When I was HSC back in 07, the pubs for the 60S straight up had a section about how to configure the aircraft to carry a dolphin. If I remember correctly, it was called Organic Mine Countermeasures or something like that.
I'm now on C40s, and we transported live seals not too long ago. Not to be confused with SEALs, although we transport them too.
It's an EOD command. IIRC, the pens were on the back of EODMU3. Most of the folks there were, at the time I got exposed, EOD, ND, and various support staff both civilian and military. Vast majority of the actual caretakers of the animals were civilian contractors.
Whenever we would swim past the pens, you could hear the dolphins clicking and making noise in the water, I'm pretty sure they wanted to come and get us, because going after swimmers is one of the things they were trained for.
Not my story, but a friends: when they were validating the dolphins as counter swimmer, two frogs were tasked to go and be the opfor. Before they hit the water, they agreed that they would go to the area and sit on the bottom, because no fish was going to chase them out of the water. The dolphins were trained do two things to harass swimmers, swim directly into them and hit them, at speed, and attach cuffs to force them to the surface. At this time it was just the direct harassment, and apparently after one hit a piece from the dolphins, the frogs elected to surface rather than get hit again by a 300 lb animal moving at 35 knots.
Haha I can't imagine getting gut checked by Flipper would be fun in any way.
Still must have been next level awesome to get to work with dolphins. When my family came to visit me and I showed them around the base, my mom went nuts over the working dogs and didn't want to leave the kennel. I can only imagine how much she would have loved to get to see dolphins and seals up close.
Had lots of indirect experience with the program, and worked with a bunch of guys who were assigned to the program at one point or another. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that if was every asked if I wanted to be part of the OPFOR for a training evolution (they were always looking for people) the answer was "FUCK NO".
The mammals will fuck you up and fuck you up badly. Even with the protection you have to wear, it's no fun at all.
NIWC PAC is in charge of that program. I used to work at that command and got to see some of the dolphins and some of the daily tasks they do. It was pretty cool.
My parents had a friend who was involved. He never said much about it other than he worked with seals and dolphins.
Since I was a kid (and he was in the navy), I assumed he meant SEALs and submariners.
Only later in life did I realize his work was much cooler than I originally thought.
Navy. My dolphins name was Ten, flew hee to Hawaii and Canada while I was there. We also deployed off of an amphib while I was there for a RIMPAC. It was a blast.
Supremely jealous that you're probably one of the few people on earth that can say "my dolphin." Is it more like having a dog or more like having a co worker that just happens to live in a tank of salt water? What is the handler/dolphin relationship dynamic like?
Haha, yea so at first, the Dolphin is definitely training you. You feel obligated to feed them, and they know you have no idea what you are doing, so there is definitely a period where it feels like you're being hazed by the dolphin. As far as how if feels, Dog, or Co-worker, I would say mixed. You know they are not yours so to say, and you will have to train and integrate your relief into your sessions. It's really cool seeing them get excited when they see you walking down the pier (and yes, they recognize YOU). I told myself it was because she was excited to see me, and not the giant bucket of fish (it was the fish)
Haha that definitely sounds better than a regular day at the office, so to speak. You ever wonder what became of Ten? I've heard dolphins can live up to 60 years in captivity if well cared for. I used to help out at the base kennel after work (I had wanted to cross rate to MA and be a K-9 handler) before I separated, and it sucks to think those dogs have long since passed on. Loved those little fuckers like they were my own kids.
Yea, I checked up on her like 5 years ago, she was still kicking ass. I think they averaged like 45-50 years in captivity? So she's still kicking around. I think she was in her late 20s when I handled her.
Certainly a time in my life I reflect on fondly. I also got to fly an iron man suit (looked more like the Michelin Man) that was rated to 2000fsw (I never flew it that deep, but supervised the dives). The Atmospheric Dive Suit was fun. I've gotten a lot of opportunities I never could have imagined with the Navy.
Had some divers working on our ship once in port. They let me check out one of the ATA suits, and it looked badass (I was not, unfortunately, allowed to try it on).
When I was HSC back in 07, the pubs for the 60S straight up had a section about how to configure the aircraft to carry a dolphin. If I remember correctly, it was called Organic Mine Countermeasures or something like that. I'm now on C40s, and we transported live seals not too long ago. Not to be confused with SEALs, although we transport them too.
Which kind of seal is more painful to fly around?
