DOGGIE STORY

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12/23/2001 - Updated 11:49 PM ET U.S. troops adopt morale-boosting mascots

By Kirk Spitzer, USA TODAY

John, a private first class from Long Island, N.Y., holds Petey at Bagram Air Base. BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — In the battle against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network, the U.S. Army has two secret weapons: Tiger and Petey.

The two gray puppies with black snouts and short, wagging tails were found hiding in bushes near a guard post here a few weeks ago. They have since become unofficial base mascots, playing with guards, napping in the sun, getting fat on rations.

"Oh, yeah. Everybody knows those dogs. They practically own this base," says Col. Rob Kissel, who commands U.S. forces at the base, about 30 miles north of Kabul.

For the record, Army regulations generally forbid soldiers from making pets of stray animals found during deployments. But the soldiers who first coaxed the pair from the bushes insist they are guard dogs, not pets, and immune from narrow interpretations of Army conventions. "Sure, they're guards. They're very alert. They bark at strangers and people they don't recognize," says John, 20, a private first class from Long Island, N.Y.

"They're very tactical. They'll growl," agrees a fellow soldier, John, 25, a private first class from Ellijay, Ga. Because of security concerns, the Pentagon asks that most U.S. soldiers not be fully identified.

John from Long Island says they first noticed the puppies hiding near their guard post shortly after arriving at Bagram around Thanksgiving. He says the puppies appeared to be only a few weeks old.

Eventually, the soldiers coaxed the pair from hiding places with leftovers from their MREs — Army field rations. Tiger seems to like "Beef with Mushrooms" best, but both will eat just about anything.

Land mines, which before the arrival of U.S. forces were strewn throughout the base, are less of a threat to the puppies — and the soldiers — these days. The area where the guards and the dogs spend their time has been cleared.

John from Long Island doesn't want to think about what will happen when he has to go home. "It'll be really hard. I got really attached to them," he says.

But Kissel guesses it might not be so hard after all. Regulations generally forbid soldiers from taking home pets they were not supposed to have in the first place.

But "I imagine that when it's time to go home, one or two rucksacks will have a little something extra in them," Kissel says.

-- Anonymous, December 25, 2001


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