Combat Tracker Teams in vietnam

[Dennis G]

My father talked about these guys. He said the only time he ever so some of them they were on his way out of county and they had German shepherds. I just found a few sites thought I would share some of these photos. I once watched this thing on the animal planet and it talked about how people would send in their family dogs to be part of this unit. I've not been able to find any really good info on the unit.

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/FM5.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/FM0.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/FM3.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/FM2.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/samA.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/My_Team_2.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Ctt5A2.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/4BJWS%20Class%20of%20June%201968.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/mandog1.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Bob__Friend.JPG

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Bob__Friend_resting.JPG

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Heslin1a.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Heslin3B.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Heslin4.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/Heslin8.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/DUPLA1.jpg

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/DUPLA3.jpg

[Dennis G]

http://www.combattrackerteam.org/63C.jpeg


http://www.combattrackerteam.org/63D.jpeg


http://www.combattrackerteam.org/63E.jpeg



http://www.combattrackerteam.org/DL5i.jpg

[Flagg]

The only thing I heard about the Combat Tracker Teams in Vietnam is quite sad:

No dogs sent to Vietnam ever returned to the US.......terrible policy if true.

As a dog owner, it must have been devastating for the dog handlers and fellow team members to rotate back to the US, and leave their dogs behind :(

[digrar]

There is a book by Peter Haran called "Trackers". It's published in Australia by New Holland publishing.
These blokes were trained at the Infantry center then moved to their Battalion during lead up training proir to deployment. The teams consisted of a dog and handler, visual tracker, coverman and gunner. But they could and were split up to do different tasks.
Haran says he was dragged through the Vietnam war on the end of a 20ft dog leash a dog handler who watched a dogs rear end bobbing ahead of him, his life depending on a wet nose and the uncanny instinct of a black labradore-kelpie cross smart arse called Ceaser.
The Australian dogs were named after Roman emperors, did around 3 tours each and were not returned to Australia.

[haze99]

:P nice CAR-15's!!

uhh, I mean the XM-177E1 Commando.

["sniper" tom]

Reason why most dogs stayed in Nam whas because they had allot of decieses, most of the dogs where sick !

[Flagg]

Reason why most dogs stayed in Nam whas because they had allot of decieses, most of the dogs where sick !

I understand the reason why the decision may have been made, although it could easily be argued that veterinary medicine could have eliminated any perceived/potential problems.

Take another look at those photos.....those dogs were not a "weapons system" they were teammates...for the service they rendered...they deserved better :(

[Aussie E]

There has been a good documentary on the History channel here in the US about the dogs in Vietnam. Can't recall what it was called. Lot's of tragic and sad stories, and none of them were returned to the US. There is a book by Lemish called "War Dogs: A History of Loyalty and Heroism". Great book, but like the documentary alot of sad stories. It's not just on Veitnam, but most American conflicts. Interesting story about a group of dogs they tried to train to attack Japanese soldiers in WWII, the program was eventually shutdown.

[Dalleer]

Anything in Vietnam goes for me, so great pictures!

[Vance]

My uncle handled a German Shepered in Nam, he was a part of the 101st Airborne. Never mentioed a CTT though...

[5jumpchump]

I saw the history chnn show , kicked ass . Coolest thing about the dogs was that they could hear the tention in the ****ytrap wires and would come to a halt and lie down so the demo guys could diffuse it . Now that's tight !

[ronin2172]

from what i have read the dog handler combo was very effective. A VC was rewarded if they brought back the unit patch and/or the dog's ear,(I assume the dog's had tattoos on their ears for id purposes) they were feared that much.
Don't know if this was true but i heard the dogs were left behind because they were passed on to ARVN dog handlers (part of the vietnamization process i guess). Like i said i dunno how true that is.

[born_to_kill]

in israel you take your dogs home after service

[Flagg]

in israel you take your dogs home after service

I reckon that's a pretty good policy....as long as the army's gotten it's money's worth out of both ;)