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Courtesy Logan Black
Former Sgt. Logan Black and his bomb-sniffing dog, Diego, are pictured in April 2006. The pair swept for improvised explosive devices and other weapons in Iraq. Black, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, is campaigning to adopt Diego.
Logan Black has only one dream about his time in Iraq.
From 2006 to 2007, the former sergeant was deployed in Fallujah, sweeping for improvised explosive devices (IED), ammunition, firearms, grenades and raw bomb materials. He survived firefights and IED attacks.
What Black dreams about, though, is the yellow Labrador -- Diego -- that searched for weapons alongside him.
Black, 34, began training with Diego at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri when the dog was a year old. He parted with Diego upon leaving the Army in May 2007. Black has wondered about Diego's fate ever since, leaving phone messages with his unit every six months or so with updated contact information, but said he never heard back.
"I figured he had to be in Afghanistan or Iraq the majority of the time after I left," Black said. "[Diego's safety] was always a concern, but I tried to push that out of my mind. I hoped that he had a handler that kept him safe."
Related: Marine and dog bonded by war, divided by red tape
Black recently turned to a website about military working dog adoptions and posted a request for help to find Diego. He received a response from someone who said he was Diego's second handler. The dog, he said, had been sent back to the U.S. from Iraq in 2008 after another yearlong deployment.
Determined to reunite with Diego, Black recently started a Facebook and Twitter campaign to locate and adopt the dog. On Monday, he learned that Diego, now 8, is stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio as a demonstration aide, teaching other soldiers how to be handlers.
Courtesy Logan Black
Black and Diego, in November 2006, sit in front of a memorial for a former handler and his dog, both of whom were killed in action.
"The greatest thing about this is now I know where he is," said Black, who wants to expedite Diego's adoption.
What many veterans don't know, said Collen McGee, a spokeswoman for the 37th Training Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, is that a prior handler has priority in adopting his or her retiring dog if it is not first assigned to a civilian law enforcement agency.
Those unaware of the adoption process often go to great lengths to reunite with their dogs. McGee said she receives about one Congressional request a month to help a veteran handler adopt a dog. In addition to starting an online campaign, Black took the same approach and reached out to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., for assistance. Last year, 319 military working dogs from across the services were adopted; about 90 percent of dogs are adopted by their former handlers.
Technical Sergeant Joseph Null, who runs the adoption program for the 341st Training Squadron at Lackland, told msnbc.com that Diego is nearing retirement age, but in the meantime continues to perform a vital role.
"Without dogs like Diego, there would be no military working dog program," he said. "He’s a critical asset to developing future dog handlers."
Black hopes to train Diego as a service dog to help manage post-traumatic stress disorder -- specifically to help calm him down during stressful situations.
His symptoms emerged after returning home to Salt Lake City. That is when the dreams about Diego began, and when he started to notice a hyper-sensitivity to smells and sights that reminded him of Iraq.
Rip Black, Logan's father, said that much of his son's concern around his deployment was for Diego's safety. "This young man and this dog had a bond that very few of us will ever know or understand," he said.
Black worried that Diego had developed PTSD after an IED struck the back of a vehicle the pair was riding in April 2006. Diego leaped from the back seat into Black's lap and shook uncontrollably.
"After that attack, any kind of loud noises would send him into a similar state," said Black. Those noises included base artillery, gun fire and helicopters. Black would calm him down by bringing out Diego's favorite toy, a hard rubber cone. "We were always able to work through it so it never really slowed him down."
Null said that while Diego had been sensitive to loud noises and was eventually de-certified as a specialized search dog, he was never diagnosed with PTSD.
Null is helping Black through the adoption process, but said there is no timeline yet for Diego's retirement.
Black said he will continue campaigning to be reunited with his friend: "Diego has been the biggest wish I've had for a very long time."
Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at msnbc.com. Follow her on Twitter here.
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Leave a Comment:
I hope it all works out.
Just don't teach him to fetch.
Let's not take the PTSD thing too far - it happens with every dog in a thunderstorm.
