NORFOLK, Va. — It's a special assignment that they love—the military working dog handlers of Naval Station Norfolk.
Naeem Jankee, a military police officer at Naval Station Norfolk, shares why he chose this particular field in the Navy.
"Because I wanted to enjoy something new day to day, right?" Jankee said. "You're gonna get that at a law enforcement level, but with a dog, they think of doing something new every day."
Jankee trains regularly with his sidekick Max, a Belgian Malinois.
"He's trained to detect explosives in and around the base, as well as we're utilized in tasks by law enforcement agencies such as the Secret Service to go on missions with the president," he told me.
Yes, when President Biden and the First Lady came to Naval Station Norfolk last November for a holiday meal with military families around Thanksgiving, Max was part of the team helping out with the security sweep.
When he heard his assignment involved the president, what was going through Jankee's mind?
"Excitement—definitely a great opportunity," he said. "I know that's part of the job."
Suffolk
Suffolk Fire & Rescue gets first ever bomb detection dog
We got to see that explosive detection work in action firsthand —we had to get our News 3 vehicle searched before even being admitted to the base to do this story. But in addition to looking for explosives or narcotics, the handlers also help train various breeds for security reasons and that means putting on what they call a bite suit.
It's heavily padded, protective gear, so they can safely engage with the dogs as they train them on how to properly help detain a suspect, but that does involve a little acting, as we witnessed Kristina Vargas, the base Kennel Master Kristina Vargas. There were certain times when she sounded as if when the dog bit down on the padded gear, she was hurt.
"So when they push I'm like, 'ahhh,'" she said. "Basically like a fun rough-housing kinda fun to show them the desired behavior that we want—to show them they're doing the right thing. You don't want them pulling back cause they're ripping tendons, they're ripping muscle. We want them pushing into the suspect, versus pulling away from them."
Does this training with the bite suit ever worry her?
"This is our favorite part of the day," she told me.
Watch related story: Suffolk Fire & Rescue gets first ever bomb detection dog
In addition to working with Belgian Malinois, German shepherds, and Dutch shepherds, they also work with labradors and even smaller breeds, like the Jagdterrier they have named Tina.
Jankee explained the benefit of a dog that size.
"When it comes to ships, submarines, tighter spaces, even some warehouses on the installation, I think she's a perfect fit—perfect fit to get her in those tighter spaces—to get her closer to whatever odors that she's trying to detect," he said.
"I say it's the best job in the military!" Jankee told me. "Most military working dog handlers would agree!"
