When fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, sometimes all that stands between the troops and death is a dog. With two diggers killed on Friday and another two injured over the weekend from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), handlers like Aussie father-of-five Shane Bryant and his German shepherd Ricky can make a difference by sifting through the sand for bombs.
War Dogs is Shane's story and here are 10 days he won't forget:
1. First day on the job clearing mines and cleaning undies
"F*** boy, I hope we don't miss anything" is the ultimate understatement as Shane's dips his wick as a hired explosive detection dog handler for the Yanks. First cab off the rank is clearing a dirt road for a 12-truck convoy after a Ruskie-made anti-tank mine was found. Everyone came out alive — a good day for all.
2. Which one is the Taliban?
In a near-fatal mash-up, Shane and his Yank com-padre fire up against the baddies. A rocket-propelled grenade is aimed their way and lands closer than a federal election scorecard. Just as they are about to start World War III on some Afghani tail moving in front of them, they realise the would-be targets are friendlies. Shane breathes a sigh of relief in this near-fatal game of Where's Wally?
3. Dog's best friend gets a bullet in the eye
The US is supposed to be teaching the locals how to fight the Taliban but it doesn't always work that way. During one dusty operation Ricky's new mate, a US military adviser, is shot in the face. Still crouched in a shooting position, his frozen body is left by the locals after a skirmish in a local village. The Yanks' motto is that no solider will be left behind and the Utah dad's corpse is dragged out past Shane and Ricky who he loved.
4. Crap hits the fan during a Taliban ambush
Providing cover fire from the back of a gunner's truck may sound like a blast but not when you don't get to go home at the end of it. Shane sees his dog's eyes flitting from side to side (and he ain't watching Wimbledon). It dawns on him that Ricky is watching bullets zing past their head and he better get his noggin down.
5. Dog-eat-dog world as Shane gets bailed up by a psycho dog
Not all dogs are equal as Shane finds out when he's left with Nero, a "fear biter", by a fellow handler. Unprovoked, the attack dog goes mental and Shane is lucky to get out of the room with his khaki arse intact.
6. Not waving, drowning as Ricky sinks like a Russian sub
On foot patrol with the Yanks, his hairy friend goes under while crossing a river. Losing his footing, Ricky panics and goes down "like a crocodile drowning its prey". Shane drags him to the shore and it takes more than a packet of Snackos to save his best mate.
7. Firing at the Taliban with an anti-tank weapon is a rush
Shane finds himself in the thick of it but this is no game of paintball — firing his M240 machine gun with mortars and bullets landing all around him. Best bit is when he's handed an anti-tank weapon to fire back at the Taliban. Shane thinks he's going to get shot, but is having the time of his life.
8. Stopping a nut-job from setting himself alight
When Shane was a copper he had to stop a crazy guy, who had doused himself in petrol, from setting fire to himself. This nutter put down his packet of Redheads, but Shane won't be inviting him to a barbecue anytime soon.
9. Wake up and smell the mortar fire
Shane and Ricky are searching the roadside for mines as mortars start falling around them. Numb to the realities of combat, the dynamic duo just keep sniffing and it's only when he sees the Afghan's soiling their MC Hammer pants that he realises he better get the hell out of there.
10. A suicide bomber who goes out with a bang
Even a desk job can be fatal in this hellhole when he misses being caught up in a huge car bombing by a few minutes at the gate of a supposed secure base in Kabul. Sitting on the couch back home with the missus and enduring Todd McKenney on
Dancing with the Stars never looked so good.
Michael Williams
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War Dogs, written by Shane Bryant with Tony Park. Published by Pan Macmillan Australia, it's on sale now at leading bookstores.
Do you think the Australian army should use more dogs in warfare? Leave your comment below.
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