Hero dog helped snare Osama

(UK) Daily Sun ^ | May 4, 2011 | Laura Caroe

[Zakeet]

A FEARLESS four-legged recruit joined US Special Forces as they stormed Osama Bin Laden's secret lair.

The explosive-sniffing dog was strapped to an assault team member as they took on one of their greatest challenges to date.

He was part of the operation in which the elite US Navy Seals lowered themselves down ropes from three Black Hawk helicopters into the terrorist supremo's hideout in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday.

[Snip]

Heavily armoured hounds — equipped with infrared night-sight cameras — have been used in the past by the top-secret unit.

Wearing oxygen masks, the pooches have been trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000ft, before seeking out insurgents in hostile environments.

The animals will attack anyone carrying a weapon.

[gnarledmaw]

I said years ago that we should have started training pigatroopers and that the Jimmy Dean facilities could be our most valuable weapons research sites but everyone laughed...

[papasmurf]

"People zay dat Hilter vas sure, a very badt mann. But at least he luft docs undt schildern."

Yeah, but only because they were easiest to pervert to his evil ways.

[papasmurf]

That pic gave me goose bumps. Thanks, Joe.

BTW, It is SO stolen now. LOL

[TexasRepublic]

I read that in muslim theology, angels will not enter a house where a dog is. Good, ‘cuz I don’t want any satanic spirits entering my house.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

It's a paraphrase from Gunter Grass' Dr. Sammler's Planet. The eponymous Dr. Sammler is the programming director at a Berlin radio station immediately after the War. He gets a listner letter from an old woman we writes to tell him, "Hitler was, sure, a bad man, but at least he liked dogs." She is complaining about the lack of any dog programming. It's Berlin, August 1945 and all she has to complain about is that there aren't any dog shows on the radio.

[papasmurf]

They either jump with a “static line”, which is a cord attached to the parachute and the plane to pull the handle or, they are equipped with an AAD or automatic activation device. The AAD uses an altimeter and deploys the chute at a preset altitude.

[chainsaw]

It will years before any of the members of seal team #6 will tell us exactly what happened, if it happened at all.

[papasmurf]

You aren't the first to tell me that story. When I was first stationed in Germany, my landlord-a decorated (and disabled in Africa) former German soldier- told to it to me.
Of course my answer was about the same then as it is now. Only, then, I added that I thought Hitler was a heinous bastard and we should have snuffed him in '39. LOL

White House briefing coming up and 0bama will say we will not release any photos...

[papasmurf]

It may not have happened the way it is being reported, sure, but if it didn't happen at all, a Seal would find a way to let us know by now.

[Kickass Conservative]

We now know more about a Military Dog than we know about the current Commander In Chief.

Thank God for our Free Press.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Static lines, I would imagine.

[CSM]

“...some of the pooches have HALO badges and airborne wings IIRC!”

I doubt they have the same “pinning” ceremony....

[Mariner]

I'm glad to see these "War Dogs" getting body armor.

We owe it to them and it helps preserve ENORMOUS financial and emotional investment.

[momtothree]

This is absolutely amazing to me. A dog jumping out of a plane at 25,000 feet (even if he or she is strapped to a human). There must be a good deal of trust and biscuits for the landing.

[Joe 6-pack]

"This is absolutely amazing to me. A dog jumping out of a plane at 25,000 feet (even if he or she is strapped to a human). There must be a good deal of trust and biscuits for the landing."

LOL...I have enough of a hard time getting mine in the bath tub!

[momtothree]

The first time I had the bright idea of getting my 105 lb. GSD in the tub... let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I was more wet than he was. Then, I got him in a DRY tub and then filled it with water. Silly dog was happy then! I, however, smelled like a wet dog until I got into the shower.

[dervish]

Amazing!

Really stretches the idea that dogs will follow their masters anywhere.

[Joe 6-pack]

Yep...my old German Shep was absolutely obedient and I had no problem bathing him, whether it was outside with the hose, in the tub/shower, etc. There is no doubt in my mind he'd have let me jump out of a plane with him. My Belgian Terv on the other hand LOVES the water...

...unless soap is involved. Shampoo is to him what Holy Water is to vampires. The SOP now is for me to let him outside while I discreetly fill the tub, change into a pair of swimming trunks, coax him into the bathroom, lock the door...

...and wrestle.

[Broker]

Knew a guy named Bill Ruddy from Redding, CT who was an Army Dog handler in Viet Nam. He parachuted with a dog that lost its' muzzle and went nuts on decent. He killed the pooch. Many canine heros over hisory..

Excellent WW1 War Dog book to read: "Bruce" Albert Payson Terhune. http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-ebook/dp/B002RKRVGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304537733&sr=1-1

[Churchillspirit]

All your pictures are good, Joe....but that is stunning.