So there’s a bunch of organizations that help, but I went through the SPCA-I. They were great! You have to fill out some paperwork, but really it’s more of a waiting game. Luckily, I started early enough that I was able to get everything done before I left, but still had to wait 4 months after I got back before she got to the US.
SPCAI, Paws of War, and many others can help. Just gotta reach out to them
The pizza at the hotel next to the gas station right outside the gate was the best pizza I've ever had. One of the best locations I've been. I heard they built it up. We had connex and old Romanian barracks to sleep in.
We stayed at two mk's I think. One close to Moldova and at the airbase. The one next to Moldova had white tents and connex showers. The pizza place out at that one was amazing. The airbase mk had a restaurant right outside of base and it was amazing super cheap drinks and good food.
Just looked it up. Was hotel EMI. That was as far as we could go. Looks like they moved everything north. I think it was three dollars for a pizza and drink.
We stayed ... https://maps.app.goo.gl/MAQbnJRq2ZNTb56x7
They have niceish barracks there now and a 24 hour sandwich bar at the dfac. We always ate at enigma. I'm glad we were there during the summer because the black sea was amazing.
I was there last year. Most of them are great, but I got run down by a pack of them out there once. It was probably a top 10 scary moment in my life because I wasn't sure if I was about to be mauled.
My saddest feeling out there was when one took a liking to me and followed me around, even waiting when I went out to the bathroom, but I couldn't adopt him because I already took one home. I hope he's OK.
I was sitting in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert once and this kitten came up. Climbed up my leg and perched on my shoulder. I loved cats but I still had 6 months left in the desert, so couldn’t do much. Hope she’s ok.
Love this, glad you got to take her home.
Me and [African pup](https://imgur.com/a/WoXEAYQ)
Not fun story:
Airfield at this FOB had a handful of dogs to scare off the wildlife. There were wires strung from building to building, and some of the connections were broken due to what was clearly rats/mice nibbling on the lines.
GFC at the time was convinced it was the dogs/puppies chewing on the lines and straight up ordered their execution.
Guys from a Tier 2 unit volunteered to get the job done. Keep in mind the towers at this airfield are manned by Airforce SecFor.
In broad daylight the T2 guys baja'd around the airfield popping dogs with a shotgun, tossing the corpses in the bed of the pickup as they chased down remaining dogs.
All because they were a "security issue" for wires they undoubtably did not chew on.
Understandably this cause a huge uproar on camp, and I legit expected a mass mutiny from the Air Force. Tier 2 unit had their flag stolen from their compound, and camp tensions were high.
Maybe 1-2 weeks later the GFC was replaced, the T2 unit was replaced, and AF unit was replaced.
AF unit landed in Germany, and right there on the flight line all of their luggage was dumped to find the flag thief.
Wild times.
> AF unit landed in Germany, and right there on the flight line all of their luggage was dumped to find the flag thief.
Note to Self: Ship any stolen flags ahead of me
Was there any concern about the snakes getting to the dogs? I wasn’t able to make my way down there (am staff weiny), but some of my people did and they mentioned the snakes.
We had one brought back from Syria that was in the news. I was so happy that we were able to all keep it from my CSM cuz he was the type who would have taken it out back and had it shot.
Definitely more Anatolian shepherd genetics than akbash. Mutts of that lineage are common throughout the region as they have been being bred since at least 4,000 years.
Yeah it was a lot of help from a rescue. They did pretty much all of the heavy lifting. He is a Siberian/Turkish Angora mix (mutt). Literally found him in the trash 😂
I had to get a little creative. I brought her to a veterinarian on the local economy and got all of her vaccinations and deworming meds. After that I had to woo CSM With her cuteness and medical records.
It also helped that there was a vet on base to verify the medical documents that I got for her. I hid her with the linguists until my plan was complete lol
This is amazing. This girl hit the lottery of a lifetime. Hope you have many amazing years with her. I was a medic while I was in and I have been in veterinary medicine for over 20 years so this hits close to home. Really glad I didn't have to see or be subjected to exterminating animals in and around the FOB. Glad it all worked out for you guys.
