Mark Conley
Active member
My experience with the US military’s drug dogs has been so sparse…but always a laugh a minute.
One fine day, we were all being gathered at the air terminal in Camp New Amsterdam (Sosterburg AB) for our lovely trip back to the United States in our stately C-5 after one of the most memorable TDY’s I had ever been on…when they broke the drug bust on us.
Oh yes…having been exposed to the pits of drug iniquity in Amsterdam, surely some of us were trying to smuggle something back. And our gallant 1st Sgt was making sure we didn’t bring anything back.
He had 77 men (and women..oh yes) form two lines with our luggage, after giving us a suitable time to voluntarily throw any offending items in the airport amnesty box. These lines were about 10 feet apart with five foot intervals between each pile of luggage. He had everyone unzip or open each bag, prior to the arrival of the drug dog.
And they made a big thing out of this dog. A champion at finding items was this dog. Severely vicious, not prone to laxity, no sir! This dog was the cream of the crop, and we were not to mess with him.
Finally, after waiting for an hour in the sun, the van showed up. It was a large covered step van box truck, with double doors in the back. Plastered all over this truck was warning signs state “Military Working Dog” "Keep Back” . After seeing this monster truck for the dog, even I was taken back. Having been raised around Collies and German Sheppard’s, I could imagine only the foulest beast waiting on the other side of the door.
Right up till the doors opened, and out popped a Scottish terrier. He was a little, fluffy and totally black Scottie. Not a mean bone in his body. He had a little bark, kind of like a squeak and a growl, not very intimidating. When we saw him, we just died laughing. The young ladies on the TDY just wanted to pet him. The cries of “Here Poochie Poochie” went up and down the lines of airmen waiting to go home.
The best was yet to come. The dog was led up and down the rows. Suddenly, he alerted on a bag. Everyone gasped, as it was the bag of one of the biggest suspected “drug heads” on the TDY. Everyone just knew it. The guy was from California, and wore his hair as long as possible, and split it down the middle. oh yes, the druggie was going down and he was going to Leavenworth.
And before his handler could stop him, the dog had dug out the roast beef sandwich in the bag he’d smelled, torn open the plastic and proceeded to chow down on it in front of everyone. Needless to say, his handler just picked him up, put him back in the truck, and drove away.
Yep…always a laugh a minute. :wink:
One fine day, we were all being gathered at the air terminal in Camp New Amsterdam (Sosterburg AB) for our lovely trip back to the United States in our stately C-5 after one of the most memorable TDY’s I had ever been on…when they broke the drug bust on us.
Oh yes…having been exposed to the pits of drug iniquity in Amsterdam, surely some of us were trying to smuggle something back. And our gallant 1st Sgt was making sure we didn’t bring anything back.
He had 77 men (and women..oh yes) form two lines with our luggage, after giving us a suitable time to voluntarily throw any offending items in the airport amnesty box. These lines were about 10 feet apart with five foot intervals between each pile of luggage. He had everyone unzip or open each bag, prior to the arrival of the drug dog.
And they made a big thing out of this dog. A champion at finding items was this dog. Severely vicious, not prone to laxity, no sir! This dog was the cream of the crop, and we were not to mess with him.
Finally, after waiting for an hour in the sun, the van showed up. It was a large covered step van box truck, with double doors in the back. Plastered all over this truck was warning signs state “Military Working Dog” "Keep Back” . After seeing this monster truck for the dog, even I was taken back. Having been raised around Collies and German Sheppard’s, I could imagine only the foulest beast waiting on the other side of the door.
Right up till the doors opened, and out popped a Scottish terrier. He was a little, fluffy and totally black Scottie. Not a mean bone in his body. He had a little bark, kind of like a squeak and a growl, not very intimidating. When we saw him, we just died laughing. The young ladies on the TDY just wanted to pet him. The cries of “Here Poochie Poochie” went up and down the lines of airmen waiting to go home.
The best was yet to come. The dog was led up and down the rows. Suddenly, he alerted on a bag. Everyone gasped, as it was the bag of one of the biggest suspected “drug heads” on the TDY. Everyone just knew it. The guy was from California, and wore his hair as long as possible, and split it down the middle. oh yes, the druggie was going down and he was going to Leavenworth.
And before his handler could stop him, the dog had dug out the roast beef sandwich in the bag he’d smelled, torn open the plastic and proceeded to chow down on it in front of everyone. Needless to say, his handler just picked him up, put him back in the truck, and drove away.
Yep…always a laugh a minute. :wink:
