Spokane7
58°
January 14, 2011 in City
Old dog, new deployment
Lucky, a Belgian Malinois, leaving Fairchild for duty in Kyrgyzstan
In this Jan. 14, 2011, photo, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Fall prepared to take military dog, Lucky, from Fairchild Air Force Base to be deployed in Kyrgyzstan.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
Lucky, a military dog based at Fairchild Air Force Base, may be 10 years old and a two-time cancer survivor, but he’s also young enough to take on a fourth tour of duty overseas.
Lucky and his new handler, Staff Sgt. Chris Fall, were scheduled to depart this morning for Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan after veterinarians at Fairchild gave Lucky the green light.
He and Fall will patrol the grounds at Manas, a relatively safe job compared with Lucky’s previous assignments searching for improvised bombs and weapons caches in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Manas is the main entry point for military operations in Afghanistan. For Fall, this is his third deployment overseas and his second to Kyrgyzstan.
When Lucky returned from Iraq last summer, it was thought his age and health issues would force him into retirement.
“As long as a dog can work and he’s healthy, he can deploy,” said Tech. Sgt. Levi Wilson, one of the K-9 handlers at Fairchild in the 92nd Security Forces Squadron.
“For 10 years old, he is still healthy. He’s young at heart,” Wilson said.
A Belgian Malinois, Lucky is graying around the muzzle and he’s not as large as some of the other dogs in the military working dog section at Fairchild.
Even so, he is trained to remain cool under fire, and has the tenacity to subdue a fleeing suspect on command. Like other dogs in his breed, he adapts well to his surroundings.
His history is something of a legend among Air Force personnel. In 2008, he sniffed out an explosive fastened to a military generator at a forward base in Afghanistan, potentially saving lives.
In another deployment, he survived an improvised bomb attack with a group of soldiers on an Iraqi roadway.
For his valor, Lucky and his former handler, Staff Sgt. Gerald Martinez, were given the animal rescue heroes award by the American Red Cross in its 2010 Hometown Heroes awards.
Lucky was trained at a young age at the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and then underwent extensive training with a handler.
In 2005, he had a tumor removed from a rear leg at the Washington State University veterinary school, and underwent radiation treatment. Another tumor was removed a year ago from the opposite leg by a Fairchild veterinarian. The tumor was detected during one of Lucky’s routine body checks.
“He’s extremely accurate, extremely precise,” said Fall, a seven-year veteran in the Air Force. “He’s very deliberate, so to speak. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
“He follows every command I give him,” Fall said. “He still loves to work.”
Returning farmland to a state of nature 
polistra on January 14 at 2:28 a.m.
Great picture of two heroes.
Looks like the trained explosive-detecting dog is properly suspicious of the stranger holding a device that makes sudden flashes of light. But he’s taking his Master’s word that the stranger is okay.
lewis8457 on January 14 at 8:20 a.m.
poor puppy dog he has done his duty give him a bowl of kibble and teach him how to have fun. The conditions the dogs live in look just like a animal shelter.
Keep our people and puppies home
MrNatural on January 14 at 9:04 a.m.
Lucky!?!….to go back to Kyrgyzstan???
well at least he has people who love him…I guess that’s lucky…
Edwame on January 14 at 10:15 a.m.
Good story. Dogs need a job. Dogs love to work. Lucky is indeed lucky to get called backed to action.
monkeyman on January 14 at 11:37 a.m.
@Edwame on January 14 at 10:15 a.m.
“Good story. Dogs need a job.”
Nicely said! He looks like a much happier/balanced animal than the neurotic and physically diseased dogs stuck in most homes…
He may also get a more dignified end than an “execution” on a veterinarian’s table.
jddavis on January 14 at 11:40 a.m.
Maybe after he can no longer deploy, he can retire and become a greeter at an airport.
Thoreau on January 14 at 12:43 p.m.
Good dog!