Wounded vet wants Air Force dog

Washington -- They had trained together for three years in the military and were deployed overseas side by side. In June, they arrived in Iraq, where they worked as a team scouring houses and villages for hidden explosives. Then, one afternoon, riding back from a mission, a roadside bomb went off under their humvee.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana was critically injured -- bleeding internally, her lungs collapsed, her spine fractured, her pelvis broken. In her last moment of consciousness, she asked in desperation about her comrade. "Where's Rex?" she pleaded. When no one answered, she grabbed a medic's arm. "Where's my dog?! Is he dead?"

The medic told her that he was. "I felt like my heart broke," she recalled in an interview. "It's the last thing I remember."

Weeks passed before Dana absorbed the news that the medic was mistaken and that Rex was alive. The German shepherd was burned slightly on his nose but was not seriously injured. Dana teetered at life's edge, with doctors unable to assure her husband and parents that she would survive.

Not long after she started to rally from her injuries, Dana asked Air Force leaders if she could adopt Rex. The answer was no; it was against the rules, and Rex was still valuable to the military.

Now, the Air Force has changed its view -- but federal law stands in the way.

Under Title 10 U.S. Code 2583, the Air Force says, it cannot allow the wounded airman to take her combat dog home until the animal is too old to be useful. Rex, 80 pounds and brown and black with gold markings, is just 5 years old, not nearly the retirement age of 10 to 14.


(Excerpt) Read more at www.sfgate.com

As bad as I would love to see her adopt the dog, I'm on the Air Force's side on this one -- they spent the money training him, they should be able to use him until he's past his useful age.

Sucks, but hey -- this is the military after all.

Good stuff.

The MP dog handlers on the NIKE sites were very attached to their dogs because of the amount of time spent together. I remember when one dog had to be euthanised and his handler refused to ever train another dog and changed his MOS.

I certainly understand the LT's point, however, I'm going to disagree. The Air Force has said it would allow her the dog and according to the article only the Federal law is the hold up. The Air Force seems to feel that the sacrifice this brave woman made (and nearly made the supreme sacrifice) merits having her dog. I think the President might be persuaded to sign off on this one. I hope he does.

I think that if she got the dog, her recovery would be quicker so, in the long run the Government may balance out the cost of a longer recovery
with the cost of training the dog. Besides, the dog would have to be shipped to a training facility to be teamed with a trainer which is time consuming and expensive for a dog that only has five years of service left.

Originally Posted by Charge 7

I certainly understand the LT's point, however, I'm going to disagree. The Air Force has said it would allow her the dog and according to the article only the Federal law is the hold up.

Yessir, I'm just saying that if the Air Force invested the money in training the dog and decided to hold onto him, it's their perogative. However, I will also agree with this (copied from the full article at sfgate.com):

Air Force officials say support for granting Dana's request has grown in recent weeks. "You add things up, and this is the right thing to do," said Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes, Air Force director of security forces and force protection.

Good to see military leaders recognizing "the right thing" sometimes means a sacrifice for the service.

Originally Posted by Charge 7

The Air Force seems to feel that the sacrifice this brave woman made (and nearly made the supreme sacrifice) merits having her dog. I think the President might be persuaded to sign off on this one. I hope he does.

Looks like it's going to happen, sir.

cool article

Interesting.

Let's hope she gets the dog.
Keep us posted, phoenix80.