A soldier's farewell; Military Police dog on fort remembered for his service

Herald/Review

FORT HUACHUCA - He had a short life, taking his first breath on Oct. 21, 2000, and his last on April 9 of this year.

He was a GI, in the real sense of being government issued.

But to the men and women of the 18th Military Police Detachment, Pike was like them a soldier - a four-footed soldier.

Alexander Pope once wrote, "His faithful dog shall bear him company."

To Staff Sgt. Clint Butler and Pfc. Matthew Shifflet, Pike was that faithful dog who accompanied them.

Butler was the animal's original handler on the post after Pike arrived from his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where all the armed services military working dogs first go.

Pike's specialties were performing duties as an explosive sniffing animal and patrolling.

Butler described the Belgian Malinois as excitable and always ready to work but who also enjoyed playing.

"To us, he was a member of the military police detachment," Butler said.

Shifflet, like Pike, was new to the Army. When he arrived on the post, the dog became his to handle.

The two-legged and four-legged partners had only been working together for a short time.

"You bond," Shifflet said, adding that making a connection with Pike was easy.

Although Shifflet could not take Pike home because he has two mutts and a German shepherd puppy, the soldier said the time he spent with his official dog was always quality time.

"He was motivated," Shifflet said.

A military working dog can be trained to do many missions, but the key thing is that the dog protects its handler's life, the soldier said.

"He had an internal switch that he could turn on and off, going from work to play and back," he said.

Pike died on an operating table during an attempt to repair a ruptured bladder, Shifflet said.

Capt. Gordon Heap, the detachment's commander, said the men and the women of the unit grieve for Pike, for like them, he was a soldier.

During the ceremony, which included a volley of rifle fire, the playing of taps, the folding of an American flag and the burial of Pike's cremains, soldiers could be heard crying and seen wiping tears away from their eyes.

Pike's final resting place is just behind the facility where he and other military working dogs were kept and trained.

Other animals from the unit also have been laid to rest near Pike's grave site. Right next to Pike's place is King, Grizzly and Prince.

SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.