Rescue Dogs Help Heal Wounded Warriors
by U.S. Air Force Joshua Plueger, 55th Wing Public Affairs April 13,
2020
Muffled gunfire reverberates from an unknown location within the
building; Peter’s unwavering gaze is focused on his partner’s ‘six’
- three weeks of training is about to be put to the test.
The
Omaha Gun Club is host to certified training sessions between
military service dogs and their handlers and is where Russ Dillon of
Dillon’s Dogs likes to see the dog put to their final test.
“Peter is a rescue dog out of Georgia,” said U.S. Air ForceMaster Sgt. Tim
Williams, a maintainer who has transitioned to the Office of the
Warrior Advocate. “He was found hit on the side of the road with a
broken leg and he was left there for two days.”
December 10, 2019 - Russ Dillon, owner of Dillon’s Dogs, presents a certificate of graduation to both U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tim Williams, a career maintainer and now a member of the Office of the Warrior Advocate, and his service dog, Peter, at a small ceremony held at the Omaha Gun Club, Omaha, Nebraska. Peter is a rescue dog that has been adopted by Tim to help with his Invisible Wounds. (U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger)
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The two-year-old mutt would eventually find his way into
William’s life as a service dog trained in anxiety reaction,
motivation, and medication reminders.
“He’s going to be one of the fastest
graduates from Dillon’s Dogs,” said Williams. “He is extremely zen
and he gets me and I get him.”
In order to graduate from
Dillon’s Dogs, Peter would need to prove that he would be undeterred
from the sound of gunfire, that he couldn’t be distracted by another
dog, how he walks up and down isles with his handler, and finally,
if he would eat food placed in front of him without permission.
Peter would pass these tests, being the fastest dog to graduate the
course.
William’s career was on the fast track. He was
selected to master sergeant on his first test for the senior
noncommissioned officer rank and was selected as his squadron’s SNCO
of the year in 2018.
Behind the patina of an ideal military
career was the invisible wound of a traumatic brain injury that was
suffered over multiple deployments and the reason he now finds
himself and Peter with the OWA.
“This is a special program
with special people that really help bridge the gap and emptiness
between active-duty service and the time that you are medically
incapable of performing your duties.” said Williams.
Vested
service dogs are a common feature in the OWA facility, a small annex
found just over abandoned train tracks that once brought supplies
into the historic Martin Bomber Building.
The OWA is a
first-of-its-kind organization that was founded by two wounded
warriors that saw a need for such a facility to exist. It is in that
same spirit of seeing needs and answering the call that service dogs
are becoming part of Offutt’s landscape and cultural norms.
Organically, a small group of veterans was in the right place, with
the right skills, the right heart, and passion to create a system
that would help their fellow wingmen who were suffering from
invisible wounds.
Dillon was a former dog handler for the
U.S. Air Force. After eight years of service, he separated and moved
back to Omaha to start working as a part-time dog trainer.
It
was from the advice of Jarvis Offutt’s, Offutt AFB’s namesake,
great, great grand niece, Marilyn Offutt, that convinced Dillon to
work as a dog trainer full time after working with her dog.
Dillon has trained dogs for every purpose and function with the
exceptions of seeing-eye dogs and hearing-impaired dogs. But it was
in service dogs, for his fellow veterans, where he saw an
opportunity to help.
Trained service dogs typically cost
$25,000 to $30,000 and can take years to obtain.
“The problem
with raising tens of thousands of dollars every 10 years (the
working life of a service dog) is that you may require three or more
service dogs within your lifetime and most people can’t afford an
expensive service dog on a 10-year rotation,” said Dillon. “I give
the customer the tools to train their own dog.”
Though more
economical, when a veteran brings their dog (typically a rescue dog)
to Dillon’s Dogs they still need to pay for the training and that is
where another veteran, Bob Dean, saw a need.
Dean, a retired
sheet metal troop and current quality assurance inspector from the
55th Maintenance Group, along with a few others started the
non-profit called JAVELAN, where people can donate to help sponsor a
service dog for veterans.
JAVELAN, an acronym for Jack
Assisting Veterans Enjoy Life Again, was named after his wife’s
service dog ‘Jack’ and initially had a mission to provide up to six
dogs per year for veterans. However, they found that the need for
their services far exceeded their initial expectations and have
graduated over 70 teams since inception.
Dean was skeptical
of the effectiveness of service dogs - at first - when his wife
Charlotte adopted and trained Jack following a month-long stay at
the Veterans Affairs hospital while coping with post-traumatic
stress disorder.
“Having Jack forced her to get out into
public and face her fears uncomfortable, but she could do it because
she had Jack,” he said.
Within three years of having Jack,
Charlotte went from 32 medications down to three.
Soon the
stand-alone non-profit was approached by Omaha’s First Responders
Foundation, headed by former U.S. Strategic Command’s Chief of
Staff, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (retired) Allen W. Batschelet, and was
asked to align with their organization.
The merger of JAVELAN
and the First Responders Foundation effectively consolidated first
responders with military veterans, allowing them to sponsor numerous
dogs each year.
Before Dillon and Dean get involved with
their respective companies, a mental health professional needs to
recommend a service dog. That is where Michelle Logsdon, a case
management nurse from the 55th Wing Medical Group, becomes a central
hub of the process.
A nurse of 42 years, Logsdon has spent
the past six years working with wounded warrior patients or wounded
warrior candidates.
Looking for a more local and streamlined
way of getting quality dogs to her clients, Logsdon reached out to
JAVELAN.
“The biggest benefit of JAVELAN is that they are
local and the dogs are consistently well-trained,” said Logsdon. “It
makes me so happy when I see how well Peter helps Tim be calm.”
Though scientific evidence is largely anecdotal and based on
self-reporting, numerous studies indicate that service dogs can
augment their handlers’ treatment of PTSD by giving them something
to care, protect and be responsible for.
December 6, 2019 - Master Sgt. Jeremy Nichols, a former dog handler for the 55th Security Forces Squadron and now a full-time member of the Office of the Warrior Advocate, hugs his two-year-old Post-Traumatic Stress Service Dog, Willow,
at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. Willow assists Nichols with his Invisible Wounds, which is defined as post-traumatic stress disorder; traumatic brain injury; or other cognitive, emotional, or behavioral conditions associated with trauma experienced by an individual. (U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger)
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Logsdon observes the
benefits of the program first hand for those suffering from
invisible wounds and their need to be productive, busy and working -
all things required of a dog handler - as they transition out of the
military.
“Here I am this great warrior who’s worked all
these years and done all of this cool stuff and now I have this
horrible ‘moral injury’ that has turned my life upside down and now
I can’t control my anger, I’m anxious all the time, irritable,” said
Logsdon. “When you look at those symptoms and it’s hard to be in a
unit, that’s where the dogs really make a difference.”
The
stigma of service dogs has been slowly progressing into that of
acceptance and normalization at Offutt.
“We [Offutt] are a
good wingman when we have places like OWA that support our members.”
said Logsdon. “Programs like Wounded Warrior, teams of providers
that support them and having dogs is a big part of it.”
Veterans, suffering from PTSD or other Invisible Wounds, point to
the consistency that the service dog provides in their medical
treatment as one of the largest benefits; medications continually
need to be filled, the mental benefits of physical therapy wane when
at rest, counseling sessions need to be scheduled, but a dog is
always there.
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