Army dogs lend a helping hand in war on terror

When Mansi, a four-year-old Labrador was awarded the gallantry award in 2016, she became the first canine in the history of Indian Army to earn the war honour posthumously.

Mansi and her Kashmiri master Bashir Ahmed War of the Territorial Army (TA) made a supreme sacrifice while gallantly fighting a group of heavily armed infiltrators in the high altitude area along the line of control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector in August 2015.

On the eve of Independence Day in 2016, Mansi was honored with the 'Mention of Dispatches' certificate and her name will appear in the Gazette of India for making supreme sacrifice for the nation. War, her handler and a resident of Kupwara, was also posthumously awarded the Sena Medal posthumously.

Mansi's bravery is just the tip of the iceberg in Jammu and Kashmir where dogs are the unsung heroes in the war against terror. From helping army to eliminate dreaded militants to detecting explosives, the canines have won many battle honours ranging from the chief of army staff commendation cards to general officer commanding commendation cards in the restive state.

Take Derby, the six-year-old Labrador, averted a major tragedy when she detected five kilogram pressure cooker Improvised Explosive Device on Pantha Chowk-Nowgam highway in March 2015.

In fact dogs are the force multipliers in the counter insurgency grid of J&K and play a crucial role in anti militancy operations, usually posted with infantry units.

"We have two breeds; Labrador and German shepherd. Labradors are tracker dogs and are not lethal. German shepherds are mostly guard dogs posted in different units for perimeter security. They can be lethal as they are capable of attacking. However they attack only when their handler gives them the command", said a commanding officer of the dog unit.

Like soldiers, dogs too have to go through a gruelling training before it is posted with any of the units including obedience training and later a 36 week specialised training.

DOING THEIR BIT

• Dogs attached with different counter insurgency units have varied responsibilities in J&K.
   
• Trekker dogs are meant for helping troops in anti-insurgency ops, guard dogs are responsible for guarding garrisons during nights.
   
• Explosive detection dogs and infantry patrol dogs help in detection of bombs and IEDs.