| Tango01 | 27 Jan 2015 9:43 p.m. PST |
"In 1966, the U.S. Army trained sniffer dogs and their human companions to track down guerrillas in Vietnam. The military kept these Combat Tracker Teams secret to hide them from the enemy—and shield reluctant allies from a potential international incident. The impetus for the canine teams came from frustrated American commanders. The Viet Cong were masters of terrain, camouflage and tunneling—and dictated when and where a fight happened. More importantly, the enemy fighters could decide how long a battle lasted. "The U.S. command in Saigon [wants] to solve the problem of re-establishing and maintaining contact with enemy forces after they have broken contact with U.S. units," stated a report by the Army's private Combat Operations Research Group…"
Full article here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| TunnelRat | 28 Jan 2015 1:03 a.m. PST |
Not really sure this was secret, although they would have kept it quiet from the NFA/VC at the time. The Australians made no secret of using tracker dogs in Vietnam too. |
| Earl of the North | 28 Jan 2015 4:03 a.m. PST |
I've read about this use of tracking dogs in the field, mainly to find hidden VC tunnels. I think the VC started using captured US soap to throw off the dogs ability to track them….not sure it was ever a 'secret', beyond operational security. |
| HistoryPhD | 28 Jan 2015 6:55 a.m. PST |
There certainly was no secret about it at the time or now |
| David Manley | 28 Jan 2015 8:27 a.m. PST |
Wasn't there a tracker dog in the Platoon 20 range released about 25 years ago? Looking forward to more secrets revealed soon :D |
| Dale Hurtt | 28 Jan 2015 8:40 a.m. PST |
I think the miniature was a USAF guard dog. First thing I thought of too. |
| capt jimmi | 28 Jan 2015 2:08 p.m. PST |
I think it got weirder than that. ? wasn't there a 'Project Satan' that bred huge attack dogs with the idea of letting them go in the VC rear area and tracking where they went (or stopped) ..as a way of finding VC basecamps.? |
 Doctor X  | 28 Jan 2015 4:29 p.m. PST |
I have a few of the Platoon 20 dogs. I don't they are guard dogs per se. |
| FuriousGamer | 28 Jan 2015 8:59 p.m. PST |
There is actually a War Dogs monument Right outside of Cleveland – heading East, in Willowick, I think. I watched a documentary from the Euclid, Ohio Library about them in Vietnam. The courage of these canines made me cry. They were indispensable to the grunts on patrol. They could actually hear the wind passing over a tripwire. |
| FuriousGamer | 28 Jan 2015 9:01 p.m. PST |
Additionally, in WWII, dogs were actually drafted or recruited from American families, and were discharged accordingly after the war. |
| tuscaloosa | 30 Jan 2015 2:53 p.m. PST |
Hmmm, I think this project was barking up the wrong tree. |
equips his Israeli recon unit.
