HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Members of the 66th Security Forces Squadron held a retirement ceremony to retire Military Working Dog Frida, D344, Oct. 2.
MWD Frida, a dual-certified patrol and drug detection dog, has been assigned to Hanscom AFB for more than two years. Due to progressive vision loss, she will retire from active duty.
“During her tenure, Frida accumulated over 365 hours of detection utilization and conducted more than 500 vehicle sweeps,” said Staff Sgt. Marcel Durand, a 66 SFS member, who served as emcee for the event.
Maj. Benjamin Doerfler, 66 SFS commander, awarded Frida the Air and Space Achievement Medal for “outstanding achievement as a patrol drug detector dog.”
The award citation highlighted Frida’s role in discovering three positive narcotic finds, preventing illicit substances from entering the installation.
Officer Jonathan Stearns, 66 SFS MWD handler, then called in Frida’s final radio call, officially relieving his partner of duty.
Following the ceremony, Stearns, the first civilian military working dog handler in Air Force Materiel Command, spoke about his 18-months on patrol with Frida.
“Some days I spent more time with her than my own family,” he said. “There are a lot of mixed emotions today; it’s what’s best for Frida.”
The SFS commander spoke about significance of MWDs.
“The relationship you have built with Officer Stearns, is truly inspiring and groundbreaking,” said Doerfler. “As defenders, we always watch each other’s back, but when it is a defender and their MWD, it goes even deeper.”
To symbolize Frida’s transition to her new home in Connecticut, officials ceremonially passed her leash to her new owner where she will spend her retirement.