ABC Wednesday where K is King

Since ABC Wednesday has moved into the letter 'K' for this week I'm using a photo from the archives, if you will.
K is for King.




Dave was a security dog handler in the late 1960s, serving a year at Korat AFB, Thailand during the Vietnam war. He joined the Air Force in 1967 and volunteered for dog school after basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. The first German Shepherd dog assigned to him was named King -- of the big ears! Dave and King served together at Fairchild AFB, Washington until Dave was assigned to his overseas tour of duty in the fall of 1969. Sadly, King had to stay behind while Dave met his new dog in Thailand. But he and King learned the ropes together and will always have a special place in his heart.

This what Dave has to say about him:

King reached a peak weight of 105 lbs, big for a German Shepherd. He was sold to the Air Force in 1968 by a family in Bryan, TX. The motivating factor was King got over a fence and took down one of their horses and nearly killed it. He had a gentle personality towards his handler, but when released on an attack was fearless and had a bone crushing bite that those wearing the thick protective suite attested to. He was the first and only Sentry Dog that I know of that returned to its Air Force base of origin after being retrained as a Patrol Dog (more like a civilian police dog). Normally they would not be returned out of concern that the familiar environment would return them to their Sentry Dog habits which was a very aggressive attack that was considered lethal. A patrol dog could be called out of an attack by voice command and they are trained to hold the person. A Sentry Dog will move in to kill if the person struggled or tried to fight back.
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