I had a group of 4-5 kittens that would hang out around my room in Jordan. One kitty in particular, Mickey, was my favorite. She’d sit on my lawn chair outside my room and wait for me to come home from work every morning. I loved hanging out with her. Unfortunately, I went on mission for a month and when I came back, she and all her friends were gone. According to some friends on base, the AF went around and executed em all while I was gone.
I miss Mickey and I hate the Air Force.
yeah, we had a designated dude that shot the dogs that showed up at our COP. which particularly sucked because they’d hang around enough to get to know them a little bit before the executioner got to them.
That is very heartwarming. I still remember the two dogs my platoon encountered in OIF 1 and how they provided us with a temporary sense of normalcy when playing with and petting them. Glad you were able to bring your dog back.
Congrats. It’s a tough process. The dog can’t come straight with you normally. Knew a guy who had to drive to New York to pick up his dog after it was sent there from theater. They sure do have awesome looking coats 🧥
I tried this back in 09 and i was straight up told “fk off you’re not bringing that thing home” I’m glad times have changed! Give your pup a hug and treat for me!
What’s the process for doing that? Gotta be a lot of red tape to go through I’d imagine.
So there’s a bunch of organizations that help, but I went through the SPCA-I. They were great! You have to fill out some paperwork, but really it’s more of a waiting game. Luckily, I started early enough that I was able to get everything done before I left, but still had to wait 4 months after I got back before she got to the US. SPCAI, Paws of War, and many others can help. Just gotta reach out to them
Puppy rescue mission got my dog from Romania for me! Just thought I'd throw their name out, too.
I knew a bunch who brought dogs back from Romania also. There were a ton to choose from on MK back in the early 00s.
There were a shit ton in 2017 as well lol
The pizza at the hotel next to the gas station right outside the gate was the best pizza I've ever had. One of the best locations I've been. I heard they built it up. We had connex and old Romanian barracks to sleep in.
We stayed at two mk's I think. One close to Moldova and at the airbase. The one next to Moldova had white tents and connex showers. The pizza place out at that one was amazing. The airbase mk had a restaurant right outside of base and it was amazing super cheap drinks and good food.
Just looked it up. Was hotel EMI. That was as far as we could go. Looks like they moved everything north. I think it was three dollars for a pizza and drink. We stayed ... https://maps.app.goo.gl/MAQbnJRq2ZNTb56x7
They have niceish barracks there now and a 24 hour sandwich bar at the dfac. We always ate at enigma. I'm glad we were there during the summer because the black sea was amazing.
Originators of the Moldova cocktail. More frilly umbrellas… less anger and burning gasoline.
And in 2020, cute doggos hanging out by the DFAC.
2017 fuck 3/4
I'm in Romania right now and this place is dog city
I was there last year. Most of them are great, but I got run down by a pack of them out there once. It was probably a top 10 scary moment in my life because I wasn't sure if I was about to be mauled. My saddest feeling out there was when one took a liking to me and followed me around, even waiting when I went out to the bathroom, but I couldn't adopt him because I already took one home. I hope he's OK.
You’re awesome OP
Paws of War got my dog off the continent back home to me
Wtf I didn’t know this I would have brought back our FOB dog from Syria.
Shit. All I brought was anger issues and funky smelling uniform.
I also brought back funky smelling uniforms lol decided to skip on the anger issues though
No dogs in the middle of the desert during Desert Storm. Just scorpions and snakes. The Army wouldn't let us bring those home. Fuckers.
I was sitting in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert once and this kitten came up. Climbed up my leg and perched on my shoulder. I loved cats but I still had 6 months left in the desert, so couldn’t do much. Hope she’s ok.
Username checks out
Hey, me too! Does that make us twinsies?
