MILITARY POLICE SOLDIERS ATTACHED TO V CORPS HELP BRING IRAQI POLICE DOG UNIT 'UP TO SNIFF'
V Corps News
Release Date: 9/22/2003
By Sgt. Mark S. Rickert 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In an old jailhouse behind a Baghdad police station, something howls from behind the charred walls, where the windows are shattered and the remnants of the former regime are spray-painted on the doors. Here, Saddam Hussein's police officers tortured and harassed their captives, keeping them behind steel doors in rooms about the size of walk-in closets.
Now, there is a fresh coat of paint and the solid steel doors have been replaced with cage doors. The broken windows will be replaced soon, and a new air-conditioning duct runs along the ceiling. The cells inside are now clean and lively, and filled with puppies.
U.S. Army military police soldiers have converted the prison into a kennel.
Sgt. Emily Frasca, a police academy instructor with the 382nd Military Police Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based in San Diego, Calif., helped kick-start the new canine unit. The 382nd is attached to V Corps's 18th MP Brigade as part of Task Force 1st Armored Division.
Frasca and other soldiers from her unit teach classes at the police academy here, and when someone asked her to help with the canine unit, she jumped at the opportunity. "I love working with dogs," said Frasca. "And when they offered me the opportunity to be the liaison for the trainers and coordinate with the 18th MP Brigade to get equipment for these guys, I saw an opportunity to share what I know and what I've learned -- to help out."
The canine unit is quickly progressing. Iraqi trainers are learning new methods, and the dogs are multiplying -- one of the German shepherds has already given birth to five pups.
But the canine unit here has not always received this kind of support. Before the war, the unit was moved to a facility outside the capital city. Here, the trainers received very little support. They lacked the money to buy equipment, vaccinations and training manuals. Frasca said the unit became so out of touch with the other police officers that it eventually became ineffective.
"The trainers were cut off from money and other dogs to breed theirs with," said Frasca. "They ended up inbreeding the dogs and working with the older training styles. They started training dogs that weren't fully capable of being police dogs."
Coalition forces decided to bring the canine unit back into the city. They cleaned out one of the old prison and transformed it into a kennel.
"When I saw the old torture camp, I looked into the cells and saw the potential for a kennel," said Frasca. "We turned the prison into a 13-room kennel, with an office in the back and a room for trainers to stay in overnight, so they could protect the dogs."
In addition to coaching the Iraqis on new methods of training, Frasca helps assess the animals for strong and weak points. The dogs are then chosen for specific job training, such as bomb or narcotics detection, or attack.
For example, if a dog has a favorite toy as a puppy, it is easier to train that dog for bomb detection.
"We look for the love of a toy," said Frasca. "This makes it easier for us to instill sniffing behaviors. We can test the dog to find the ball in a bush or in rubble. If they have a good sniffing behavior, it is easier for us to carry that behavior into searching patterns later on."
Frasca says the dogs are also learning a new language. Because she teaches in English, the Iraqi trainers bark English commands to their canines. In a way, this provides the trainers and their dogs with a coded language.
"This allows police officers to communicate with their dogs without the locals understanding," said Frasca. "And in some situations, this can give us the upper hand."
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