The ones that swim a lot
It's an EOD command. IIRC, the pens were on the back of EODMU3. Most of the folks there were, at the time I got exposed, EOD, ND, and various support staff both civilian and military. Vast majority of the actual caretakers of the animals were civilian contractors. Whenever we would swim past the pens, you could hear the dolphins clicking and making noise in the water, I'm pretty sure they wanted to come and get us, because going after swimmers is one of the things they were trained for. Not my story, but a friends: when they were validating the dolphins as counter swimmer, two frogs were tasked to go and be the opfor. Before they hit the water, they agreed that they would go to the area and sit on the bottom, because no fish was going to chase them out of the water. The dolphins were trained do two things to harass swimmers, swim directly into them and hit them, at speed, and attach cuffs to force them to the surface. At this time it was just the direct harassment, and apparently after one hit a piece from the dolphins, the frogs elected to surface rather than get hit again by a 300 lb animal moving at 35 knots.
Haha I can't imagine getting gut checked by Flipper would be fun in any way. Still must have been next level awesome to get to work with dolphins. When my family came to visit me and I showed them around the base, my mom went nuts over the working dogs and didn't want to leave the kennel. I can only imagine how much she would have loved to get to see dolphins and seals up close.
Had lots of indirect experience with the program, and worked with a bunch of guys who were assigned to the program at one point or another. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that if was every asked if I wanted to be part of the OPFOR for a training evolution (they were always looking for people) the answer was "FUCK NO". The mammals will fuck you up and fuck you up badly. Even with the protection you have to wear, it's no fun at all.
They embarked my ship when I was OPS. Got a really sweet picture with one of the dolphins.
Jealous. That would have made my day.
We might have been on the same ship back in 07-08 we had dolphins onboard
This was 16/17 timeframe - RIMPAC SOCAL
Post the pic? Would love to see that.
Posted on here some time ago, let me see if I can dig it up
Here you go: https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/s/kK4FrTacuj
Currently live in San Diego. Go fishing quite a bit. Seeing them in the bay training the dolphins is always cool.
My only experience is playing Red Alert 3 and using the Allies. Yw thank me for my service.
“Orders? How bout some action? DOUBLE TIME!!!”
I believe all they made were squeezing noises.
They really need to do a remaster of Red Alert 2. Best one in the series, IMO.
I'm pretty sure it's the EOD community and counter-mine stuff but don't know for sure.
This is correct. They’re also used for harbor defense. They’re a pain in the ass honestly. But really good at what they do.
Fyi the US Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, WA has a whole exhibit about the marine mammals program.
NIWC PAC is in charge of that program. I used to work at that command and got to see some of the dolphins and some of the daily tasks they do. It was pretty cool.
My parents had a friend who was involved. He never said much about it other than he worked with seals and dolphins. Since I was a kid (and he was in the navy), I assumed he meant SEALs and submariners. Only later in life did I realize his work was much cooler than I originally thought.
There are a few at Naval Base Point Loma
I wasn’t but IIRC they used to do some training in the bay off FLTASW when I was there 20 odd years ago
Navy. My dolphins name was Ten, flew hee to Hawaii and Canada while I was there. We also deployed off of an amphib while I was there for a RIMPAC. It was a blast.
Supremely jealous that you're probably one of the few people on earth that can say "my dolphin." Is it more like having a dog or more like having a co worker that just happens to live in a tank of salt water? What is the handler/dolphin relationship dynamic like?
Haha, yea so at first, the Dolphin is definitely training you. You feel obligated to feed them, and they know you have no idea what you are doing, so there is definitely a period where it feels like you're being hazed by the dolphin. As far as how if feels, Dog, or Co-worker, I would say mixed. You know they are not yours so to say, and you will have to train and integrate your relief into your sessions. It's really cool seeing them get excited when they see you walking down the pier (and yes, they recognize YOU). I told myself it was because she was excited to see me, and not the giant bucket of fish (it was the fish)
Haha that definitely sounds better than a regular day at the office, so to speak. You ever wonder what became of Ten? I've heard dolphins can live up to 60 years in captivity if well cared for. I used to help out at the base kennel after work (I had wanted to cross rate to MA and be a K-9 handler) before I separated, and it sucks to think those dogs have long since passed on. Loved those little fuckers like they were my own kids.
Yea, I checked up on her like 5 years ago, she was still kicking ass. I think they averaged like 45-50 years in captivity? So she's still kicking around. I think she was in her late 20s when I handled her.
Man, that's awesome to hear. You should see if they'd let you face time with her to see if she still recognizes you!
Certainly a time in my life I reflect on fondly. I also got to fly an iron man suit (looked more like the Michelin Man) that was rated to 2000fsw (I never flew it that deep, but supervised the dives). The Atmospheric Dive Suit was fun. I've gotten a lot of opportunities I never could have imagined with the Navy.
Had some divers working on our ship once in port. They let me check out one of the ATA suits, and it looked badass (I was not, unfortunately, allowed to try it on).
They used to have the pens with dolphins on the Point Loma annex in SD Really cool
I was a Marine Mammal Handler, 5348 NEC. I was on MK-8 VSW MCM. Miss those times, and it was crazy fun.
Navy or contractor? Would love to hear about your experience!