WEBVTT 00:03.110 --> 00:05.110 master sergeant Joel thomas Herrion 00:05.300 --> 00:07.300 absent military working dog program 00:07.300 --> 00:10.910 manager . I 00:10.910 --> 00:13.920 oversee all military working dogs in 00:13.920 --> 00:16.890 the absent A . O . R . to include three 00:16.890 --> 00:19.780 Liaison officers throughout kuwait 00:20.010 --> 00:22.150 Qatar and Ramstein Germany 00:26.420 --> 00:28.890 during the Afghanistan Neo I received 00:28.890 --> 00:31.057 an emergency no notice support request 00:31.057 --> 00:33.279 from the Department of State To provide 00:33.279 --> 00:35.510 a safe refuge for 51 contract working 00:35.510 --> 00:38.970 dogs out of H . Kaya . My job was to 00:38.970 --> 00:41.780 ensure that they had a place to stay 00:41.790 --> 00:45.790 and a flight back to the states . 51 00:45.790 --> 00:49.310 dogs in one day was the largest 00:49.320 --> 00:52.760 centcom movement in history . 00:56.440 --> 01:00.100 Some of the most impactful moments that 01:00.110 --> 01:04.010 I saw were getting these dogs 01:04.010 --> 01:06.360 out of the country . Um a lot of times 01:06.360 --> 01:08.660 in the past they were left behind and 01:08.660 --> 01:11.030 being able to see all of the dogs and 01:11.030 --> 01:13.370 their handlers make it out safe and 01:13.370 --> 01:15.370 back to their families . Was pretty 01:15.370 --> 01:16.370 impactful . 01:19.040 --> 01:21.510 All that day started off with me 01:21.510 --> 01:23.910 receiving an email stating that we 01:23.910 --> 01:26.077 would be receiving them throughout the 01:26.077 --> 01:28.420 week and 10 minutes into responding to 01:28.420 --> 01:30.850 that email , I received a phone call 01:30.850 --> 01:33.650 from the flight line stating we have 51 01:33.650 --> 01:36.000 dogs on the flight line . So I 01:36.000 --> 01:38.680 immediately got up , I grabbed my Ellen , 01:38.680 --> 01:41.960 oh technical Sergeant van etten and the 01:41.960 --> 01:44.480 kennel staff , the trainer and MWD 01:44.480 --> 01:46.850 handlers . And we made our way out to 01:46.850 --> 01:48.961 the flight line where we made contact 01:48.961 --> 01:50.572 with the Department of State 01:50.572 --> 01:52.683 representative . From there . We made 01:52.683 --> 01:55.610 contact with cargo . 01:55.970 --> 01:58.140 Persico and the host nation 01:58.140 --> 02:00.362 coordination cell and immediately began 02:00.362 --> 02:02.362 coordinating with them to get these 02:02.362 --> 02:04.584 dogs expedited off the flight line just 02:04.584 --> 02:06.751 due to the heat because a lot of these 02:06.751 --> 02:08.751 dogs weren't acclimated coming from 02:08.751 --> 02:10.973 Afghanistan , it's a lot cooler in that 02:10.973 --> 02:12.751 environment . So our number one 02:12.751 --> 02:15.084 priority was getting them into an A . C . 02:15.084 --> 02:18.180 Warehouse with the A . Themes and 02:18.190 --> 02:21.970 getting them all expedited through that 02:21.970 --> 02:23.803 we can provide them some kind of 02:23.803 --> 02:25.859 lodging , accommodations and getting 02:25.859 --> 02:27.970 them food just because they came from 02:28.240 --> 02:31.280 Afghanistan where it was all hectic . 02:31.280 --> 02:34.330 So It took us 96 hours from the time 02:34.330 --> 02:36.497 that they landed to the time that they 02:36.497 --> 02:40.140 took off . Um , It was 96 hours . 02:40.380 --> 02:42.491 We were able to get them a contracted 02:42.491 --> 02:45.660 flight straight from Ali Dean into 02:46.040 --> 02:47.040 north Carolina . 02:50.140 --> 02:53.260 It's a historic event , one of a kind . 02:53.640 --> 02:55.807 Not very many people can say that they 02:55.807 --> 02:59.290 pushed 51 dogs and 60 personnel Through 02:59.290 --> 03:01.179 96 hours and getting them from an 03:01.179 --> 03:03.450 environment where it was all hectic to 03:03.460 --> 03:04.830 getting them back to their families .