NAS Sigonella Military Working Dogs

Military Working Dogs (MWD) play an important role across fleet and at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella. The canines with the MWD unit are vital in protecting the people of the base as they are used to apprehend suspects and to detect explosives and narcotics.

The relationship between the MWDs and their handler is very important as both human and canine must learn each other’s personalities and be able to work together in stressful and intense situations.

“We train all day, every day,” remarked dog handler Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Evin Brining. “Every place we go is a training opportunity. In order to truly build the MWD’s skills and abilities it requires nothing less than constant attention and dedication.”

On June 9, MWD VVaughan with his handler Brining and MWD Lira with her handler Master-at-Arms Seaman Branden Busby conducted training at the baseball field on NAS 1 base. Dog handler Master-at-Arms Seaman David Whitfield donned the bite suit.

The focus of the training was patrol (bite work) and obedience. The handlers started each dog with obedience commands and movements, rewarding VVaughan and Lira with their toys when they performed correctly, and then moved on to patrol portion of the day’s training. The handlers took advantage of the sprinklers being on to test the MWDs abilities to ignore the distraction presented by the water sprinklers while pursuing a suspect.

“One of the things we trained with VVaughan [MWD] was distractions during patrol work,” explained Brining. “We used environmental factors that he does not normally see to test his commitment to pursing a suspect. We had him running downfield to bite the decoy through a running stream of water, progressively getting closer to the water’s source to see if the water or water pressure would affect his drive for the bite.”

The MWD unit has specific requirements that must be meet each week and each month to ensure continuous growth not only for the dogs but for the handlers as well.

“It’s a never ending cycle,” added Busby. “Every dog team has something they are working on every day.”