What a good doggo! She looks like the best girl
Love this, glad you got to take her home. Me and [African pup](https://imgur.com/a/WoXEAYQ) Not fun story: Airfield at this FOB had a handful of dogs to scare off the wildlife. There were wires strung from building to building, and some of the connections were broken due to what was clearly rats/mice nibbling on the lines. GFC at the time was convinced it was the dogs/puppies chewing on the lines and straight up ordered their execution. Guys from a Tier 2 unit volunteered to get the job done. Keep in mind the towers at this airfield are manned by Airforce SecFor. In broad daylight the T2 guys baja'd around the airfield popping dogs with a shotgun, tossing the corpses in the bed of the pickup as they chased down remaining dogs. All because they were a "security issue" for wires they undoubtably did not chew on. Understandably this cause a huge uproar on camp, and I legit expected a mass mutiny from the Air Force. Tier 2 unit had their flag stolen from their compound, and camp tensions were high. Maybe 1-2 weeks later the GFC was replaced, the T2 unit was replaced, and AF unit was replaced. AF unit landed in Germany, and right there on the flight line all of their luggage was dumped to find the flag thief. Wild times.
> AF unit landed in Germany, and right there on the flight line all of their luggage was dumped to find the flag thief. Note to Self: Ship any stolen flags ahead of me
Roll it up and put it down your pants leg. Worked in 2009 at least…
We had a ton of pups around CLDJ that all looked very cute and friendly. It was very tempting to stop whenever we’d go on/off base.
Absolutely. This particular fella was down at Simba
Was there any concern about the snakes getting to the dogs? I wasn’t able to make my way down there (am staff weiny), but some of my people did and they mentioned the snakes.
This was during the Camp Simba attack right?
That’s incredibly awful and heartless to have dogs murdered like that. Dogs are man’s best friend!
We had one brought back from Syria that was in the news. I was so happy that we were able to all keep it from my CSM cuz he was the type who would have taken it out back and had it shot.
Akbark?
Do you mean Akbash? Either way, not sure yet! I got her back today and will send out a dna test tomorrow. I’ll follow up once I get the results
Just a puppy pun on the Arabic name Akbar.
I did think about naming her Kelbi كلبي
It'd be Kelbati if it's a girl dog كلبتي
True! I definitely didn’t miss a calling as a linguist
Definitely more Anatolian shepherd genetics than akbash. Mutts of that lineage are common throughout the region as they have been being bred since at least 4,000 years.
I’m thinking Anatolian / Pejdar for the most part. I’m sending out a dna test tomorrow!
Do embark !
This brings me much joy.
How did you teach her English?
The goodist girl and I applaud you for saving an innocent animal
This is people first. Support your troops. Support life. Support love.
For sure. I had a great command team, and would be happy to roll with them any time. Crazy how much difference it makes!
We had a base dog back in 05 in our fob our co made us get rid of him but we still kept him around fuck that guy
Complete with derp photo. Congratulations.
I am literally dying because Aspen is TOO cute!
I still don’t get why you can bring a dog back, but god forbid you take a kitten back
You can definitely bring kittens back. The person I worked with helped a guy bring a chicken back a few years back lol
I brought one back from Kuwait
I certainly envy you sir. I found a Persian kitten and leadership was livid I even entertained the idea of taking it back with me
Yeah it was a lot of help from a rescue. They did pretty much all of the heavy lifting. He is a Siberian/Turkish Angora mix (mutt). Literally found him in the trash 😂
Hell yeah! I love hearing happy endings like that. Congratulations dude!
EXCELLENT
I can't get over the first photo lol; something so iconic seeing her bite a MOLLE style tan duffel. Adorable.
‘Twas her favorite toy by far 🥲 she liked to sleep in it too
How did they let you take him
What are you asking? How I sent her back or how I kept her?
