Scary, Scary, Scary

At this point in what would be a twenty-five year career I tasted fear. I was terrified that I would be asked to do a real search during a real bomb threat. I was plagued by the thought that I would do a search, miss something and someone would be hurt or, heaven forfend, killed.  I did not know just how intense this feeling could get at this time in my life or I may not have gone forward.  I was afraid but found that the fear did not stop me from doing my duty.

Over the years, many have commented on the ability to go into a place no sane person wants to go.  Bombs scare people, a lot. Everybody is afraid of a bomb, duh! So, when you arrive with your dog at a bomb threat and you see that everyone with half a brain is 300 feet from the area of threat, and I mean everybody, you begin to know what lonely means.  Those in charge look at you with solemn eyes and wish you good luck.  They often tell you to "let them know what you find"...? I was pretty sure that they would know if I found anything.  I fully intended to tell them what I found, loudly and hopefully without wetting myself.

There were instances where a police officer or other official accompanied me into a high risk search.  I will write about these experiences later.  For now it is sufficient to say that I learned to cope with my feelings.  I also developed a taste for the adrenalin rush that was always a part of a high risk bomb threat.  It was interesting to find out that coming off an adrenalin high isn't nearly as cool as the high itself. Continued training, (and training NEVER stops), provided a sense of confidence that served to mitigate the dread that often accompanied a deployment.

I have used the term "high risk threat".  There are several different kinds of bomb sweeps. High risk threats involve a threat, usually spoken as on a phone, or written, that, when analyzed by professionals, is deemed "viable". To me this was a very scary word.  Some threats are less viable and some bomb sweeps are preventative.  The fact is, most of the thousands of K-9 bomb sweeps I have performed fall in the latter class.  These bring there own anxiety.  They are often mundane, involving the search of the same areas over and over.  My nightmares often involved situations like this where something is missed in a routine search...and people die.

When my daughter was little her teachers often didn't believe her when she said her dad looked for bombs.  That he was a "bomb dog guy".  When they found it was the truth (what five year old is going to make that up?) they would invariably say something like, That is terrifying, Who does that, That would be too scary for me!, and, Is he insane!? The answers to these are: Yep, Me, I'm glad you don't have to,  and Maybe, a little.

Bomb Dog Handler...scary, scary, scary, and fun.