We do have interesting things to help people. With when we talk about the united states, it is important to know the making a breaking of codes has been part of america before gaining independence. One of the most precious artifacts is this item here. It is important to note tee dont have conclusive evidence that this device belonged to Thomas Jefferson buchlt there are interest facts about t. This device was found in an antique store close. Probably the most compelling part is there is a drawing similar to this in jeffersons private papers. We cannot say he owned it for sure. We can say this is an excellent example of how people used criptology in the 19th century. Making a breaking secret codes is on sunday at 6 and 10 eastern. Part of American History tv this weekend on cspan 3. Now, mike ritland on his book trident k9 warriors my tale from the Training Ground to the battlefield with elite navy seal canines from the official savannah book festival this is a little more than 45 minutes. Please welcome mike ritland. [applause] [ applause ] good morning. First of all, i would like to thank the official savannah book festival for having me here. I think what they are doing is a wonderful thing and allows authors to be able to talk about what they do and what they are passionate about. So first and foremost i would like to thank them. And secondly, i would like to thank everyone sitting out there for listening the messages i like to talk about with the military dogs and the things they are doing. Without your support, this wouldnt exist so thank you for coming and supporting me and the book. I am going to go over my background in terms of how i got involved into dogs especially military working dogs. I grew up in northern iowa. There is not a lot to do other than farm, wrestle and hunt. So it was kind of a i would not say a destiny as opposed to picking one of the things there are to do. I got involved in bird dogs early on. We had a black lab i had growing up named bud that i talk about that was my buddy and gateway into the dog world as it were. At a very early age, i recognized and appreciated the different genetic traits these dogs posesed in terms of their ability to use their nose, what they were willing to go through like cold water bursting through brush and thorns and tough dogs that were motivated to do the work we were asking them to do. I noticed even as a young child, just the dogs ability to use their nose, they would use the wind to their advantage and would find things that for me, was very surprising they were able to do it. And it was kind of a foreshadowing in terms of what i do now and where it led me. That fascination for them being able to use their nose is why they are so valuable to us from a military standpoint. I didnt realize that at that age. It was just cool seeing a dog in the dead of winter that could snake back and forth and bury its nose siin the snow to find ketchup package six weeks later. The applications i got involved in later on were more serious than ketchup. I spent time with friends and we would go out and do duck hunting or whatever and i marveled at the dogs ability. Once i graduated high school, i joined the navy out of high school and went to boot camp and then into basic underwater demolition seal training bud. I completed that and went through more specialized training sqt and others and i went to the seal team 3 and i was there for a number of years. While i was there i got into catch dogs with hog hunting dogs. Pit bulls which i talk about in the book. I found myself marveling at the physical characteristics they possessed but now there was natural forwardness and their tenacity and will to win and succeed impressed me. And their ability to take down animals 24 times their size. It was at that point i got into the Animal Husbandry act of dog and paid close attention to nutrition and conditioning from a vet aspect and learned how to patch the dogs up after being injured in hunts. I learned just about every aspect of raising dogs from an Animal Husbandry standpoint the same way a dairy farmer would. And then i got into the genetic breeding and bloodlines and how they affect the different aspects of a Breeding Program and it is important to Pay Attention to inbreeding and out acrossing and getting into the weeds as far as breeding is concerned. After that, i just got more and more involved in terms of every aspect of managing dogs. I had a number of dogs i bred and raised for hunting or working purposes. In iraq there was a detachment that had an explosive detective dog. There was a doorway that wasnt bigger than one person could get through. Their dog was going back and forth and change in the behavior and he was on to his target odor and immediately right inside the doorway he sat down and starred which was the indication that there was explosive odor present. Upon close inspection of the doorway, there was a clump of g grenades attach today a boobytrap inside the doorway. And that was my light switch moment without question in terms of realizing the potential these dogs had and the role they were able to play in augmenting mankind overee overseas and in the field. I was interested from that moment on their work in the military. I found it fitting and powerful that from the earliest recorded times of battle you know there is one constant in terms of what we used to even. We have billions, if not trillions of dollars invested in smart bombs and drones and laser guided everything and night vision and explosives but from the first battle there is one constant and that is canines. Even in egypt they used dogs to augment themselves. It speaks to the truism of mans best friend. They are great pets and companions but save your lives and we depend on them to help keep us safe in a number of capacities. When i was finished with my time at team 3, i moved on to an instructor role. That give me a break in terms of the operational standpoint and i was able to get into dog training as it relates to military work. I trained with organizes and detachments that gave me a wellrounded perspective of what dogs did, how they did it, right ways to train, wrong ways to train, all of the different multitude of ways they are incorporated into military service and the sky is truly the limit mentality in terms of what you can do with these dogs. The