DEFENSE INTERACTION INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

DIIA

COUNTER IED REPORT – Global Edition 2011 - Certain photos enlarge on ‘click’.

Recue Dog ‘Trident’ Newfoundland Maritime Rescue Dog U.S.A.F Rescue Dog (U.S.Aid) Rescue dog searches rubble following Indonesian earthquake. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Reese and his military working dog Grek wait at a safe house before conducting an assault against insurgents in Buhriz, Iraq. U.S. Army troops from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and Iraqi army soldiers from 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division conducted house-to-house in searches for weapons caches and enemy fighters. Staff Sgt. Carlos Paniagua, Patrol and Explosives Detection Dog Handler, 95th Military Police Battalion, K9 Detachment NCOIC, and his dog, Rex, sit on the Blackhawk’s hoist as they get raised up into the helicopter. Gus and his partner await the OK to move in.  Unlike the WTC rescuers in New York City, Pentagon rescue teams had the opportunity to first construct makeshift columns and structural braces to fortify the crumbling site following the devastating terrorist attack in 2001. Inside the Pentagon, the scene is one of widespread devastation and ruin.  The daunting task of searching the entire area is distributed amongst four 60-member search-and-rescue teams with a total of about 15 certified rescue dogs. (Photo: Sep 14, 2001, FEMA News / Jocelyn Augustino)

DIIA’s cocker spaniel ‘Trident’. Doesn’t do dark, cold, windy, dusty or danger. Quite likes listening to classical music. The photo above is Defense Interaction Intelligence Agency’s maritime rescue-dog ‘Trident’ – nicknamed ‘Scuttlebutt’ by rescue vessel’s crew because he’s always hanging around listening to what’s going on. He doesn’t do cold or wet: neither does he do ‘dark’. He steals – gloves, navy uniform, spanners from the engine room of the ship where he is based, coins from your pocket and he loves to destroy mobile phones. He will bark at intruders (before he hides). Very intelligent – when he wants to be – by instinct, naturally finds hidden objects. He once had to be rescued from being beaten up by a duck. There are dogs that have been specially trained to indentify explosives, sniff out drugs, find casualties trapped under snow or in the collapsed buildings of a city that has suffered an earthquake. DIIA traces the use of dogs by the military and highlights the specialist detection dogs currently deployed by British company ‘Wagtail UK’. Our own cocker spaniel (photo above) has no chance of joining this elite and highly intelligent collective! Wagtail’s services are in constant demand around the globe and reports suggest this organization, its handlers & detection dogs are achieving impressive results. DOGS OF WAR Roman villa front entrance The use of dogs by the military in a variety of roles can be traced back to the times of early Egyptians, Greeks, Britons & Romans. The Molossian (‘Canine Molossus’) dog of Epirus was the strongest known to the Romans who sent them into battle wearing large spiked metal collars and protective chain mail: strongest that is till they met up with the powerful ‘Mastiff of Britannia’ who were even more aggressive and combat hardened. In later years, the British set dogs on the Irish and in turn, the latter responded with Irish Wolfhounds. Frederick the Great & Napoleon used dogs as messengers during their various campaigns and by the Second World War, the Russians were strapping explosives to dogs to attack German tanks. Their dogs were very successful at destroying German tanks but unfortunately the hounds could not differentiate between the Nazi Swastika and the Red Star: Russian tanks were also destroyed along with an ever depleted supply of dogs. A Russian Anti-tank Dog in WW2. The ‘stick’ protruding from the dog’s back was in fact the trigger that activated as it went under the vehicle. The United States used dogs in World War 2 in the Pacific theater and later, in Vietnam, 5,000 ‘war dogs’ along with 10,000 US servicemen serving as ‘dog handlers’ (K9 units) are reported to have saved an estimated 11,000 lives. The dogs were used as sentry dogs, IED & booby trap sniffer dogs, as well as Search & Rescue (SAR) dogs. 43 military working dogs (MWD) and 73 US servicemen serving as dog handlers were killed in action. Until recent times, by US military regulation, any US MWD’s in combat zones were ‘destroyed’ once their usefulness was up or age/ injury prohibited them from further missions. Thankfully, today, retired U.S. MWD’s may now be adopted back home: the first of which was Lex – a working dog whose handler was killed in Iraq. The United States Department of Defense (USDoD) confirm that various U.S. units use dogs trained to detect explosives. They estimate that MWD’s can detect minuscule amounts of a wide range of explosives, making them useful for searching entry points, patrolling within secure installations, and at checkpoints of bases, airports and other sensitive targets. They are also used to locate IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) or ‘roadside bombs’. In fact, the USDoD suggest these dogs are capable of achieving over a 98% success rate in bomb detection. Australian Special Forces Explosive Detection dog Sabi was found alive and