23d CES constructs new MWD facility

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kathleen D. Bryant
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  The 23d Civil Engineer Squadron is slated to begin a six-month construction project for a new military working dog facility on March 1, here.

The new facility, located in front of the kennels, will afford the 23d Security Forces Squadron and 820th Combat Operations Squadron MWD units with a safe and improved working environment which will provide more training time for the MWDs. 

"The whole idea behind this is that they lose a lot of training time in inclement weather," said Lawrence January, 23d CES simplified acquisition base engineering requirements chief. "Currently this training facility is an uncovered grass area and when it rains, it gets very wet."

When the area is flooded, the dogs and their handlers can't use the current facility because it's a safety hazard.

"The new facility will give us more utilization of the training area," said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Timothy Hartman, 23d SFS MWD kennel master. "[Sometimes] we get a lot of rain down here and can't use [the current facility] for a couple days. We have to wait for it to dry out a little bit because it usually [gets] really muddy and becomes unsafe for the handlers and the dogs."

To prevent the area from being swamped out, the 23d CES plans to incorporate synthetic flooring with a built in drainage system. Another added benefit of the new facility will be an overhang which will provide a shaded area during the summer time.

"There are certain times during the day that we don't do any training outside because we don't want to overheat the dogs," said Hartman. "They're like people, they can experience heat exhaustion. Right now, we [potentially] create a whole new realm of problems when it comes down to the dogs' health and safety. [The new facility] should help out and let us extend our training sessions in hotter weather."

In addition to more training time, the 23d SFS and 820th COS MWD units will train their approximately 28 dogs on surfaces that will protect their bodies from injury in the long run.

"Coming off of each obstacle there will be a rubber mat that will limit the impact on the dogs' joints," said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Blandino, 820th COS MWD kennel master. "One of the things that affects our dogs that we see a lot is arthritis and hip dysplasia. A lot of that could be created from all the jumps and everything we do with our dogs that we need them to do. So hopefully it will minimize some of the impact on the dogs."

After the construction is complete, Blandino says the new facility will help train better, proficient and healthier dogs to ensure mission readiness.