only thing limits us as human beings to what we could do with these dogs was ourselves. If we looked it at from a training perspective and put our minds to it there is nothing almost that we could not do with these dogs. It was eye opening; the level of capability and capacity you can get these dogs two. As i was transitioning to get out of the navy is with when the seals team started implementing their own program. It is frustrating from a military standpoint and special operator that dog programs were used before within the special warfare communities in vietnam. Guys were experienced and knew how to train the dog and deployed with them. Vietnam ended and like a lot of expensive programs and man power and resources they are hard to maintain. And when budget cuts come, like they usually do, programs like that are unfortunately one of the first things to go because they are so labor intensive and expensive. So the canine programs left and there wasnt a single special operation that used canines from the ends of vietnam to post911. There was no self sufficient entities in terms of canine programs. They are no different than a police unit, special operation and Military Branch in that it isnt a light switch application that you can turn it off and then get them going again with a flip of a light switch and operate in the same capacity you did before. You cannot dismand special operation after a military conflict is over and ten years later something happens and get the guys back going. It doesnt work that way. After 9 11 hit it it was apparent that with all of the work we were doing in iraq and afghanistan that military working dogs were enormous israel. They started using them with handlers and trying to incorporate them in that capacity but they were limited in terms of the ability and the dogs and operators because military police are not special operations guy so there is a conflict in terms of the level of dynamic nature you can operate. Once each unit figured out they needed their own program, each unit devised their own canine program. Each group has a different enough mission to where each group needs their own program. It is all run inhouse. It isnt part of the mwd program. They are self sufficient and done from the ground up with each perspective unit. It is something that from a big picture standpoint i think it is hard for a lot of people to understand why there is such a difference. But again, it is kind of the nature of the beast in that the level that special operation groups level at dictate that each group has its own program. It was a stumbling process for a number of groups that first because dogs unlike any other tool, and i use the word tool not in a disrespectful manner but they are a remarkable and valuable tool you help use to augment us and stay safe overseas. You have to learn how to use it probably. Dogs, like anything else like night vision or vehicles or whatever platform, are cut and dry. It is a piece of mechanical equipment guys are relatively familiar with from having used similar pieces of equipment. When you get to a dog it is a different animal completely no pun intended. Being able to read a dog and understand what that dog is communicating with and from this body language is something that takes years to develop and enormous amounts of experience from a volume standpoint and a disp disparty from difference dogs because they are all different with genetics, traits and Life Experiences that forage and dictate how they will respond. Until you have experiences all of these different training environments with the dogs it is very difficult to understand what that dog is feeling, thinking and going to respond. The only way you can manage what the dog feels is putting yourself in his shoes and your our body language to communicate back to the dog what is expected of them and that transfers to pet dogs, any type of working dog, zoo animals, you name in. Animals are not verbal so we have to communicate through our body language what we expect of them. You have to reinforce that behavior to get to occur again and it is that simple. But teaching someone that isnt a weekend course or a threeday seminar. It is years of experience. So for every unit it was a lot of Lessons Learned the hard way. Dogs not doing what they need to be doing. Going overseas with them and nem not performing up to par. It was a steep learning curve and handlers and trainers and operators for that matter were drinking from the fire hose as it were in terms of what they were learning. Once the kink and the bugs began to get worked out, there was a very fluid operational capacity the dogs played. Most were overseas and operated with the dogs before they knew what to expect and the dogs had been operating for years and every unit has multiple dog and they are doing a great job whether it is parachute with them and any of the other foment environments is remarkable and speaks to how versitile dogs. I was at a cross road with my life that at the end of 2008 i could stay in the navy and be part of the training or i could separate and start my own company and have dogs, plural, training and supplying different scenario and Training Course for the military and it was it a tough decision for me. From a selfish standpoint what i want to do, i wanted to stay in and be a handler frankly. It was a tough decision of saying instead of being handler i am going to try to make a bigger impact and form a company and provide a multitude of services and obviously that is what i ended up doing. It was important and dear to my heart to make as big of a difference than i could. That is why i went to the seal teams because i wanted to make the largest impact that i could with me personally. I have always taken that train of thought with everything i have done what is going to make the biggest impact . Thus far, it has worked out well but it was a difficult decision to say i am going to forgo what i want do personally and try to make a larger impact and do the greater good for the entire community. I started my own company. We did a lot of government dogs for a whole host of different clites in a number of capacity. Drug dogs for customs or border patrol, Homeland Security for airport stuff, some going to department of defense for militarytype work. And i realized very quickly that again this