They service on missions, train on board boats and aircraft, fly off helicopters, and are prepared to execute guided parachute jumps. conflict dogs from the Commando Military Unit late faced a fresh challenge. Animals and JWK operators have undergone training 1000 m below the ground.
In the ranks of the Commandos Military Unit, dogs of different races have been utilized for many years, but the most of them are Belgian Malinois Shepherds. JWK combat dogs, which is unique in the armed forces, undergo training in 3 specialties: they are prepared to detect explosives, fight (bits) and track. A fewer years ago, the Lubinian quadrupeds proved their worth during the Mission "Resolute Support" in Afghanistan, where soldiers of the Commandos Military Unit trained peculiar troops of the local police. The skills of operators and dogs with JWK were besides utilized in Iraq. The operators stationed there as part of the Polish Military Quota trained Iraqi peculiar Forces soldiers and their combat dogs. Specialists from JWK and their dogs besides served along the Polish-Belarusian border. But that's not all.
– Our dogs take part in intensive national and abroad training all day, operating in different climatic and field conditions, says 1 of the guides, the JWK operator. – Combat dogs train in mountains and in water. They participate in tactical training in the field of black and green tactics. They're training on board the boat, helicopters and aircraft. They practice in landing and parachuting – the commando calculates. Interestingly, at the end of 2023, JWK as the only unit in Poland and 1 of the fewer in the world, confirmed its ability for the landing of a dog from a tallness exceeding 4000 m, i.e. with oxygen apparatus.
Recently, the Commandos Military Unit faced its four-legged operators with another challenge: training under the ground. Why? – It's simple, we request to be prepared to act under all conditions. The harder the training, the better the results – corresponds to “Pachuch”, the JWK combat squad guide-operator, the mine training organizer.
Underground training was conducted in cooperation with the Polish Mining Group Branch of KWK Sośnica. It was attended by dog guides and their quadrupeds from various subdivisions of the Lublin unit. – We wanted to see how our dogs would behave below the surface of the earth. How their concentration and action will be affected by changes in tallness and pressure, advanced temperature and sound – explains “Paczu”.
For respective hours, dogs practiced tracking and detecting smells. This took place on respective levels, i.e. from 750 to 1000 m below the surface, in the corridors lit and in full darkness. "We only lit the darkness with the headlights. An additional obstacle, especially for dogs, was that in places we were paddling in black, dense mud, dust was floating in the air and the sound of mining machines was coming to us all the time – the commando reported.
How did the dogs respond to specified conditions? Operators emphasize that the quadrupeds were willing to work and did great. But there's no hiding that it was exhausting for them. Animals always work at 150 percent and exert all their senses," says Fridy, a guide to Belgian Shepherd.
Soldiers of the Commando Military Unit They announce that specified training with combat dogs will continue.
