Security forces loses special member

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The 66th Security Forces Squadron Military Working Dog section lost one of their star performers Aug. 13 when Max, a Military Working Dog, was euthanized after it was determined he could not recover from illness. Max was diagnosed with a tumor last winter and was being treated for it when he was diagnosed three weeks ago with old dog vestibular disease.

According to Tech. Sgt. Matthew Plunkett, the Military Working Dog NCO in charge, the combination of the tumor and the vestibular disease proved fatal.

"He had been taking medication for the tumor and had been managing it well when he began having new symptoms about three weeks ago," said Plunkett. "He wasn't eating and had lost a lot of weight. We took him to a veterinarian and they diagnosed him with old dog (vestibular disease). Once he was diagnosed with it, and because he had not been eating, he had to be taken off the medications which treated the tumor."

It was after this that the tumor increased in size rapidly and his health deteriorated.
Born in May 2002, Max began service to the Air Force in 2003 as a drug detector and patrol dog. This was something he did very well, according to his handlers.

"I've been doing this for eight years and he was by far the best drug military working dog I have ever worked with," said Staff Sgt. Richard Crotty, a military working dog handler. "He was a workhorse. He was singularly responsible for eight drug finds on base."

Although classified as equipment, Max and other military working dogs are anything but that to the handlers who are responsible for them.

"Especially when you deploy with one of these dogs, you can't help but form a special attachment to them," acknowledged Crotty. "You spend so much time with them that it's hard not to bond."

Plunkett agreed.

"It was a quiet day around here last week after he was put down," Plunkett said. "It's like you lose a member of your family."

The MWD section is in the early stages of coordinating a fitting tribute for Max and other working dogs assigned to Hanscom who serve their country on the front lines just as their handlers do.