New recruits to engineering: A tail of foster care

  • Published
  • By Breanne Smith
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Air Force Capt. Brandy Caffee's normal routine recently got a bit more complicated. She has a new recruit, a trainee you might say, that she's taken under her wing. As an Air Force leader, Caffee makes sure this new recruit is properly cared for; providing rides to work, sharing her quarters and even allowing her to sleep under her desk at work.

If you're picturing a full-grown cadet napping under her desk, you're only slightly mistaken. Caffee is one of three San Antonio-based Air Force civil engineer fostering puppies born into the military working dog breeding program earlier this year.

Although Caffee was initially nervous to take her foster puppy, Wwitch, to work with her at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph every day, she said it didn't take long for the young Belgian Malinois to adapt to her busy schedule.

"I think that's going to help her out in her next life because she's going to be in and out of cars, she could be in and out of helicopters -- she could be jumping out of helicopters," Caffee said. "Everything that I can do to get her into different situations is just going to help her be a better working dog down the line."

Although Wwitch has a large fan club within the Air Education and Training Command headquarters, she does have to split her spoils with another foster puppy who has made his claim to a corner office down the hall.

Originally designated "Puppy XX," AETC Operations Division Chief Lt. Col. Michael Beach lovingly refers to his foster as "Dos Equis."

"From what I've seen of graduated military working dogs, Dos Equis exhibits all the traits that you see in the graduates," Beach said. "He's very smart, he's quick to learn, he's got an excellent drive to go after a ball or play tug of war -- he really will not give up when you're playing tug of war."

The Belgian Malinois breed, known for their power and intelligence, can quickly wear a foster down if he or she isn't prepared for the chaos, Beach cautioned.

"If you don't have strong organizational skills and a keen attention to detail so that you're applying corrections consistently every time, (the puppies) can quickly take over your life," he said. "I think in that regard, the engineer skillset is a good match."

South west of Randolph, members of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center at JBSA-Lackland share the halls of AFCEC with Dos Equis' fellow littermate, Xxplorer.

Like Beach and Caffee, Capt. Grant Harwell and his wife are first-time fosters. Although they've enjoyed the experience thus far, Harwell anticipates the biggest challenge will come when Xxplorer turns seven months old.

"At the seven-month mark, when we have to turn him in, I think that's what's going to be the hardest part," Harwell said. "I guess you do it because you know that he's a future military working dog so he could be deployed to Afghanistan, or somewhere else, in the future. It's like training a basic trainee I guess; they're going to go on to do bigger and better things."

When that seven-month mark does roll around, the puppies will return to the Lackland kennels and begin their pre-training course. If successful, 341st Training Squadron Breeding Program Assistant Manager and Training Supervisor Jason Dill expects the grown dogs to then advance to their respective dog training schools.

In an effort to make turn in day a bit easier on the devoted foster families, Dill does his best to provide updates through Facebook and email as they advance through training, allowing families the opportunity to see what they helped create.

"Our foster families are valuable assets to the program; without them, we wouldn't succeed."

For more information on the military working dog and foster program, email mwd.foster@us.af.mil