FORT HOOD, Texas — Central Texas law enforcement K-9 units and military police went through a full week of intense training to find out who has the top dog.
”This week has been phenomenal,” said Officer Beck Leider, University of Texas Police, Austin.
“It’s been a really good chance for us to get together and experience other environments, odors, and things that we wouldn’t get to do on a regular basis.”
It’s not just civilian law enforcement taking the chance to utilize Fort Hood’s unique environment, but military police from Fort Bliss are also pushing their dogs to see how they perform tasks that they can’t do at home.
”Fort Bliss — the environment is mostly open, dusty fields,” said Cpt. Billy Montgomery, 72nd and 513th Military Police Detachment, Fort Bliss.
“Out here, you have a lot of woods, a lot of water, and a different training environment. It’s great for the MWD team that we sent out here.”
Duos like Spc. Tiffany Paris and her dog Brian are hitting the water for the first time.
”It's really different for Brian because he has never worked with humidity, grass, seen this many trees, or even been in water like this,” said Spc. Tiffany Paris, 513th Military Working Dog Detachment, Fort Bliss.
“It is a big challenge for us, but this is something that he did overcome.”
Unlike a robot or weapon, no two dogs are the same, and that means everyone is taking new skills and knowledge back home.
Everyone who traveled to Fort Hood to train and compete had a similar message for their hosts.
”Thank you. We’re grateful for the opportunity and the open invitation for our dog teams. For any other future events, we’ll definitely come out here to support,” Cpt. Montgomery said.
The title of 'Hardest Hitting Dog' was awarded to Officer Andrews Converse and K-9 Kova, with the University of Texas at Austin Police Department.
'Top Narcotics Dog' was awarded to Deputy Mark Bell and K-9 Ekter, with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department.
'Top Bomb Dog' was awarded to Specialist Jarima Rivera and MWD Naruto with the 226th Military Police Detachment.
