Why Did the US Choose the Belgian Malinois?
The United States wasn’t always so specific on breed when it came time to send dogs to war. During World War II, Americans were encouraged to donate their dogs to the army, resulting in 125,000 family pets being shipped to the front lines in Europe and the Pacific. Many of the untrained animals were killed, injured, or traumatized. In the wake of that conflict, the U.S. military decided that the next time it sent dogs into battle, they’d be as trained and disciplined as their human comrades.
Over the last 50 years, the Army has relied on various working breeds for different jobs. Labrador Retrievers are used as bomb-sniffers. German and Dutch Shepherds have a balance of traits that makes them good MPCs (Multi-Purpose Canines). Many breeds now serve as service animals for veterans with physical injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Human soldiers bring a Belgian Malinois along when they need raw fighting ability they can target and unleash at will. Sometimes called “fur missiles,” these dogs are renowned for their speed, endurance, and willingness to go for the takedown. A Malinois can bite down on a suspect with 70 pounds of force, making escape virtually impossible.
They’re also great at scent tracking. When Delta Force was tracking down Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, they had a spy steal a pair of his underwear so a Malinois could follow his scent.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about military “Maligators” is their ability to work independently. A Malinois can be dropped onto a landing site, scout for safe routes, and mark the sites of explosives without getting itself blown up, all while transmitting that information back to its handler. On many operations, they’re nothing short of superhuman.
Training a Belgian Malinois for war is an arduous process, designed to weed out any dogs who can’t stand up to the pressures of combat. The military would rather have an understaffed K-9 unit than send a dog into pressure it can’t handle.
The first step in training a canine Navy SEAL is to remove it from its mother as soon as it can survive on its own. This encourages it to think of its human handlers as its parents. Three days after birth, trainers begin testing the puppy with unpleasant sounds and sensations, such as recordings of gunfire or pressing its toes with cotton swabs.
If the Malinois puppy makes it through four weeks of this without proving itself too skittish, its handlers start teaching it how to swim. The key to this phase is whether the Malinois panics when it can no longer see land. If its handlers are able to calm it down, they’ll continue training it for seaborne missions.
Shockingly, 99 out of 100 Belgian Malinois selected for SEAL training will not reach the end. The military adopts these dogs out to volunteer families. If you’re interested in giving a good home to a failed or retired military dog, check out the next section.
The select few who advance to higher levels run obstacle courses, practice combat skills, and work to form an unbreakable bond with their handlers. By the end, a trained Malinois can sit calmly while a gun fires off live ammo inches from its face. The handlers spend a lot of time wearing bite-proof suits to teach the Maligators how to use their powerful jaws without fear. They’re also taught to parachute out of helicopters, at first by being dangled from the chopper in midair.
Between missions, an active-duty Belgian Malinois regularly runs combat simulations with its handler in order to keep its skills fresh.
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The Belgian Malinois is one of the most loyal, hardworking breeds there is. They’re often confused with German Shepherd Dogs, which are bigger and heavier boned than the Malinois. Malinois also have their own unique work ethic, and they excel at a wide variety of tasks. Here are more interesting Belgian Malinois facts:
Over their years of service, a multipurpose canine will conduct dozens of combat missions over multiple deployments, most of which the public will never hear about.
One of these missions resulted in the death of Maiko, a multi-purpose canine with the Armys 75th Ranger Regiment. Leading the way into a secure compound in Afghanistan in November 2018, Maiko caused the Al Qaeda fighters to open fire, giving away their position, allowing the Rangers to eliminate the threat without injury.