR DOGS

The Dog that  Cornered
Osama Bin Laden

When U.S.  President Barack Obama went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, for a highly publicized, but very private meeting with the commando team that killed Osama bin Laden, only one of the 81 members of the super-secret SEAL DevGru  unit was identified by name: Cairo, the war dog.

Cairo, like most canine members of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs, is a Belgian Malinois. The Malinois breed is similar to German shepherds but smaller and more compact, with an adult male weighing in the 30-kilo range.      

German shepherds are still used as war dogs by the American military but the lighter, stubbier Malinois is considered better for the tandem parachute jumping and rappelling operations often undertaken by SEAL teams. La brad or retrievers are also favored by various military organizations around the world.

Like their human  counterparts, the dog SEALs are highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated special ops experts, able to perform extraordinary military  missions by Sea, Air and Land (thus the acronym SEAL).

The dogs carry  out a wide range of specialized duties for the military teams to which  they are attached: With a sense of smell 40 times greater than a human's,  the dogs are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and  hostile or hiding humans.

The dogs are twice as fast as a fit human, so anyone trying to escape is not likely to outrun Cairo or his buddies.

The dogs, equipped with video cameras, also enter certain danger zones first, allowing their handlers to see what's ahead before humans follow.

 As I mentioned before, SEAL dogs are even trained parachutists, jumping either in tandem with their handlers or solo, if the jump is into water. Last year canine parachute instructor Mike Forsythe and his dog Cara set the world record for highest man-dog parachute deployment, jumping from more than 30,100 feet up - the altitude transoceanic passenger jets fly at.

Both Forsythe and Cara were wearing oxygen masks and skin protectors for the jump.  Here's a photo from that jump:

As well, the dogs are faithful, fearless and ferocious - incredibly frightening and efficient attackers.

I have seen it reported repeatedly that the teeth of SEAL war dogs are replaced with titanium implants that are stronger, sharper and scare-your-pants-off intimidating, but a U.S. Military spokesman has denied that charge, so I really don't know (never having seen a canine SEAL face-to-face). I do know that I've never seen a photo of a war dog with anything even vaguely resembling a set of shiny metal chompers.

When the SEAL DevGru team (usually known by its old designation, Team 6) hit bin Laden’s Pakistan compound on May 2, Cairo’s feet would have been four of the first on the ground. And like the human SEALs, Cairo was wearing super-strong, flexible body.

Armor and  outfitted with high-tech equipment that included "doggles"  -  specially  designed and fitted dog goggles with night-vision and  infrared capability that  would even allow Cairo to see human heat forms  through concrete  walls.

Now where on earth would anyone get that kind of incredibly niche hi-tech doggie gear?

From Winnipeg, of all places. Jim and Glori Slater's Manitoba hi-tech mom-and-pop business, K9 Storm Inc, has a deserved worldwide reputation for designing and manufacturing probably the best body Armor available for police and military dogs. Working dogs in 15 countries around the world are currently protected by their K9 Storm body Armor.