Duke, Phan Rang Air Base 1968

I loved working a dog at night. I am an introvert by nature and this was a perfect job for me.  I had my post to patrol and no one else was supposed to be near me.  I loved teaching my dogs tricks to help wile away the hours.  Duke, however, was old.  The saying, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, applied to Duke. Duke wanted nothing to do with learning anything new.  Duke really did not want anything to do with patrolling our post either.  He limped because of his old wounds, so I am sure it hurt when he walked.  If I sat to rest, Duke immediately fell asleep.

I realized early on that training before going to post wore Duke out fast.  I talked with the night supervisor and got Duke excused from training.  That helped a little bit.  He did his job for 2 or 3 hours before he was too worn out to stay alert.

One night, fresh off the truck, we walked down to our post and there was an above-ground water line that ran across our post that was raised off the ground.  The top of the pipe was about 6 inches off the ground. Duke tripped over it.  We walked along the pipeline, I was on the right side of it and Duke on the left. There was a ditch dug at a 90-degree angle to the pipeline, on the left side.  Duke's side.  The ditch was 18 inches wide and 24 inches deep.  Duke fell into it.  If he had pulled the leash out of my hand, I might have left him in the ditch.  He was lucky; I pulled him out and checked him for injuries. He was okay.  I knew I was on patrol alone--again.

One of the flight chiefs decided to run an unscheduled unannounced alert detection on several posts, mine included. He walked the fence line and crossed several posts.  I may have been a little more than 50 feet from the fence line, but Duke should have smelled him, heard him, or seen him and alerted me.  I neither heard nor saw the flight chief cross my post.  The next morning, I told the kennel master that Duke was not capable of doing his job and I wanted another dog.  The night supervisor set up a test and watched Duke work.  He prompted me to lead Duke into the alert, which he had not picked up, but the observer and I had. When I led Duke into the alert, he did his job.  The night supervisor said, "See, he's fine." When we discussed it with the kennel master, I explained that Duke knows his job, but if he does not pick up an intruder before I do, he cannot and is not doing his job.  The kennel master agreed and that was Duke's last night on post.

Thanks for stopping by.  Leave me a comment so that I know you were here.  It would be nice to know what you think about my different stories.  I sure am having fun remembering my time in the service. If you join my blog, it will remind me of you every time I visit my blog.