This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Well, the answer to the question posed in this blog headline is easy.

As I traveled overseas for our vacation, the first stop being Amsterdam, I was able to watch movies or TV series on a screen on the back of the seat in front of me on the Delta Airlines flight.

And one of the series I watched was Seal Team and, in both episodes, there was a dog joining the members of the team on a mission.

Yes, a dog!

Even when one, tethered to his trainer, jumped out of an airplane.

So, I become interested in the subject – dogs on major military missions.

As always, Mr. Google provided useful information.

“Just as the Navy SEALS and other elite special forces are the sharp point of the American military machine, so too are their dogs at the top of a canine military hierarchy.

“In all, the U.S. military currently has about 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed around the world.

“Navy SEAL dogs, or SEAL dogs for short, have been used extensively in various missions carried out by the U.S. Navy SEAL teams.  These dogs are highly trained to perform a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue, tracking, explosives detection, and more.

“A man’s best friend is also a Navy SEAL’s best friend.  SEAL teams have often utilized animals from Dolphins to K9’s.  Most canines used by the elite special forces branch are Belgian Malinois.  A slightly smaller, lighter, and faster cousin of the German Shepard.  Both dogs have high intelligence.”

Compared to German Shepherds, a Belgian Malinois is much easier to take on missions because of its size, allowing Navy SEALs to carry the dog everywhere.

SEAL Dogs will also skydive on a mission.  Their handler will strap the SEAL dog to their chest and jump.  Or, get this – sometimes dogs jump solo.

Incredible!

To see a dog jump out of an airplane as occurred on one TV episode, is a sight to behold.  I would not make such a jump!

The dogs carry out a wide range of specialized duties for the military teams to which they are attached.

• With a sense of smell 40 times greater than a human’s, the dogs are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and hostile or hiding humans.
• SEAL Dogs can be equipped with video cameras and other recording devices.  Their small size and skill sets combined with senses allow them to reach areas SEALs can’t on missions.
• Like human SEALS, the training the dogs go through is intensive and arduous; only 1 per cent of candidates graduate.  They must learn how to ignore their instincts and follow the orders of their handlers.  There must be a complete sense of trust between the two.
• Dogs have to able to swim a distance that takes them to where they can no longer see the shore.
• They have to be comfortable around gunfire

• They have to show they are mentally capable of their job (yes; just like the human SEALS, the dogs must have a high level of mental toughness and psychological stability)
• They have to navigate through combat environments
• And back to an earlier point – they have to be comfortable jumping out of an airplane, either on their own, or strapped to the chest of a handler

Please, Googld provided a summary of some missions for SEAL dogs:

• Operation Neptune Spear:  In 2011, a SEAL team used a dog named Cairo to help take down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.  Cairo was trained to detect explosives and was used to sweep the compound where bin Laden was hiding.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom:  SEAL dogs were deployed to Iraq to assist with bomb detection and other missions.
• Operation Enduring Freedom:  SEAL dogs were also used in Afghanistan to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and to track down insurgents.
• Operation Red Wings:  In 2005, a SEAL team used a dog named Remco during a mission in Afghanistan.  [Remco was killed in action, but his bravery and sacrifice were honored with a posthumous award.]

I am a dog lover, having one of my own, Callaway, a miniature poodle, thus not a candidate for SEAL dog school.  Neither was his uncle, Hogan, our first dog.

But, the dog lover part of me has found a new-found respect for SEAL dogs.