Canine search-and-rescue teams train at Fort Indiantown Gap

By Brad Rhen / Published Oct. 18, 2023
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa.,

Canine search-and-rescue teams from several organizations conducted training here Oct. 18.

Six different organizations from around central Pennsylvania participated in the training, which took place at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, a collection of building designed to replicate an urban environment.

“It’s awesome,” said Terri Heck of Summit Search and Rescue, who arranged the training. “This is just a fantastic opportunity, and we’re excited about being able to be here.”

Canine handlers took turns taking their dogs through different buildings as they followed the scents from people who were portraying missing persons.

“We have people hiding in the buildings,” Heck said. “We have four different people that are laying trails for us today, using a variety of scent articles. Some are clothing, some are gloves, and it can be something as simple as a quarter out of somebody’s pocket.”

The training was like a matching game for the dogs, Heck said.

“They say the average person loses 40,000 skin cells a minute, and the skin cells that fall off of a person smell like that person, so basically the dog smells the article, follows the skin cells, if they dropped anything along the way, they’ll alert on that and then get to the person,” Heck said.

The CACTF has 12 buildings, including a church and a hotel, as well as a road system, a cemetery, a power plant and underground tunnels. It is designed to train service members for military operations in urban terrain.

This was the first time these organizations conducted this type of training at the CACTF, Heck said.

“The most important aspect is probably all the buildings,” Heck said. “They’re alerting on doors, trying to find the person’s scent. Even though we tend not to do as many searches in buildings, it’s very challenging for the dogs, and it just enhances their experience.”

Among those taking part in the training was Jill Robinson of Middle Creak Search and Rescue of Lancaster County.

Robinson said her organization primarily searches for missing individuals. Historically, she said, the team has conducted a majority of its searches in wilderness terrains, but in recent years it has been called upon for more urban and suburban searches.

There is a big difference between searching in wilderness and urban or suburban terrains, Robinson said.

“When you have soft surfaces like grass, straw, trees, vegetation, the scent will stick to it more,” Robinson said. “Out here on the hard surfaces, the scent does not stick, so if a dog can work hard surfaces, then they a lot of times can do the wilderness easier.”

Robinson said she was excited for the opportunity to train at the CACTF.

“We’re taking advantage of this wonderful facility, with all the buildings and changes in terrain,” she said. “It’s a training opportunity that we don’t often get, so to have this in invaluable for us.

“It’s very unique,” she added. “To get this opportunity is unbelievable.”