was something that the level of impact that these dogs can enact and the role they play is much bigger than me or any one person and that is why there are a multitude of people just like me that do the exact same thing. There are a number of vendors and companies that provide similar services. A few years into having my company, we secured the training contract for a special operations unit. Myself and one other employee of mine went out and were trainers for a period of time and for me that was, i would say, the best of everything. I put several years into the dog company and now i was back to where, you know, i owned the company that was providing trainers and dogs and training for, you know, the same group that i grew up in. It is something i will always be very proud of and just tickled to death to have been a part of because it put everything together for me. Once i decided to write the book, i was approached by my publisher to write it and one of the biggest rooreasons was the lack of information or the misinformation that is out there that relates to military dogs. There is a ton of misinformation out there and a lot of american sit citizens have no ideas dogs are used or in the capacity they do. It cant be overstated how important they are. There are tens of thousands of troops that are here today because of dogs like this. It was important, and it still is, that everybody realizes that. It was a tough decision to write the book because of the amount of exposure it gives. Guys like me dont typically want to be in the spotlight and want people know what they have done or are doing. I was at a cross road of do i stay keeping the low profile being the gray man and providing the work or does it make more sense to highlight the dogs and make the entire public understand just how vital they are and how important they are and how lifesaving they are. And again it would have been easier to keep doing what i was doing and none of you would be sitting here and no one would know who i am. But when i look back at postvietnam programs getting turned off, or here in the next year or two when things are wound down to the point of it doesnt make sense to keep the expensive canine programs, i hope and my goal is there is enough interest and passion behind the general public to keep the programs going because they are vital. Once i decided to write the book, i wrote it, and it has been a largey great experience for me in terms of the feedback and emails and messages from people that said i had no idea dogs are used the way they are. And people are just behind it. They are excited about it. And they support it. From the time i started with dogs and started my company and providing all of these dogs from day one it was always on the front side essentially. I put a lot into providing dogs, trainers, services, etc. One thing i realized four years ago was on the back end there wasnt a support structure and in fact there was none as it relates to special operation and working dogs. Once they are done, whether it is combat injuries or stressrelated mental issues or old age like guys me get to a certain age and couldnt do the job and it is time to ride out the pasture and do Something Else and dogs are the same way. And i realized there wasnt a support structure for these guys. A unit approached me said we have two dogs that have been wounded and are both almost nine and it is time to retire. We dont have the capacity to do what we need to do. A lot of people are angered by that and let me clarify one thing you have to realize about any operational unit is that their job is to be ready at the highest level possible and no one wants to know there is not a place for the dogs to go, which there is, but i think a lot of people assume why dont the units take care of them and the reason is that if it detracts from being operationally ready because we are taking care of dogs retired and we cant get the necessary resources to train the new dogs that is a necessarily evil where you have to make choices and put the resources into the operators. They said they needed a place to go and i wasnt setup for that but given the circumstances i will take them. And that was almost four years ago and we have been doing it every since. Our foundation is called the Warrior Dog Foundation and they rehab or rehome or if that is not possible act as a santuary for the dogs to live out in an environment where they can be a dog and are not asked to do anything. Our place is in texas and on 20 acres and surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of pastures and wooded areas where they get to unwind and be dogs whether it is chasing my cows or running through the woods and having a blast or going for rides. Ideally we like to rehabilitate them and rehome them. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes it doesnt. One of the questions i get asked frequently is do dogs get ptsd and the answer is in short, yest fe. It is different in that dogs are simple Association Animals and dont have the ability to reason the way people do. So moreso than ptsd it is a negative association with different types of experiences they have had overseas be it gunfire or helicopters or tanks fire crackers, you name it, there are certain things they have been associated and you see issues and problems with those things. Sometimes it is loading up a dog trailer or going in a crate. Generally speaking the nice thing is you can unwind that process in two simple ways. Number one, you dont ask the dog to do anything. You dont put pressure on him to be obedient or send him to do the complicated maneuver or things he has done in the past and you do the things they like which is throwing balls, taking them for walks, letting them run around without obedience tasks being given to them. That is first and foremost. Once you let them be a dog and unwind you find out what the negative association is and very slowly bridge that gap in saying the dog is we will use gunfire. Gunfire elicits a default to aggression and he is biting anyone he can when he hears that. We will desenatize him to gunfire 2, 000 yards while playing ball and then 1500 and then 500 and once you get enough positive association with the things that were negative you can unwind and untrain those negative reinforcers with that dog. So while some of them may not