well almost fourteen months after going missing in action in the Afghanistan conflict. Australian Special Forces Explosive Detection dog Sabi Sabi was declared Missing in Action (MIA) in September 2008 during a battle with the Taliban in which nine Australian soldiers, including Sabi’s handler, were wounded. The US soldier who recovered her and who can be identified only by his first name, John, was aware his Australian Special Forces mates were missing one of their explosive detection dogs. He said it was immediately obvious that Sabi was no ordinary canine. “I took the dog and gave it some commands it understood immediately,” he says. The 4-year-old black Labrador spent more than a year in the desolate south of Afghanistan. Repeated attempts were made to discover Sabi’s fate. She was ultimately flown to Tarin Kowt to be reunited with one of her Australian Special Forces trainers. NATO countries and their allied forces all have their own canine units. Naturally, along with law enforcement agencies, these units comprise of a high number of guard dogs. These are trained to seek out intruders (enemy combatants, terrorists or other criminal elements) and corner or hold them at the command of the handler. The idea that the military or police use dogs in front line scenarios as a canine attack force has long been relegated to the pages of history. Recent conflicts however have seen a limited number of incidents where dogs have been used to intimidate prisoners during the course of interrogation. The United States, other NATO members and allied armed forces have come down very heavily on any ‘misuse’ in this way of dogs under their command. The military and law enforcement agencies have however – due to increased terrorist threat and the activities of criminal cartels – come to realize that specialist detection dogs are a very valuable asset that can be deployed to combat these threats: well trained & well behaved dogs that can save the lives of their servicemen & women, police officers and civilians alike. What’s more, due to recent reviews of policy by many armed forces and linked organizations, the military have become far more involved in humanitarian operations. There has therefore been increased interest in maintaining first response canine units that can make a real difference on SAR missions. With tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, avalanches and volcanic eruptions seeming to occur on an ever increasing basis – their rescue dogs are not short of life-saving work. DETECTION DOGS Established in 2003, Wagtail UK Ltd has also seen an increasing demand for its specialist dog detection services from clients globally. This is due to the rise in drugs trade, an escalation in terrorism and increased search & rescue operations. Typically clients include the Police, Immigration and Customs (the UK Border Agency), the Ministry of Defence, high profile Blue Chip companies, UK sporting venues and a number of overseas clients in the Middle East, Africa, the Far East, Mainland Europe and North America. All of their detection dog handlers and detection dog training is to British Military and Police standards. Wagtail UK is one of the few companies to hold a Home Office licence to store and keep substances for detection dog training. Wagtail UK Ltd’s philosophy is simple: When it comes to Safety and Security; ONLY THE BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH! Collin Singer with one ‘Wagtail’ certainly un-phased by helicopters. DIIA contacted Collin Singer, Managing Director of Wagtail UK to find out a little more about the services his company provides. Colin is an experienced dog trainer, handler and instructor. He served in the Royal Air Force Police for nearly 24 years before founding Wagtail UK Limited. A qualified Provost Marshal's Dog Inspector, throughout his service career he was involved in all aspects of dog handling, serving in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany, Falkland Islands and Cyprus. His involvement included a firearms and explosives operational tour with the Provost and Security Services. In Cyprus he was appointed Manager and Senior Trainer of a large joint service RAF/Army Dog Section. He has also worked and trained with dog handlers from the British Civil Police Forces, HM Customs, HM Prison Service, Royal Navy, MOD Police, the United States Air Force, the Greek Cypriot Police Force and other government agencies. Colin told me “Wagtail can provide detection dog teams at relatively short notice for government, military and law enforcement agencies worldwide. We can also provide our detection dog team services for private companies, relief & rescue organisations. We have proactive & passive drug detection dog teams, explosive & bomb detection dog teams and handlers and dogs trained in the detection of illegal immigrants or stowaways. Other services available include cadaver detection dog teams and with given notice - animal carcass detection dogs (Conservation/surveying purposes).” Louise Wilson, Director & General Manager pointed out that Wagtail also trains and supplies handlers and dogs used on protection duty, arson investigation and importantly – search & rescue (SAR): including confined space/ urban detection dogs. Detection dogs naturally use their senses (almost always their sense of smell) to detect drugs, explosives and blood for example but it is amazing how certain individual dogs can be trained to detect far more than that. In the state of Califiornia, dogs are trained to detect the Quagga Mussel on boats at public boat ramps, as it is an invasive species. Sniffer dogs have also been enlisted to find ‘bumblebee’ nests. