Spotlight on Crane-Canine Security
By: Tom McClanahan
Updated: December 6, 2012
This is Volt and Leo, dogs that provide a wide range of security at Crane. They are trained for patrol and protection but can perform other functions that help to secure the base and beyond.
Jeremy Michael Potts is a GS7 Canine Handler. He says about Volt, "He is trained for scouting, so he can go out and do that, uh, as far as, going out and tracking that would be our other German Shepherd or animal that you just saw."
These animals train every day and are watched closely even when the handlers are away.
Potts says, "They're check on every four hours by our SDO's, our watch officers. They are under camera surveillance, they are under alarms, so they are probably treated better than most humans are."
The dogs are trained to detect explosives on base but can also be part of the nearby community.
Lieutenant Commander James Michael Stewart, the base's Installation Commander, says, "If there's a display you want to do at a school or if you want to search for a lost child or find what they're trained to detect, they can trained to do that."
What does it look like when these dogs are in action. More on that in our next Spotlight on Crane.
