HALO-Jumping Combat Dogs

From The Times, London, March 17, 2010:

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Commandos from 14 countries, including British special forces and Royal Marines, took part in the Nato exercise [in Narvik, Norway]. The use of dogs in High Altitude High Opening missions was pioneered by America’s Delta Force, which trained the animals to breathe through oxygen masks during the jump.

The SAS has adapted similar techniques and, according to special forces sources, bought a number of American-trained dogs for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The dogs used by the British are fitted with a head camera, allowing special forces to see inside insurgent compounds, and Kevlar body armour.

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To read the entire story and see a photo of an exit from an aircraft, click here. It looks as though dogs don't have to keep their feet and knees together ...

They say the dogs are calm.

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... once we’re on the way down, that doesn’t matter and they just enjoy the view,” said the dog handler. “It’s something he does a lot. He has a much cooler head than most recruits.”

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I still remember when I was about 7 years old and we brought my dog to the vet to be spayed. The vet said that he'd never seen a dog lay so calmly and quietly on the table. Afterward, we found out why. There was a gigantic turd on the table. I don't think I want that strapped to me.

I wonder if they're going to expand this to mules in Afghanistan.

Full disclosure: I stole that from Soldiers and Sled Dogs: A History of Military Dog Mushing, by Charles L. Dean (University of Nebraska Press, 2005), which has a chapter ("Grrrronimo! Sled Dogs Hit the Silks") and some great photos of parachuting pooches used by Army Air Corps Arctic (or perhaps Arf-tic?) Search and Rescue Squadrons in Alaska starting in 1943.