MWD retires after seven years dedicated service

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Military Working Dog Zulton, badge number M766, 100th Security Forces Squadron, hung up his leash at a retirement ceremony Aug. 29, 2014, when he retired after seven years and four months serving in the U.S. Air Force.

The 100th SFS held the ceremony at the base theater and Zulton sat at his former handler's feet while Debbie Black, 100th SFS MWD kennel attendant from Chippenham, near Newmarket, read a poem, "The Creation of Man's Best Friend." Maj. Jeffrey Adams, 100th SFS commander, then presented certificates to Zulton, including a certificate of appreciation signed by President Barack Obama.

After starting his career at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in 2007, Zulton graduated from the Department of Defense Dog Training School and has been assigned to RAF Mildenhall from April 27, 2009, until he officially served his last day July 9, 2014.

The K-9 amassed 6,500 working hours and 1,900 hours of explosive detection search time. Additionally, he aided the Department of Homeland Security on six separate occasions to the United Kingdom in support of the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, the Ambassador of the United States of America to the United Kingdom and the Director of Homeland Security.

Zulton also built relationships with British forces when he performed augmentation detection dog utilization for the RAF Regiment at Stanford Training Area, Norfolk, during host nation pre-deployment training.

The MWD's final handler, Staff Sgt. Barret Chappelle, 100th SFS MWD trainer from Layfayette, Louisiana, adopted Zulton. The pair worked together from April 2012 to November 2013.

"He was one of the best detection dogs we had here," said Chappelle. "Zulton was always focused on me - all he wants to do is please his handler. That's all he lived for. I have him at home now; anywhere I walk in my house, if I look down, he's standing right next to me, like we were still at work. (Recently), I went to take off my shoes and I leaned against the wall; he thought I was presenting the wall, and he started sniffing and hupping (jumping up).

"When I first brought him home, he searched the entire place for explosives," laughed the handler, now K-9 trainer. "But he soon figured out there was nothing there. While most dogs sniff around out of curiosity, Zulton worked in a pattern like he'd been taught."

The MWD retired on medical grounds, after veterinarians discovered he had two compressed discs in his back. Base operations require vehicle searches which require the dog to "hup up."

"He would hup up and was still committed to odor for a while, but the pain finally overtook his commitment," Chappelle explained. "He would hup up to show it was there, then come back down to the ground and walk away. That was when we decided to retire him."

Since finishing work in July, Zulton has continued to undergo medical problems and for a while Chappelle feared the worst for his new family member when the MWD recently had to have surgery on his intestines.

The 100th SFS Airman said he received a lot of support from friends and family. At one point, he didn't even know if Zulton was going to live. Chappelle said he brought Zulton home, and would just stare at him for hours at a time.

"I was watching a movie when my friend was over and Zulton was sleeping, but he was panting really hard in his sleep, like he had a fever. I checked his temperature and it was 2 degrees over but he was just sleeping. I just had to convince myself this was his body healing, that he was fighting off something. But I almost broke down in tears - I thought my dog was going to just die on my couch. I didn't know what was going on," the MWD trainer said.

"But he's great now; he's fine and running around like a champ," Chappelle said fondly of his new family member.

Zulton is now enjoying retired life with Chappelle and his wife Ana, and their other dog, Millie.