It is no question that the men and servicewomen who sign up for the armed forces are made of something special, something brave. They answer to the higher calling to defend their home country and the citizens who live there. This is especially true during times of war. They join knowing there is a very good chance they could be deployed and sent to a war zone.
These men and women are heroes and often give up their lives in service of their country, all as part of the job. That doesn’t mean it isn’t important to take as many precautions as possible to keep them safe. There are many different training and tactical procedures along with various pieces of specialized equipment that are designed to serve just that purpose.
Often times these special forces are not just men and women but include soldiers of the canine variety.
These dogs undergo incredibly intense and lengthy training to prepare them for duty in the field. Commands and tasks performed under extreme pressure and their temperaments have to be perfect because there can be no room for error when in combat. One breed that seems like it was put on this Earth specifically for the call of duty is the Belgian Malinois.
Known for their intelligence, stealth, precision, and determination this breed of dog is truly a sight to see performing in the field. Recent publicity from the Syrian Civil War front shows one special British forces team were very lucky indeed to have a Malinois along with them on the mission.
A team of 6 British SAS were out on patrol in Northern Syria, starting out in vehicles but eventually needing to go on foot to explore a village. What they didn’t know is they had been set up and within seconds the SAS team was surrounded and under attack.
Completely surrounded with nowhere to run the dog’s handler removed his muzzle and directed him into the building where the shots seemed to be coming from.
The dog ran into the building and not seconds later shouts and screaming could be heard from inside. Soon after the firing stopped altogether and the soldiers went into the building. One of the gunmen was on the floor, his throat has been ripped out and he had bled to death. As they entered they saw the Malinois standing over him. There were chunks of human skin and blood trails leading to the back of the building.
All in all the Malinois killed 3 of the attackers and had caused the remaining men to flee. The reasons are very clear for the time and expense we take training these dogs if they can disarm an entire force within minutes. And the amazing part of this is the dog came out of it relatively unscathed and all 6 team members survived the attack.
The mission commander rapidly acknowledged the key role this Malinois played in saving the lives of many soldiers and how truly brave he is.
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Just one more reason to love dogs and respect their incredible intelligence and capabilities. Sometimes even the most daring, well-trained people in the world still need a little help.