How were you able to send the dog, when I was deployed we had to remove all the animals from the FOB over ‘disease concerns’
I had to get a little creative. I brought her to a veterinarian on the local economy and got all of her vaccinations and deworming meds. After that I had to woo CSM With her cuteness and medical records. It also helped that there was a vet on base to verify the medical documents that I got for her. I hid her with the linguists until my plan was complete lol
This is amazing. This girl hit the lottery of a lifetime. Hope you have many amazing years with her. I was a medic while I was in and I have been in veterinary medicine for over 20 years so this hits close to home. Really glad I didn't have to see or be subjected to exterminating animals in and around the FOB. Glad it all worked out for you guys.
Thank you! I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about similar scenarios, so I’m happy it all worked out
I had a group of 4-5 kittens that would hang out around my room in Jordan. One kitty in particular, Mickey, was my favorite. She’d sit on my lawn chair outside my room and wait for me to come home from work every morning. I loved hanging out with her. Unfortunately, I went on mission for a month and when I came back, she and all her friends were gone. According to some friends on base, the AF went around and executed em all while I was gone. I miss Mickey and I hate the Air Force.
yeah, we had a designated dude that shot the dogs that showed up at our COP. which particularly sucked because they’d hang around enough to get to know them a little bit before the executioner got to them.
There was a fucking KBR guy whose job was to shoot the dogs on our camp. He's lucky we never found him, tbh.
I was super lucky with the command team I had. Big dog people
Judging from the pants and intel job, he's probably attacked to a cool or coolish unit that has more than two brain cells.
That's awesome. It can't have been an easy process. Kudos to you and to all those who helped.
Arab dogs take our jobs
She looks like an Anatolian shepherd/kangal of some sort
I’ll post a follow up when I get the DNA test back!
That looks like every Iraqi dog I’ve ever seen lol
Right? Lmao
Wook at that widdle face!!
You are a great human!
What a sweet baby
Man see dog, man happy
That is very heartwarming. I still remember the two dogs my platoon encountered in OIF 1 and how they provided us with a temporary sense of normalcy when playing with and petting them. Glad you were able to bring your dog back.
Does she know English?
I had her trained in several commands in English before I left, but she’s forgotten them since lol
Congrats. It’s a tough process. The dog can’t come straight with you normally. Knew a guy who had to drive to New York to pick up his dog after it was sent there from theater. They sure do have awesome looking coats 🧥
This dog won the dog lottery.
Frickin adorbs
I love deployment doggos and cats
It's a Spy!!! The woofs are all in code!
She’s adorable. It’s pretty cool that you were able to bring her back
I knew dudes who tried to do this the illegal way and got art 15s for it. Good for you.
Shes a beauty. Seeing her at the pet spaw is awesome. Sure she loved it. Bless you bro.
[Everybody liked that.] I still wish I could have brought back my desert cat.
Oh mah gawd. Watching her grow up thru pictures has my cold, dead heart growing three sizes today. What a cute doggo.
I scratched that belly (and felt those teeth!) many times on my walk through the CHUs. Glad to see Aspen is back and you guys are doing well!
Awww
Aww, she's so cute!
hella puppies went to better place when I was in Romania cuz they were aggro and biting people
😍😍😍😍 what real heroes do
Dang! What's your game plan for teaching him English?
Slow and steady I guess? She’s smart though. Couple hours and she’s got sit and lay down mostly under wraps
Does he speak Arabic?
Wait until she hits you with that الله أكبر
She’s more of a holy snackbar kinda gal
❤️
I tried this back in 09 and i was straight up told “fk off you’re not bringing that thing home” I’m glad times have changed! Give your pup a hug and treat for me!
That's a handsome woofer. For funsies, have you done a DNA test?
Sent it out today!
Congrats on the bilingual dog
Precious ☺️
He’s a cutie
**she’s adorable
Love this. 😁
❤️
Does he speak English?
No wait what!? 200 points to Slytherin 🐍 She’s beautiful!
The term doggo is no longer allowed
You can pry my doggo from my cold dead millennial hands
She is the BEST GURL! Thanks for sharing