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the USA has trained a Springer Spaniel to detect the colonies, assisting them with the conservation of threatened species. DIIA’s current Cocker Spaniel ‘Trident’ has a natural instinct to find (a) food and (b) currency & (c) trouble. Our previous Cocker – Leading Dog ‘Radar’ RN could instinctively sense a human body in the water from considerable distances. On SAR operations – including those in adverse weather conditions at night – the crew would let him out on the deck of our rescue tug (suitably fitted out with his own life-jacket) and he would run to a certain position on our vessel: directly opposite the casualty in difficulty or the body in the water (port, starboard, bow or stern). I would then turn the tugboat to a position where I had ‘Radar’ directly on the bow of the ship and – on many occasions – the target soon appeared dead ahead. Radar saved 7 lives whilst on board. In one case at an Australian prison, a detection dog foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs that had been hidden in a woman's bra - smeared with coffee, pepper and Vicks Vapo-rub. They say that a sniffer dog's sense of smell can be up to 2000 times more sensitive than that of humans. They can even detect things (blood, etc.) that have been left for as long as 10 years: even detecting the substance if it has been scrubbed off surfaces. In one documented case from U.S. law enforcement, a sniffer dog identified a drop of blood on a wall that had been attempted to be scrubbed off years before. It was so small that it couldn't be seen without a microscope. Scent training is one of the most complex parts of Wagtail’s program. Colin pointed out to me “You don’t only have to train the dogs but train the handlers as well.” For instance, both dog and handler learn how scent travels. Scent can cling or be diffused, depending on the wind, weather, terrain, or humidity. It travels differently in mountains than valleys, on rainy days than on clear days, in dry, cold air than in warm, moist air. Handlers must be aware of the differences in order to give the dog the best chance for success. Dogs learn to distinguish the scent of humans from everything else. Some dogs scent these particles by sniffing the air; others work with their noses to the ground, picking up clues from grass and soil. Scent training is complex When training a dog to follow a particular scent it is customary to begin with short sessions in which the dog first "finds" his master. Gradually increasing the distance, the handler hides in the house or the yard, behind furniture or shrubbery, in all kinds of weather. Next step is to work in unfamiliar terrain with the handler. The dog will also be introduced to ‘finding his toy’. Then for instance, a specific substance – an illegal drug or explosive: those Quagga Mussels or that illusive bumblebee. All of the time, the dog is on a seek, find, reward and praise game of detection. Dogs searching for explosives or Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) must learn to notify their handlers of their find but learn not touch or trigger the device. It’s the same with drug sniffing dogs, it’s no use to the handler (and certainly has serious implications for the hound) if the dog eats the evidence! When you request a detection team from Wagtail, you are deploying specialist expertise: resulting from years of experience and the patience that goes with hours of training any dog to high standard. Colin told me that at Wagtail, they have no specific breeder supplying their dogs. Basically, they seek out 8-10 month old dogs that can be clearly seen to be alert, intelligent & sociable. You don’t need a nervous dog – one day, the dog might have to deal with the noise of battle, explosions and gun fire. The hound might have to be trained to become used to the noise and downdraft of a helicopter or a fighter jet screaming overhead. Detection dogs will be dealing with all sorts of environments: high temperatures, sub-zero nights, torrential rain or severe winds in hurricane and typhoon scenarios. A rescue dog might have to search the dust covered rubble of multi-storey building flattened by an earthquake or concentrate on his task of finding explosives in a crowded airport terminal, on a train or in the smoke filled room of an office following a terrorist bomb attack. Wagtail dogs learn to pick up scents in a random pattern, because lost kids and old people seldom travel in a straight line. Dogs deployed on land or disaster searches must learn to walk on debris, rocks, and other uneven surfaces. They must also learn how to deal with the risks involved and cannot become so intent on the search that they cause more rubble to fall or end up victims themselves. The general public often bring dogs to Wagtail for training and such goodwill is always appreciated by Colin and his teams. However, not all dogs offered are suitable for this new life and so contact Wagtail if you feel that you can donate a dog that might be