MWDs Of Naval Station Rota
by U.S. Navy MC2 Hannah Fry
March 26, 2023

They say a dog is man’s best friend, but sometimes they can be so much more. They can become your family, your teammate, or your partner. For men and women assigned to security forces in the U.S. military, they can become all these things at once when assigned to work with Military Working Dogs (MWDs).

Dogs supporting military forces can be traced far through history with some of the first circumstances being ancient Egyptians taking their dogs into battle with them. For the U.S. though, the program has much more recent roots. The U.S. Army was the first branch to train dogs to support soldiers and the mission when it opened its “K-9 Corps” program on March 13, 1942. In World War 1, more than 1 million dogs served by carrying messages through the trenches and bringing psychological support to soldiers.

During World War 2, the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army (QMC) was given the task of training dogs for not only the Army, but the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. They trained in four specialties: sentry, patrol, messenger, and mine detection.

When it comes to training, methods have improved, commands and expectations have changed, but those specialties still encompass most of what they do. Here at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, the kennel has dogs that focus on explosive and drug detection and patrol missions.

NAVSTA Rota’s kennel has been around for many years and continues to be one of the most important in the region. Apart from simply the size, Sailors assigned to work with these MWDs hold the important role of working through deployments to ensure the safety of dignitaries during diplomatic visits and offer training all around Europe and Africa.

Because of the mission’s they support, Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (MA2) Charlsie Maddox said they train regularly with the MWDs they are assigned as handlers.

“We train them daily,” said Maddox. “We’re required to train each dog for 10 to 15 hours per week. That can include utilization, our training minutes, and the patrol dogs doing bite work.”

From Helen, Georgia Maddox joined the Navy as an undesignated Sailor to find travel opportunities. When given the opportunity she selected to become a MA but didn’t originally plan on being a dog handler.

She originally selected MA to be able to work in harbor, but during her time in “A” school an instructor pulled her aside to tell her she should try for K-9.

“I already thought it was way too late," she said. "I had received orders to my next command at that point, but I went ahead and had some conversations with the K-9 MAs. Maybe a week later, I was at the K-9 'C' school.”

Now assigned to work with MWD Rosco, a six-and-a-half year old Belgian Malinois, Maddox said the last minute switch was the best decision she could have made.

“Coming from a ship and being undes(ignated), this job is hands down the greatest thing that could have happened to me,” said Maddox. “Having that perspective helps keep me motivated. A lot of people don’t realize what they have when it comes to being a dog handler, or just being in Spain in general.”

Handlers and K-9s have a unique relationship that borders on partner and pet. The dogs have distinct personalities that are often only seen by their handlers.

“I would describe my relationship with Rosco as me being the mature older sister and him being the annoying little brother who makes me angry, but I still love him,” said Maddox.

MA2 Caitlyn Honeycutt, another dog handler at the NAVSTA Rota kennels, has a similar view of her K-9.

“We’re supposed to look at them more like a work relationship,” said Honeycutt, “but most of us do get that emotional connection with our dogs. So, I look at my dog more as a pet, but we understand that when it’s time to work, she’s a work asset. It is difficult to change it up though because all you want to do is love them.”

Honeycutt is currently certified on MWD Gina, a Belgian Malinois nearing retirement. She spends her days like with the rest of the kennel, working and training, but will soon earn her place among the proud, highly trained K-9s that have completed their mission.

Although in the military these dogs are referred to as Military Working Dogs, a K-9 unit, or canine unit is simply a dog trained to support law enforcement. These K-9s are celebrated yearly on March 13, National K-9 Veteran Appreciation Day. This day is set aside to recognize the invaluable support these dogs offer the U.S. military members and police force.

“We couldn’t do our job without them,” said Maddox. “We’ve lost two of our K9s since I’ve been in Rota, MWD Blek and MWD Zico. At the end of the day, we keep each other alive. We couldn’t do our jobs without each other. I think a dog serving life dedicated to our mission deserves to be recognized, just like a veteran would be. They are veterans. They deserve to be recognized for everything they do.”

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