Cheetah, How many dogs have you owned? Over my almost 80 years, I've had or been responsible for at least 20 and I have never seen any of these dogs tremble from loud noises. Yes they, because of their acute sense of hearing, will respond to screeching sounds.
Cheetah, not EVERY dog does it in a thunderstorm( I have 4 dogs) BUT
sandan..I have a 70 lb part Great Pyrenees I have owned since a puppy. The last thunderstorm we had and were not home to bring him in, he ATE the solid wood door to get in. He trembles and as large as he is he tries to fit in under the smallest table to hide. Loud noises scare them and nothing will repair that except love and understanding.
I sincerely hope that Logan and Diego will be reunited very soon. It is just the right thing to do for both of our heroes.
I say give him the dog, they both did their part, now it's time for our Government to do theirs.
How long is one enlistment period? I think I read somewhere it's between 18 months and 3 years--I'd say Diego has served his enlistment term!!!And the article says he was de-certified as a specialized search dog, which means he can no longer perform the duties of his MOS--wouldn't that mean an honorable discharge or a medical discharge for a human soldier? Why treat the dogs any differently?
Those dogs are more intelligent than some human soldiers, in my opinion....
Human beings. . .leave the military out of your equation! These kids have given more in their short lives than many of our citizens. They've given their lives unnecessarily for over 10 years! Just MY opinion!!!
My step-daugher's dog is half Australian Shepard, and the rest a mix of pit bull and border collie. He's a sweetie. Whenever there's a thunderstorm within his hearing, he will try to hide in an interior closet in our house. The sounds upset him terribly. Remember that dogs' hearing is not only far more sensitive than ours (they can hear sounds far too quiet for us to hear.), they can also hear sounds far higher in frequency than we can. Thunderstorms cause us discomfort; imagine what it's like for dogs.
Pris105 is right. I have 15 dogs in my care right now, and 2 of them are afraid of fireworks, thunder, gunshots... anything like that. One has been that way since he was a puppy. The other is a pointer we rescued, and we think he was dumped because he was gun shy so he couldn't be a hunting dog.
Pris105... Have you tried giving yours acepromazine? It is usually pretty effective.
I hope he gets the dog..... even in retirement Diego can continue to serve.
The marine and the dog Diego have done their duty and should be given some leway here. The marine just wants to make sure his partner is taken care and given his due reward. I say let the marine have the dog and let them spend the rest of their lives together. This is the way to treat two hero's!!!
He was Army not Marines but I do agree they should be together.
Wishing you both all the best. Hope you have many years together!
Give the dog to the man! What can we do to make this happen? They both deserve to be together and we owe them.
I say we start a massive letter-writing campaign to Lackland AFB, civilians, active-duty soldiers, retired soldiers, and former handlers who have adopted their dogs...the military might eventually decide that giving one dog an honorable discharge a little early will be worth not getting flooded with 'Miracle-On-34th-Street'-like bags and bags of letters!
And to congressmen!
Thank you to everyone who's been spreading the word about Diego's story, it all comes down to this. One man has the authority to release Diego with just a phone call. Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley. So here's the plan, Diego and I need letters. Hundreds of them! And I think that if everyone who supports us mails the letter out on Monday July 9th Secretary Donley's office will be overwhelmed with our call for help. Send your letter to:
Michael B. Donley
Secretary of the Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670
for heavens sake! Cut the red tape and reunite the two! They are BOTH heroes. All of the soldiers should be kept informed of the whereabouts of the partner dogs. The bond between them is probably unbelievable. Would hope to see the video of the reunion.
I wish them both the best and hope their reunion is expedited. I think it will be healing for both!! Good Luck!
A dog is a man's best friend, never complaining, just loving and giving of their all to help their handler!
I agree this man and his dog should be reunited immediately. Please make it happen.
I wish good luck to Mr. Black, I hope him and Diego will be reunited soon. Diego deserves a good "daddy" after a life of service. I thank you both for your service. And God bless, both of you.
