Rroswell, a military working dog, attends an Air Force Achievement Medal ceremony at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.
All of you long-time readers know this Editor can’t resist a good military working dog story or photo. Well, this one has both.
Staff Sgt. Seth Shannon, 26, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, the kennel master with Yokota’s 374th Security Forces Squadron was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for figuring out how to transport MWD to Japan from stateside training facilities during covid travel restrictions. Prior to the wuflu, MWD flew to Japan and other overseas bases on commercial airlines. With the travel restrictions, that was no longer possible.
So Staff Sergeant Shannon found a way around those restrictions. Working with multiple agencies across the DOD, Shannon got the dogs to Japan via military transport flights.
Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider praised Shannon’s “ingenuity and initiative” as he pinned an Air Force Achievement Medal on him while defenders, human and canine, stood in formation at the security forces headquarters on Yokota.
At least one of the dogs watching the medal presentation arrived at Yokota on a C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane last year — 2-year-old Rroswell, who was bred by the military to become a working dog.
Rroswell has a strong jaw, according to his handler Staff Sgt. Ashleigh Green, 27, of Lincoln, Neb., who advises people not to pat him. “He likes biting,” she said. “That’s his go-to.”