specially suited to a career in detection or search & rescue by all means. Just don’t be too disappointed if the aggressive Pekinese, uncontrollable Jack Russell or your overweight Alasian is politely rejected. Nowadays society is deeply concerned with the safety issues: flight safety in particular. Despite technological progress, people can not do without dogs` assistance, as no device is currently capable of replacing dogs` ability to identify scent in search of explosive substances and drugs. Dogs are indispensable for differentiating between different individuals by specific smells. In Russia, unique animals - dog and jackal hybrids - have been bred for this purpose. This effort has been undertaken by Klim Sulimov, Senior Research Assistant, D.S. Likhachev Scientific Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Environmental Protection. The Russian Aeroflot Airlines has its very own breeding center. It has now helped develop a sniffer dog to detect bombs and drug trafficking in the Moscow Airport. The dog is a cross between a Turkmen Jackal and a Siberian Husky! Wagtail UK has some of the best trained teams available It took the breeding center an awesome 27 years to perfect this dog! According to the Airlines, this special dog is superior in its sniffing qualities as compared to the normally accepted breeds. Seven cloned sniffer dogs, the first of their kind in the world were born in South Korea in 2007. They are called "Toppy" meaning Tomorrow's Puppy and are born of three surrogate dams in a $300 million project funded by the state. The "Toppies" seem to possess all the hereditary qualities and behaviour that together single out an efficient sniffer dog, according to Lee Ho the South Korean Customs Representative. The dogs are reported to have started working after an initial round of training and it had been easier to train them than the usual sniffer dogs, says the Representative. Lee Byung-Chun is credited with a fundamental role in carrying out the dog cloning successfully when he helped create a 36 month old Afghan Hound's duplicate. The nuclei of the somatic cells of a Golden Retriever have also gone into the cloning process. Meanwhile scientists are involved in creating an electronic sniffing device that can "smell" as well as a dog. According to CNN, Yushan Yan, a professor in the University of California and his team are involved with such a project. The device will be hand held and will prove to be an asset in airport security, baggage checking and in military operations, according to Yan. The advantage, according to the professor, is that the device can be deployed without investing time and money on training and maintenance, as one would do with dogs. With the successful completion of this project will the demand for sniffer dogs decline? This we will have to wait and watch..... Meanwhile, governments, the military, law enforcement and other linked agencies are going to have to rely on the dog. Success on Deployment Britain’s last line of defence before the white cliffs of Dover is a dog whose reputation strikes fear into would-be illegal immigrants as she patrols Calais, sniffing for humans concealed in lorries. The UK Border Agency has identified Lola, a three-year-old German shorthaired pointer, as its “top dog” at finding hidden human cargo. The dog once caught 24 people hiding in lorries in a week and is so successful that her handlers are wary of disclosing details of her work patterns or where she sleeps at night for fear that a people-smuggling gang may put a price on her head. Photo above: Lola Lola is well known among the migrants who have come to Calais and who remain despite last week’s demolition by the French authorities of la jungle, a piece of scrubland where 600 people camped at its peak last spring. Describe the dog’s chocolate-brown features to Afghans now camped on waste ground near the centre of Calais and they nod with weary recognition. “I always get caught by the dog,” said Hameed Uiazi, 15, who is trying to reach London after leaving Jalalabad 15 months ago. “I try to get to England in the back of trucks. I hide in them — underneath or in a container when they park — then sometimes wait four hours until they go to the ferry. “There are three checkpoints. One and two are French. They are easy to get past. Then there is an English one and the dog comes barking. Every time.” Lola works with 12 canine colleagues. The team patrol the ports of northern France and Belgium in shifts 24 hours a day and are responsible for catching several thousand migrants every year. Some risk their lives in grain tankers, refrigerated lorries, wheelie bins and even a Bentley being transported from Germany. When they are caught, officers hand them to the French authorities who often release them. “It is a bit of a game,” said William Spindler of the United Nation’s refugee agency, which has staff in Calais. “Some people are genuine refugees but others are economic migrants. They want to get to the UK because they see it as a kind of El Dorado where they think getting jobs and homes will be easy. They try and they fail but are released, so they try again. “The French authorities are in a difficult situation, especially with migrants from Afghanistan, because at the moment they will not send people back to Afghanistan but they may not be eligible for, or