Combat Dogs

[labrys 0]

Short article with an awesome picture:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7063359.ece

Owned by Remi #?

[ChrisL 2]

I cant imagine the dogs enjoy the -30 degree temps plus a wind chill.

__

My mighty steed

[billvon 2,399]

>I cant imagine the dogs enjoy the -30 degree temps plus a wind chill.

Eh, if we can do it, so can they. They have much better natural insulation.

[Andy0689 0]

How about bears? There are some other corny "suggestions" made to the DOD at the bottom of the article on this page. It's bad enough that I considered the bonfire for this link.

Andy
I'll believe it when I see it on YouTube!

[Andy9o8 0]

I've heard the best breed of dog to take skydiving is a ... Poynter.

[regulator 0]

How about they deploy a bunch of skunks via static line and get them to run into the trenches....

[mjosparky 3]

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I've heard the best breed of dog to take skydiving is a ... Poynter.

Does he come with his own attorney and rigger?

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[jumpslo 0]

That is crazy awesome!

"Good rule of thumb; is what you are doing the EASIEST for You? Because if it is, it ain't going to work for the people around you."

[JohnRich 4]

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How about they deploy a bunch of skunks via static line and get them to run into the trenches....

This reminds me of an article I read just recently about how the Russians trained dogs to defeat Nazi tanks in WWII. It seems that the Ruskies didn't have a good way to kill German tanks. So they trained dogs to run underneath tanks, by putting food there for them. Then in combat, when the Nazi tanks were rolling towards them, they strapped explosives to the dogs, and turned them loose. When the dogs went under the German tank to look for their meal, the explosives would go off, destroying the tank. This program was only marginally successful - they did kill quite a few German tanks, but it seems that when the Germans figured out what was going on, and started shooting any dog running towards them, that the dogs would often be dissuaded by the gunfire... and would run back towards their trainers!

[labrys 0]

Does anyone else think that the "awesome picture" looks photo-shopped or is it just me? I didn't want to say it up front because I wondered if anyone else would think so.... the soldier's leg and hand just look funky.

Owned by Remi #?

[SEREJumper 1]

Jumping dogs has been around a lot longer than most might think. It is now just becoming more mainstream, since the military working dog (MWD) bring special skills that are needed in an ever changing wartime environment.

If the dog handler isn't military freefall qualified, and most of them are not, they become the tandem passenger and the dog becomes more equipment.

Here is a video that was done recently to show the capability of this technique. Skip forward to 2:57 if you get bored. The rig is a military Sigma, pretty much the same as a civilian Sigma, but is rated to a higher max weight (note the "beefy" 3 ring assembly).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUUTieMYSr4&feature=email

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[labrys 0]

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Jumping dogs has been around a lot longer than most might think.

No doubt in my mind and I've done quite a lot of reading about dogs in the military. It's not the concept I'm questioning... I just thought the pic looked 'shopped.

Owned by Remi #?

[voilsb 1]

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Jumping dogs has been around a lot longer than most might think.

Yeah, I've seen some video of dogs being jumped in WW2. I've seen some Vietnam-era photos of dogs rigged up like a rucksack would be, ruck on the jumpers back, and belly-wart reserve the only parachute there.

Brian

[MikeJD 0]

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Does anyone else think that the "awesome picture" looks photo-shopped or is it just me? I didn't want to say it up front because I wondered if anyone else would think so.... the soldier's leg and hand just look funky.

Know what you mean, but I think it's just a combination of the unusual light and the artifacts you get round the edges of things with jpg compression. I'd love to see a bigger version.

I wouldn't call jumping with dogs cruel, but it seems absurd to say they 'don't perceive height difference.' That wouldn't make much evolutionary sense, surely. Some dogs are terrified of heights.

[likvidskaj 0]

During my army (paratrooper) days, I asked our captain why the unit doesn't use any combat dogs at all.
He told us a funny story: back in the early '70, the unit has trained a bunch of combat dogs to jump. The ground practice - countless exitis on command from a DC-3 with the left engine running - went well, so the dogs did ok during their first ever jump; they exited on command with no hesitation.
On the second jump, when the door opened, all of the dogs started to shake and squeal in terror and all of them run to the frong of the plane, to the cockpit door, not a single dog wanted to jump anymore.
So the whole program was canceled

[longtall 0]

Were they dogs or CHICKENS !

" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards

[longtall 0]

Finally, someone with a good idea.

" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards

[likvidskaj 0]

They were probably just too old for that shit, and old dogs don't care about new tricks...

[Andy9o8 0]

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I wouldn't call jumping with dogs cruel, but it seems absurd to say they 'don't perceive height difference.' That wouldn't make much evolutionary sense, surely. Some dogs are terrified of heights.

I suspect that what he meant to say is that while dogs (and other non-flying animals of similar intelligence) might perceive (and fear) relatively low-altitude, yet dangerous, heights, such as from roofs or trees or cliffs, the view picture from an aircraft at altitude is so foreign to a dog's level of cognition that the dog does not realize what he is looking at; and since doggie doesn't realize he's looking at "height", he doesn't instinctively fear it as he might fear "height".

Now, is that really the case? I dunno; I'll ask my own dog when I get home tonight. I have to laugh when people say things like "dogs don't perceive height difference" with a straight face - as if the dog was interviewed at length, and gave a considered, articulate response.

[davelepka 4]

I was surprised to see in that linked video that the TI does get to deploy his own drouge. I guess it's one way to ensure that it gets out quick, but as illustrated in the video, it's also a way to get a drouge bridle wedgie if you over rotate the exit.

The best part was after the drouge was set, and the dog was eyeballing the TI. He was looking right back at him, and I wonder what they were each thinking.

Either way, I'm 90% sure that Swoop has done some test jumps with dogs, or was present during test jumps with dogs.