The Dog Teams of Regional Command - West, Afghanistan

The Dog Teams of Regional Command – West, Afghanistan

Posted on 27th September, by Kevin Hanrahan in Photos, Picture of the Week. 8 Comments

Pparis The Dog Teams of Regional Command West, Afghanistan

MWD Pparis

Sergeant First Class Gregg Bockelman was kind enough to allow me to use them. Gregg is the Military Working Dog Program Manager for United States Forces- Afghanistan, Regional Command West. We served together at Fort Bragg, North Carolina many moons ago.

So what is Regional Command West? Well I took this directly from Wiklipedia…..

Regional Command West (RC West) is a multinational military formation, part of the International Security Assistance Force involved in the war in Afghanistan. It is tasked with controlling Herat Province, Farah Province, Badghis Province and Ghor Province, which have a population of about 3,156,000 people. Currently, the formation is led by Italy.

There are currently four Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) under RC West:

Breston The Dog Teams of Regional Command West, Afghanistan

MWD Breston

PRT Herat — located in Herat, Herat Province and led by Italy. This is currently the command and control (C2) headquarters and the forward support base for the formation^[2]
PRT Chaghcharan — located in Chaghcharan, Ghor and led by Lithuania
PRT Farah — located in Farah, Farah Province and led by the United States
PRT Qala-e Naw — located in Qala-e Naw, Badghis and led by Spain

When I was in Afghanistan, 2010-2011, I spent some time in the west. What I found interesting about this Italian/ Spanish led command was the fabulous pizza parlors and the taunting shelves of liquor. Most of you know that U.S. Soldiers must abide by General Order #1 while in Afghanistan. That order says so alcohol. So it was just really funny for me to see shelves and shelves of liquor while deployed!

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PinExt The Dog Teams of Regional Command West, Afghanistan

8 comments on “The Dog Teams of Regional Command – West, Afghanistan”

Karen on September 27, 2012 at 9:36 am said:

I love these guys. One day I hope to meet a real MWD, preferably Honza Bear. I’m just in love with that dog

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- Kevin Hanrahan on September 27, 2012 at 7:58 pm said:
  
  Thanks Karen! Won’t be too long before HB returns home!
  
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Dalibor Veges-Vega on September 27, 2012 at 11:20 pm said:

stay safe all of you

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Daniel (and Bony) on September 28, 2012 at 6:58 am said:

I have met these guys a few times. My main kennels is out of BAF and SFC Bockelman took me under his “wing” because getting stuff to me is not a fast process
(NOT the kennels at BAF fault just the way it is). Everytime him or any of the handlers were coming to my area they asked if myself or Bony needed anything. Theses guys have special preyers for them all the time! Oh yea SFC Bockelman is my KM back in Fort Bragg!

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- Kevin Hanrahan on September 28, 2012 at 5:44 pm said:
  
  Handlers stick together brother….heck for that matter MP stick together! Doesn’t hurt that Gregg is out there to square you away! safe safe Dan! Give Bony a hug for us all!
  
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ken mac on September 28, 2012 at 7:17 am said:

God bless yall !!! Give em a milk bone from me will ya !!! Stay safe. Americans ROCK!!!

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Lisa Fiocco on September 28, 2012 at 4:06 pm said:

God Bless you all !

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