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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-07876 to 363-07880.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-07876 to 363-07880
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Title
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Article about German Shepherds bought by South Vietnam
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Description
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Article draft about German Shepherds bought by South Vietnam from the US and their training as military dogs, for the Associated Press
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Transcript
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Beverly Decpe ..
Associated Press
Rue Pasteur 158 D/3
Saigor, Viet Nam
GO-VAP, South Viet Nam--German shepherd dogs purchased in the United
States are being trained here to follow orders issued in Vietnamese
for combat use against Communist Viet Cong guerrillas.
The Military Dog Training Center, where steel kennels and small wooden
dog houses are nestled among shady trees, is situated in this suburban
area five miles from central Saigon.
Commanded by Mer Maj. Le-Thanh-Do, a former veterinarian, the center
consists of training and administrative sections, plus a clinic where
dogs are vaccinated for hepatitis, distemper and rabis. From 6 to 7 X
every morning, the dogs have sick call for such ailments as prickly skin
rashes which develop under their thick coats in this tropical climate.
The primary mission of the center is to train volunteer Vietnamese
soldiers to be masters of their dogs and to train the dogs to understand
their handler's orders by gesture or voice," explained Lt. Nguyen Duc Chi,
who returned recently from an eight-month study program at the Dog Sentry
School, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonion, Tex.
Such close teamwork is developed between dog and man that if the master
LEAVES J
is killed, the dog must be re-trained to obey another handler.
(More)
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Deepe
Page 2
Maximum price for the selected German shepherds, purchased throughout
$150 each.
the United States, is about
A breeding center of bloodhounds and Dobermann Pinschers, counseled
by the U. S. Air Force, will be brought under control of the
training center, which functions under the Vietnamese Army General Staff
and is advised by the U. S. Army.
The
Future
Much of this canine story is sh shrouded in military secrecy.
number of dogs now in Viet Nam is classified although the Vietnamese military
is known to have asked that 3,000 be sent to this small country.
deployment of the dogs throughout the republic and total cost of the
A permanent training
program is also unauthorized public information.
center is being built ten miles from Go-Vap for 300 military dogs--"quan
khuyen" in Vietnamese.
"We don't want to tell the Viet Cong any more than they know,"
Capt. Robert Stecker, of Iowa City, Iowa, senior U. S. advisor here.
know our tactics, it won't surprise them."
said
"If they
In the early morning hours, a barrage of barks rips through this quiet
The Rovers of
suburban area of expensive homes and poor refugee huts.
Viet Nam are demanding their breakfast ax of rice, vegetables, commercial
Sprinkling
meat and a little salt.
The canine corps is then muzzled for protection and trucked three miles
to a field training area where they work in the cool morning hours or at
night on security problems.
The dogs are trained in either sentry or scouting work, depending on
their future use in warfare against the Viet Cong.
"Sentry teams are trained to guard and protect ammunition depots,
aircraft bases, radio control centers and other tactical sites," Lt.
Chi, head of the training section,
Rolf, No. 482 R,
said.
demonstrated the problems of a sentry dog.
(More)
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Deepe
Page 3
From behind a thicket waddled a Mas-like man covered from head to foot
with 50 pounds of thickly padded burlap. The 90-pound canine attacked the
"enemy" on the command of "Can no" and gnashed at the burlap until his
master shouted "Thoi" (stop). Barking feverishly, he was ordered to
"Coi chung" (watch him), as the handler searched the intruder. At the
slightest jak movement by the "enemy", Rolf automatically attacked him
again to protect his master.
"In Texas I've seen dogs bite right through the padding and draw blood,"
Lt. Chi said. "A dog's bite can break a man's arm. 20
Harry, No. 481, had an even more delicate task as a scouting dog "to
detect decoys, to discover enemy ambushes or raids, to facilitate
intelligence and combat patrols and hence to reduce our casulties."
Through the straggly bushes at the training center, he was expected
to tell his handler where two "Viet Cong" were hiding behind a fifin
distant banana tree. He casually, but silently stalked through the
underbrush.
"Look at him.
You'd think he was goofing off," Capt. Stecker said.
Then, suddenly, Harry's nose sniffed the wind. His ears pricked up.
His head towered in the air as he made a 180-degree turn in the direction
of the hunted. He had detected the "enemy. " So he just sat down--a signal
for the patrol behind him to take cover.
In combat conditions, the patrol leader would decide whether to attack
or avoid the enemy. But in training, Harry could get only one or two
rewards: an affectionate pat from his master or the opportunity for an
exciting chase of the "let's pretend" mongo foe.
"Scouting is very important in Viet Nam," Lt. Chi explained. "The
terrain features are real tough-such as mountains, jungles and swamps,
where guerrilla tactics are very successful."
He said in a January operation, one unit of the 5th Inf. Div., aided
by dogs graduated from the training center, captured 50 Viet Cong with
important documents hidden in trenches and camouflaged beneath the ground.
A two-week session of training common to both sentry and scouting dogs is
basic obedience drill, where the canine is taught to follow his master's
instructions.
(More)
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Deepe
Page 4
"Obedience drill is hard work for a dog," saint Capt. Stecker said.
"He must behave all the time. It takes time and patience by the handler because
it is the heart of later training."
A few of the dogs balked at orders to lay down.
them to stretch out on the ground when it's hot,"
sargeant. "They like to lay in the shade."
"It's hard to get
said an American
* Capt. Stecker added, "If they areout in the sun too long, they
get mean. It's like with a person,
heat exhaustion."
they can easily get a sun stroke and K.
Capt Stecker and nine other Americans, including veterinary staff,
represent
form here the U. S. Military Advisory Assistance Group (MAAG). They act
as instructors to both dog handlers and future training center tutors.
Capt. Stecker, whom his friends call "Bow-Wow," has worked with dogs
YEARS
for four yeats in Ft. Benning, Ga., Ft. Carson, Colo., and Schofield Barracks,
Hawaii. Other MAAG staffers here have used dogs in the Pacific in World
War II and in Korea.
During the Korean War, the soldiers in one company using dogs were so
confident of their canine companions that a twitch of the ears alerted
the unit to the enemy. One night the comapny commander saw his whole
detachment grab their guns. One dog had inadvertently yawned.
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Deepe
Dog captions
Pix 1-3: A sentry dog attacks a well-padded "enemy" in field training
exercises.
Pix 4-7: A scouting dog silently stalks through the underbrush to find a
hidden foe.
Pix 8:
The temporary quarters of some of the dogs at the training center.
Pix 9: The dogs at the training center are taught to be mean-to attack
anyone on his handler's command. The dogs will be a parcelled out after
Vietnamese
graduating from the training center to the Airborne Brigade, the Marines,
Navy, Air Force, Ranger Command, Army of Viet Nam, Civil Guard and
a national geographic survey team.
-30-
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Date
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1962
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Working dogs; Soldiers; Vietnam (Republic). Quân lực
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B1, F5
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
