Training to Support Domestic Emergency Operations...
- Ben Landkammer
- Oct 4, 2024
- 4 min read
Last February Kato and I were afforded the amazing opportunity along with BUSAR to participate in Patriot Exercise 2024, an Air Force National Guard led multi-agency training operation focussing on domestic operations during times of natural disaster and civil unrest. This year the exercise was held at Camp Shelby, MS. We were invited as part of a handful of civilian units to train and learn to integrate with National Guard and other military personnel. As one of three K9 teams, we made quick friends with Officer Kerry Clark and her K9 Desi, of the Westbrook, Maine Police Department.
Desi, Kerry, Kato and I, with the leadership of BUSAR teammate Air Force National Guard Technical Sergeant Wells Holbrook, former teammate Air Force Technical Sergeant Ricky Castorena, and Air Force Senior Airman Chase Franklin (all SERE instructors), kicked off the week and a half of training with two very full days and nights of wilderness survival. Shelter, fire and water considerations, signaling ground and air assets, land navigation and movement during the day and night, medical considerations and more where all on the menu.
The pace picked up following our survival iteration. Classroom sessions on medevac 9-line, ATAC (Android Tactical Assault Kit) and its little brother ATAK-CIV (Android Team Awareness Kit-Civilian), GoTenna and more were sampled. We took a couple afternoons to hang out by the UH-72 Lakota medevac helo's to condition the pups to the noise and rotor wash, and ran some of our own BUSAR training missions, implementing some of the knowledge gained during classroom time (ATAK is super cool and extremely useful in a team setting).
The next couple days were spent at the CACTF (Combined Arms Collective Training Facility), an impressive mock city center where all sorts of shenanigans have and did ensue. Kato and I were able to hang out and observe civil unrest training for AFNG Security Forces who came in to help the city after a natural disaster. OpFor (the townspeople) were played by other AFNG Security Forces units from a few different states that had been to Patriot in previous years...so they knew the rules and how to be devious. The role players were phenomenal, having been on the other side before, and the Security Forces personnel all around were quality, professional and accommodating humans. Both afternoons Kato and I role played as a local law enforcement officer with a search and rescue K9, and had a blast running a couple tracks for missing townspeople, while equally causing a bit of stress-charging in at a critical moment of tension between SF and locals, trying to take over the operation and/or help-"WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?! THIS IS MY TOWN AND THESE ARE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY! SOMEBODY GIVE ME A RADIO!" Big thanks to the officers in charge for letting me have a little fun adding to the chaos while the town was on the verge of rioting.
The second day at the CACTF was very busy. We assisted with a couple tracks as/with role players, then got sucked into a pretty rad(hehe...sorry. Had to...) side mission. An Army officer from some sort of R&D unit asked if we could strap a new concept radiation sensor to Kato and clear part of the town, our footsteps and the sensor being tracked in ATAK, giving command a clear picture of the radiological contamination and hotspots in the area. We worked through buildings off-leash, mapping contamination for the HAZMAT teams, followed by a host of National Guard, US Army, an undisclosed 3 letter agency or two, military and civilian media. A significant number of Verizon Frontline Crisis Management people and vehicles were also present and supported the effort. Afterwards the R&D officer said that he had sent a pic of Kato with the sensor on his tracking harness to US SOCOM top brass, and while they had done similar things with dolphins they hadn't considered trying with a K9 until then. So, that was cool. We met a Ghost Robotics robo dog, which left Kato nonplused...but I thought was worth hanging out with for part of the afternoon.
Our final training day was the culminating event. We piled BUSAR, SF and SF role players onto a CH-47 Chinook and got to fly north to another military base an hour and fifteen away, where Kato and I were attached to 3 SF personnel and a safety officer, tasked with searching for a missing family that was last seen 'over there by that dead stand of trees'. We found a scent article around point last seen, and decided that it was our best bet at finding the family-not knowing if it was theirs or not.
"Want to try it?"
"Yeah! Let's see what he does with it."
I swapped the leash for a tracking lead, and Kato who admittedly put out the worst performances I've ever seen of him all that week as far as tracking (travel stress, weird mechanical dogs, helicopters, late nights, who knows what had him off...), drug me with team in tow a couple miles through the woods, over hills, multiple creek crossings and through a briar or two straight to our missing family and a successful track and mission. Proud dad moment.
On the flight home Kato crashed hard at my feet, myself with a light heart. Part of the reason for his nap may have been a silent protest of having to wear Rex Specs eye AND ear pro, AND a muzzle. Can't say I blame him...
We're extremely grateful to have been invited to participate, and look forward to coming back spring 2025.
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A week after Hurricane Helene hit and wrecked havoc on a massive portion of the Southeast, the significance of this experience is not lost on me. We were just outside the path of devastation in East Tennessee, and our situation at this very moment could be very different than me slapping a way overdue a blog post together. Whether it is emergency preparedness for the 1 in a million storm, or training for an unforeseeable interaction with dog or person durning your normal day to day with your dog, training never ends. The hope is to never have to use the skills you have built into your dog and your routines therein, however life has a funny was of throwing us the unsuspected sometimes.
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Some highlights of the week-we were able to visit the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB on the way out to train. Patriot '24 content starts 40 seconds in.
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