JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We're proud to share the Stories of Service of those who wear the uniform of our country and protect us. In this week's Stories of Service we feature some special members of the military - with two and four legs.
It's a part of the base that not everyone is allowed to visit.
Master at Arms 2nd class Cheri Smith has been in the Navy for the last seven years after signing on right out of high school. But for the past year and a half she's trained military working dogs at NAS JAX.
Service members like Smith train these dogs to detect explosives and contraband as well as to protect fellow service members in the field. And like any job, there are challenges, especially when you're trying to train a different species.
"Just learning their quirks and what works best for them because all dogs are different," said Smith. "The dog I have now, he reads off the energy very well so he knows if I'm having a good time, he's going to try to excel."
Smith spends at least 8 hours a day with a military working dog named Tomi.
"I don't have any pets at home because I gear my attention all towards my working dog so I can make him the best I can," said Smith. "I try to do as much stuff as I can to challenge him to make him start thinking and obedience is the foundation of everything."
Smith plans to make the Navy, and training working military dogs, her career.
"I'm hoping I can get through the ranks and help other dog handlers train their dogs, so they can become the best that they can be," said Smith.
Even though Smith is Tomi's handler, the dog actually outranks the human in this scenario, and that's by design. The idea is that if the dog is ranked higher than the human, then the trainer would always treat the dog with respect during training because the dog is their superior officer.
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