want, asylum in France.” The photograph below illustrates a typical detection dog search of a vehicle. In 2010, be it on a French border crossing or in Mexico, where authorities check for illegal immigrants or in conflict zones such as Iraq & Afghanistan where teams check for explosives or drugs – one things for certain, you need well trained dogs to ‘seek & find’. In one incident last year, Wagtail UK body detection dog Jake detected 18 illegal immigrants in a tanker bound for the UK. Amazingly, the immigrants were found alive in the tanker which had very little air inside. It was a significant find for the detection dog team as very little scent would have been present outside the tanker for the dog to detect. A UK Border Agency spokesman said: 'The load space within this tanker was roughly three quarters full, with no air vents - the length of the Channel crossing and a long journey across the UK would have presented serious implications for these men. 'In just nine months during 2009, we have stopped over 14,000 individual attempts to cross the channel illegally and have searched over 400,000 freight vehicles - checking that they are not harbouring illegal migrants.' Search & Rescue (SAR) Dogs St. Bernards are considered to be the first rescue dogs ever used. Always depicted with brandy barrels around their neck, these dogs are thought to be descendants of molosser type dogs brought into the Alps by the ancient Romans, and the St. Bernard is recognized internationally today as one of the Molossoid breeds. According to legend, the brandy was used to warm the bodies of trapped people in avalanches or snow before help came. Monks in the Alps that I have spoken to however never confirm if the brandy barrel was standard equipment but they do agree that the legend has been great for tourism. That is not to say that St Bernards did not save lives. The most famous St. Bernard to save people at the pass was Barry (sometimes spelled Berry), who reportedly saved somewhere between 40 and 100 lives. There is a monument to Barry in the Cimetière des Chiens, and his body was preserved in the Natural History Museum in Berne. The famous St Bernard (photo above)but now – no longer used for rescue operations. The classic Saint Bernard looked very different from the St. Bernard of today, because avalanches killed off many of the dogs used for breeding between 1816 and 1818. Severe weather during this period led to an increased number of avalanches that killed many St. Bernards while performing rescue work. In an attempt to preserve the breed, the remaining St. Bernards were crossed with Newfoundlands in the 1850s, and so lost much of their use as rescue dogs in the snowy climate of the alps because the long fur they inherited would freeze and weigh them down. However, whilst the St Bernards were probably the first dogs used in mountain rescue, they were not an influencing factor in the formation of search and rescue dogs as they are known today. As far back as the first world war, various breeds of dogs were trained for use by the Red Cross to locate injured personnel on the battlefield during lulls in the fighting. They were trained to ‘find’ by use of the air born scent from a human body. There was a reported incident in the winter of 1937/38 during an avalanche search. A rescue team member’s dog accompanying the search, showed continued interest in one particular place, which had already been probed and eventually began to bark. After re-probing at this location, the victim was found alive. This incident lead to a Swiss Dog training expert to train four Alsatians to search for avalanche victims and these were then presented to the Swiss Army. During the London blitz dogs were used with great success to locate victims buried in buildings, again by the use of air born scent. A number of breeds are used in SAR work including the Bloodhound, Labrador Retriever, Newfoundland, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, and Belgian Malinois -- all of which are chosen for search-and-rescue duty because of their incredible physical strength, unfailing loyalty, and their tendency for mental stability. These breeds also have a heightened sense of hearing and smell -- to better locate lost individuals -- and are often able to access hard-to-reach areas. As highly trained animals, they serve in many different fields, including specialist search, avalanche rescue, cadaver location, and tracking. Los Angeles County Fire Department urban search and rescue dog Baxter and handler Gary Durian prepare for deployment as other team members load US Agency for International Development supplies to be flown to Haiti in the aftermath of the magnitude-7 earthquake onto truck on January 13, 2010 in Pacoima, California. Over 200,000 died and unknown numbers were trapped in rubble. The 72-member California Task Force 2 team is took 55,000 pounds of pre-packaged search-and-rescue tools and medical equipment to conduct round-the-clock search and rescue operations. The team included fire fighters, paramedics, rescue specialists, emergency room physicians, structural engineers, heavy equipment specialists, search dogs and handlers, hazardous material technicians, communications specialists and logistics experts. (January 12, 20102010-01-12 16:00:00 - Photo by David McNew/Getty Images North America) To