Navy SEAL Will Chesney - The Dogs of War

Will Chesney served 13 years with the Navy SEALS and SEAL Team Six as an operator and Combat Attack Dog Handler. Will and his dog, a Belgian Malinois named Cairo, took part in hundreds of missions together, including Operation Neptune Spear, the mission that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Will has been awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart, stemming from injuries sustained during a grenade attack while out on a raid and now helps veterans who, much like himself have suffered the effects TBI (traumatic brain injury). Will is also the author of "No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid," and the young adult version "Warrior DogThe True Story of a Navy SEAL and His Fearless Canine Partner."

While on deployment with SEAL Team Six, Will had an opportunity to work closely with combat attack dogs (CADs), Belgian Malinois that are trained specifically to operate with the SEALs and are ingrained in their deployment as integral members of the team. The breed is more compact, muscular, and agile than the German Shepards typically used in law enforcement. Upon first witnessing the CADs performance on deployment, both in their ability to uncover IEDs and as manhunters, Will marveled at the CADs' speed, strength, and agility, and saw first hand how their handlers, a Master at Arms (the Navy's Military Police) worked them while on and off the battlefield, and how they became crucial to the effectiveness of many of the team's raids and missions, and, most notably how these dogs saved the lives of his SEAL brethren, even sacrificing their own lives to save the operators they hunted with.

Looking to take on a new challenge, Will, a dog lover who grew up with Rottweilers and Pit Bulls jumped at the chance to take on the role of a CAD handler. This was no small decision, and one that most operators avoided, as this was double the responsibility you had as a SEAL, as a CAD handler, you still had all the duties one must carry out as an assaulter, along with the additional obligation of taking care of an exceptional, and highly trained military working dog. After working and training with a new crop of CADs, the dog that was assigned to Will was a majestic looking Malinois that would change Will's life forever.

Will trained, handled and cared for Cairo and the two became inseparable, conducting hundreds of missions together, but as phenomenal as these dogs are as special operators, much like their SEAL counterparts, they are not indestructible, and Cairo came as close to losing his life as was possible when Will and his team chased a group of Taliban fighters fleeing a bomb-making operation. Cairo ended up being shot in the chest and the leg and was flown back to base with Will by his side and underwent emergency surgery. Miraculously, Cairo not only survived, he and Will would ultimately be called upon to be part of the historic raid to take down Osama Bin Laden.

As thrilling the ride, and exhilarating the journey, no matter how good Will and Cairo were at what they did, and no matter how much they loved what it, there was a price to pay for their victories, one that very few (if any) combat vet escapes, including the dogs that they partner with in the special operations community. Will and Cairo both had to surmount the physical and psychological wounds of war, and both were a crucial part of each other's recovery. Will and Cairo were more than partners, they were brothers in the SEAL teams, they were lifelong friends ... they were family.
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Links:
No Ordinary Dog: https://amzn.to/3gHiQZ7
Warrior Dog: https://amzn.to/31iIJb8
Will Chesney on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noordinarydogbook/
Will Chesney on Instagram: @willcheeese