After a decade in the Navy, Robert Muccino now works with military working dogs with the Mayport base police.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — They are man’s best friend and for some members of the military, they can also be man’s best asset.
In this week’s Stories of Service, we meet a man who works with the furriest members of Naval Station Mayport: military working dogs.
A typical day for Mayport base police Lieutenant Robert Muccino is anything but typical for most people in the military, and that’s because of his partner.
“Because they don’t understand English, it’s all about noises and volumes and voice affliction,” said Muccino. “And different types of markers and bridges is what we call it.”
Muccino was a Master at Arms K9 handler at the end of his 10 years of service in the Navy. It’s a duty he’s thrilled to have again now that he’s transitioned to the civilian world because of the impact he can make on his colleagues: the dogs.
“You make these small little plans and over a month and a year, the dogs develop into machines,” said Muccino. “They’re great partners to be with, they’re tools and weapons out there for us to utilize when we’re patrolling the area.”
And that’s an area that requires multiple types of dogs.
“Our primary dogs are bomb and drugs, and then they have a patrol asset, which we call controlled aggression,” said Muccino.
Hours and hours of training every single day helps Muccino mold the dogs into what the Navy needs them to be.
“What’s great about the dynamic of our dog teams is they’re ready for deployment as well, and situationally for whatever deployment they may go on,” said Muccino. “Those deployments could include the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean or even a tunnel at Mayport.”
Muccino told First Coast News he thinks labradors make for the best military working dogs because they listen well and they want to please their handler, but he admits that they’re not the fiercest of dogs.
If you have a Story of Service that you would like us to profile, send an email to storiesofservice@firstcoastnews.com.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
