A couple years ago, I arranged to step out of a speeding aircraft at 12,000 feet with a really cute Army guy tied to my back. Talk about a dream date! Okay, so it was an Army P.R. event, and the guy was old enough to be my nephew and was a purely professional parachutist; but, still... my friends were jealous, and that's all that mattered. As things turned out, though, weather forced us to cancel The Outing. I took it as a sign: Don't jump! I didn't even try to reschedule.Now comes little Fosco the Dog, a sergeant major in the Canine Corps. He didn't turn tail. He didn't whimper. Maybe they offered him some really good kibble, or maybe he didn't know what he was getting into, but he did it. He jumped! And he lived to bark about it! All I can say is, Good Boy, Fosco! You are a braver creature than I.
In Photo: U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Chris Lalonde, center, holds his military working dog, Sgt. Maj. Fosco, while jumpmaster Kirby Rodriguez deploys his parachute over Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. Lalonde is with Company D, 701st Military Police Battalion. Members of the Army’s Golden Knights look on. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Vince Vander Maarel
**** UPDATE ***
Here is an eyewitness report from lifelong civilian Tessa Long, who blogs about the Army:
Sergeant Major Fosco was...calm as a cucumber. That is, until he touched down and was unstrapped. Then the dog took off running towards another Soldier and attacked him! Don’t worry; it was all part of the plan. The other Soldier was wearing a padded training arm for the dog to bite. Good thing, because SGM Fosco did not let go! “You’d better not throw me out of an airplane again!” I heard someone in the audience say as the dog hung on the training arm. But I don’t think SGM Fosco was angry. As soon as he was told to let go, he let his handler hook him onto a leash and trotted obediently away.
Sergeant Major Fosco was...calm as a cucumber. That is, until he touched down and was unstrapped. Then the dog took off running towards another Soldier and attacked him! Don’t worry; it was all part of the plan. The other Soldier was wearing a padded training arm for the dog to bite. Good thing, because SGM Fosco did not let go! “You’d better not throw me out of an airplane again!” I heard someone in the audience say as the dog hung on the training arm. But I don’t think SGM Fosco was angry. As soon as he was told to let go, he let his handler hook him onto a leash and trotted obediently away.
Yip, yip! I want to meet this dog!
Cross-posted from Susan Katz Keating: On National Security