I hope they will be together again soon. I wonder if Mr Black has looked into perhaps, if possible, adopting Diego while he's still at Lackland and the two of them together working at Lackland to train handlers. the article doesn't say if Mr Black is employed, but I think it might be the best of both worlds - he wouldn't have to wait til Diego is officially retired, and he could put his own training to good use teaching others.
Once a dog has a Handler, that dog is so attached to him that he should be retired with that person. My husband was a handler for a Search and Rescue Dog. When the city cut the budget and told him to send the dog back, we fought for that dog because he was so attached to my husband and now hes been with us for over 4years and at that time he was only 3 years. No matter how much retraining these dogs get they remenber their handlers. This government needs to cut the bull@!$%# and just send the dog to his handler and retire him. I am so so sick of the bull@!$%# of the way our military men and their dogs are treated, the damm illegals get treated better than our military men, dogs, and families.
Hey Vicki ! I TOTALLY AGREE ! WTF is going on here !
i agree with vicki let the vet have his dog and what can we do to help get this done
Vicki: I, too, agree! There's a lot of love between the two; let them live out Diego's life together. Imagine how nice that could be.
Hi Vicki, I could agree with you more and I'm supper happy that you have you're search dog with you!
OK... So what can WE do to Help !!? I want to help him get his dog. What can I do ??
I'm all for the guy getting the dog but I'm tired of these stories. Seems there is one every couple of months. The system seems to be broken so let's fix it instead of relying on MSNBC writing a new story.
Contact your Senator, Congressman, the Dept. of Defense and tell them to make adopting retired dogs easier.
The army should hand this dog over immediately to this soldier. RIGHT NOW.
Give him the dog, already!
I hope our government has learned at least a few lessons from Vietnam. Thousands of dogs served during that war, accompanying soldiers into the jungles to alert them of enemy movement that humans might not be able to hear. After the dogs' valiant service under very difficult conditions, when the war ended, the federal government decided it was too expensive to ship them back to the States. Almost all of them were killed. Many of their handlers, upon learning of the dogs' fate, suffered intense guilt and anguish as a result.
(http://olive-drab.com/od_wardogs_vietnam.php)
GIVE THE GUY THE DOG! They have both sacrificed enough...for nothing!
I don't feel that we should subject dogs to the war. They don't understand PTSD like humans, and I don't think they should have to go through this. I'm not sure if they can be cured, unlike a human. Most of the times humans don't even get cured from this.
Theere is no excuse for not letting the guy have his dog. The military, as usual, is being bull headed, obnoxious, and stupid. Congratulations General, you and yours are idiots.
We euthanize thousands of unwanted dogs each year and the military can't find a repacement dog for Diego? It's beyond cruel to keep Diego in his position suffering from PTSD and separated from his best friend!
they trained as served as"one". they were eachothers best friend and had eachother's back 24/7. they derserve to be reunited sooner than later!
Give that dog a official commendation, and a home with the man that knows his true worth.
Hopefully our COMMANDER IN CHIEF can use HIS executive power and make this happen for this honorable solider and his MWD Diego! They have both furfilled their military obligations and deserve to be reunited. They have served their country!!!!!
i have what may be the red tape solution to this problem . when the person whom it's issud to if both thier time elapses at the same moment simply mark the item as surpluss and put a nominal charge on the issued item like 1.99 the issued item being a dog for this scinario and sell it to the issueee at time of thier departure keep your recipt from the ordinance or issuance officer if it's time is up as well if not tough tittie. it refers to a dog or other pet as property you have no right to personal or emotional pain or suffering if some one in the free world kills your property and seeing how this all is i do believe this should work also want that used rifle at surpluss charge 199.00 for that we just sell them to china any how for scrap might as well buy it to all your personal issuance for that matter want that hummer 29,999.00 more used @!$%# or they just gona give it to some one else . i have no problem with anyone owning fire arms whom purchases them dont care what calibur we all know stinger's are probibly floating around too so just dont use it put it in the closet or over the fireplace it is art too you know .
to rob roy
WTF are you talking about?
Wow. I was wondering that myself. All one sentence is bad enough but even if you try to guess on punctuation and grammar it still doesn't make sense.