overcome obstacles and succeed when performing the demanding duties of a search-and-rescue worker, a dog must display certain qualities. In addition to intelligence and strength, the dog must be agile, confident, easily trainable, adaptable, and have a high level of stamina and endurance. A strong sense of pack cooperation and an ability to engage in friendly play during "down" time is also required of search-and-rescue dogs. A rescue dog undergoes many, many hours of intensive training to be fit for duty. Training is not for the faint of heart. Certification training can take from two to three years, working three to four hours a day, three to six days a week, often in group, team-oriented sessions. Each search-and-rescue field requires different types of training. Rescue training, for instance, includes the tactic "air scenting" -- where dogs are trained to sniff the air for the victim’s scent and then follow the scent to the person. This ability is crucial to finding victims trapped under collapsed buildings and avalanches. The same confidence, flexibility, mental strength, and stamina required of a dog is required in a human handler as well, perhaps even more so. Many search and rescue operations will not end happily. A good dog handler needs to maintain grace and stoicism in the face of tragedy. In addition, a successful handler needs humility, to allow the dog to take the lead in situations that require it, and to be diplomatic and confident when the dog's, or handler's, techniques or answers are in question. Also necessary is an ability to thrive under pressure, both emotionally and physically. Wagtail UK supply SAR dogs to many organizations. In Britain, due to strict quarantine laws, rescue groups who have just completed an overseas operation and have seen their own dogs confined on their return for 6 months quarantine, often contact Wagtail UK to supply replacement dogs whilst they await the release of their own dogs. Petitions have been made to the British Government to extend quarantine waivers to rescue and detection dogs returning from an essential overseas life-saving humanitarian mission but so far there’s no movement. Specialist Consultation Photo below: Counter-terrorist searches take determination & concentration. Wagtail UK utilise the vast experience and skills of a team of some of the UK's leading authorities on Counter Terrorist issues.  Wagtail together with their team of leading consultants can train and educate your staff to plan, develop and expedite counter terrorist search measures for various events including: major sports events, political functions, visits by Royals or Heads of State, perceived threat situations and bomb or terrorist threat scenarios. In addition they can provide risk assessments against the threat of terrorism resulting in the use of specially trained search teams trained to search and locate bombs and improvised explosive and incendiary devices. Risk assessments includes maritime search to comply with the International ship and facility code. Their two leading consultants' experience and expertise include: Bob Coote, Counter Terrorist Search Adviser A former accredited UK Home Office Search advisor (POLSA). A POLSA is usually of Inspector rank who is trained to plan, conduct and teach all aspects of searching in order to assist in countering the terrorist threat from whatever source. -Served for 30 years with Merseyside Police -Head of Force Dog section -POLSA and search advisor for over 70 major events requiring counter terrorist measures including a number of Aintree Grand Nationals -Resident speaker on the activities of explosive search dogs at the world renowned Royal School of Military Engineering in the UK for 6 years -Adviser to the United Nations on matters pertinent to search dogs* -Adviser on Police matters to the board of directors of the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers Alan Hatcher of ISSEE, Counter Terrorist Search Consultant and advisor in Explosives -Counter Terrorism, Search and Security related training.  -Over 30 years military experience with the RAF and Army as EOD operator -RAF Staff Officer for EOD Extensive experience in management of complex and dangerous tasks, human resource management, policy implementation and co-ordination of repair and maintenance activities in support of military operations. -Assisted in redefining, writing and implementing EOD and Improvised Explosive Devices Disposal (IEDD) policies for the RAF and was instrumental in the establishment of Joint EOD operations in the Balkans. Security’s Gone To The Dogs Meanwhile, I hear that a Springer Spaniel has been trained to sniff out illicit mobile phones in prisons and has gone to work full-time here in the United Kingdom. Murphy, the spaniel underwent seven months of practice in finding hidden cell phone handsets, even when they are wrapped in plastic or concealed in wall cavities. Trainer Mel Barker has taught Murphy to detect one particular scent out of 20 given off by mobile handsets. Good for Murphy and may he have a long career but…………… ‘Hey guys, DIIA’s Cocker Spaniel ‘Trident’ has been finding, stealing and totally destroying mobile phones on my rescue tug for close on 7 years………… ………and we didn’t even have to train him! DIIA’s Trident FOR FURTHER DATA & CONTACT DETAILS FOR WAGTAIL UK CLICK HERE ©diia 2010.