Peru native honors fallen, protects U.S. Borders

By Amanda Redman aredman@thepaperofmiami.com

The uniform must be crisp.

Brass buttons and patent leather shoes must be shiny.

The movement must be precise when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Honor Guard performs ceremony at the funeral of a fallen member.

It’s a calling Honor Guard members answer in honor of fallen law enforcement personnel and their families, explained Peru native Brittainy Wallick Spitznagle, Agriculture Specialist and Agriculture Detector Canine Handler at CBP Chicago Field Office.

Spitznagle joined the elite team upon graduation from CBP National Honor Guard Academy in December.

“I did my best to prepare physically for a great deal of marching, drill and ceremony practices as well as prepare mentally for a very rigid and challenging team of cadre,” Spitznagle said. “With the guidance of current Chicago Field Office Honor Guard members, I have been training and preparing for this academy for the past 2 years.”

Spitznagle is one of only two agriculture specialists in the history of Chicago Field Office to graduate the academy at DavisMonthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ.

The two-week course began with 18 recruits with only eight successfully graduating.

“The Honor Guard device is one of the top two most difficult devices to earn with CBP,” said Spitznagle, a Peru High School graduate now living in northern Illinois with her husband, William.

Spitznagle is no stranger to precise movements. The daughter of Michelle and Jim Boswell, and Randy and Debi Wallick, she is a former circus Peru Amateur Circus performer and trainer whose favorite act was High Wire. Michelle Boswell is the former editor and current assistant general manager of The Paper of Miami County.

“Brittainy has really worked hard and pushed the envelope in her field,” said Michelle Boswell. “She always strives to be the best…to stand out from the rest. I’m very proud of her.”

Spitznagle attended multiple academies for CBP but Honor Guard Academy was by far the most difficult, she said.

“It was an exhausting period of daily uniform inspections, drill and ceremony practice and constant reminders of why we have chosen to answer the calling of Honor Guard members; to honor fallen law enforcement personnel and their families,” Spitznagle said.

Following a full day of marching, performing various drill, and ceremony practices, Spitznagle who was designated as Squad Leader 1, returned to her lodge and began uniform maintenance for the following day. She would spend two to four hours on her own gear then help her cadre to ensure all uniform gear was spotless and ready for inspection.

“Every morning we started out with an intensive uniform inspection with several cadre members picking apart our uniforms throughout the platoon,” Spitznagle said. “Compliments were rare and for every compliment you got, if you got one, they would find what felt like 10 more things wrong with your uniform that day.”

The final test was a mock line-of-duty death funeral with presentation of Colors, casket-carrying, rifle party, folding and presentation of the U.S. Flag, then retrieval of Colors.

This test was especially dear to Spitznagle’s heart as it was near the oneyear passing date of her friend and canine handler mentor, Jeff DelaCruz. A 21-year CBP Port of Chicago Canine Enforcement Officer, DelaCruz passed Dec. 23, 2021, at age 50 following complications of COVID, leaving behind a wife and two daughters.

“The number one mission of our Honor Guard is to honor our fallen fellow law enforcement personnel,” Spitznagle explained. “Jeff and his family stayed in the forefront of my mind during the entire academy; remembering Jeff and honoring his family was the biggest driving force that helped to push me through the honor guard academy.”

While Jeff was ill, his CBP co-workers started a GoFundMe, and other fundraising efforts to help with medical expenses.

“Our K9 family is just that, a family. If someone falls down, everyone rallies around them to help them up,” Spitznagle said. “Jeff’s passing was difficult for everyone who knew him. He was a great friend, a mentor to me when I joined the K9 team and it’s been hard not having him here.”

Becoming a CBP Agriculture Specialist initially required Spitznagle to attend CBP Field Operations Academy in Brunswick, Georgia. She was designated Squad Leader 1, graduating in August 2017 a Distinguished Student with a variety of skills including law enforcement professionalism, regulatory decision-making, international trade and import requirements, as well as insect identification.

Handling canines required more training at National Detector Dog Training Center in Newnan, GA. Spitznagle completed an 8week program working with Beagles in various passenger-accessible environments to become part of the Beagle Brigade that inspects passengers and luggage.

Later, she underwent a 10-week program to work with Labradors in cargo areas including conveyor belts, vehicles, cargo pallets and luggage.

“You want to make sure you are setting both yourself and that dog up for success in your specific working environment,” Spitznagle explained.

Spitznagle’s workday begins with picking up her partner Cici, a chocolate lab, who will help her inspect international cargo and inbound international mail at O’Hare International Airport.

The pair will find several prohibited items each shift such as fruit, propagative plants, meat, vegetables or endan- gered wildlife products like ivory. When Cici detects some- thing, Spitznagle determines the country of origin, and if a special permit or veterinary certificate is required.

“Most travelers don’t realize how detrimental something as a simple mango or orange brought into the country from abroad can actually be,” Spitznagle said. “These kinds of items can easily bring pests like seed weevils, Mediterranean Fruit Fly among countless other pests and diseases with them that if established here in the U.S. will cost farmers and consumers millions upon millions of dollars.”

The best part about her job is that no two days are ever the same, Spitznagle said. She also enjoys working with the canines.

“I have always had a love for dogs,” Spitznagle said. “I have had a pet dog in my home since I was a little kid and thought it would be great to find a way to work with dogs professionally someday.

Thankfully U.S. Customs and Border Protection has an excellent K9 program both for Officers and for Agriculture Specialists, like myself.”

Spitznagle holds a bachelor’s degree in Natural p.m.

Resources and Environmental Management from Ball State University. In 2012, she embarked on her law enforcement career as a corrections officer at Miami Correctional Facility, Bunker Hill, later becoming a Miami County Sheriff’s Office deputy jailer.

“I knew I wanted the kind of job that would allow me to utilize my degree background and I was fortunate enough to find a position working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection as an Agriculture Specialist,” Spitznagle said.