Introduction: Please reach us through our website - RocketCityK9(dot)com
Sean’s journey in canine work began as a teen but was envisioned as a small child at the age of 5 when he watched a police canine demonstration. In 1992, he joined the United States Air Force as a Law Enforcement Specialist and eventually a dog handler after years of hard work and dedication to his local K9 section.
Sean was sent to the 341st Training Squadron, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas as his first assignment. The 341st is known as the “Mecca of Dog Training” due to the nearly 1000 dogs housed and trained year-round. Shortly after arrival at the 341st, Sean was not only considered to be an excellent dog trainer, he was recognized as the best trainer among all other trainers when he was awarded the Annual Top Dog Award in 1999.
While at the 341st, Sean met two amazing dogs which changed his life. The first was Thor, who was eventually washed out of the military program but became a member of Sean’s family when he was adopted. The other was AAslan, a 6-month old Belgian Malinois, who would become Sean’s guardian angel in future endeavors. Sean just didn’t know it at the time what was to come.
Eventually Sean was assigned to the base police at Lackland, which had the largest kennels in the command. It was there that Sean was reunited with AAslan as an operational team. Together, they spent years together providing a first line of detection for President Clinton and President Bush. They also provided support to the Department of the Treasury, Department of State and, multiple state, county and municipal agencies. They would routinely be hand selected to provide support for Foreign Heads of State and would go on to conduct missions in 6 foreign countries. The team’s reputation preceded them as were requested by name to provide security with the Secret Service in Crawford, Texas for President Bush.
In 2004, the team got the call that would change their lives. With only 5-hours of notice they were on their way to join a United States Marine Corps infantry unit in Fallujah, Iraq. Sean was the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of 11 other Air Force and 6 Marine Corps dog teams during the deployment. Out of necessity, Sean developed innovative tactics, techniques and procedures regarding K9 operations in order to defeat the Improvised Explosive Device threats facing Coalition Forces. These innovations earned recognition by General Mattis and was credited with developing operational tactics for all deployed Military Working Dog (MWD) teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Eventually, Sean and Aaslan had to part as Sean was promoted and moved up the Chain of Command. Their years of superior performance previously was still being recognized time and time again which resulted in Sean being handpicked to become the Action Officer for the Department of Defense (DoD) MWD Program. Sean’s role was to manage all DoD canine operations assisting the US Secret Service, US State Department and other federal agencies.
Sean was also the advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the DoD MWD Executive Agent on joint service issues pertaining to the DoD dog program. Sean’s knowledge of canine psychology and training gave him the ability to author pre-deployment canine training plans which were an urgent training need for all deploying MWD teams into Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these innovative training plans are still in use today.
Sean culminated his career in the Air Force when he was promoted to become the Air Force MWD Program Manager, the highest position in the canine career field. In this position, he was the executive manager of the Air Force K9 program, the largest military canine program in the world. It was here that Sean was responsible for directly responding to Presidential and Congressional inquiries on the deployment, utilization, training and final disposition of DoD K9s.
After retiring from the Air Force, Sean became the Kennel Master of a 65 dog kennel as a contractor for the Department of Energy at a classified location. There he managed the daily operations of the kennels which included all health and welfare of dogs to include sanitation, feedings, medications and veterinary requirements, as well as facility maintenance and upkeep. He was also a working dog handler and federally certified with multiple types of dogs; Explosive Detection Dogs, Narcotic Detection Dogs, Human Detection Dogs and Tracking Dogs.
Sean returned to Texas and opened up a dog training business which became renowned for specializing in the rehabilitation of aggressive canines. Sean’s groundbreaking theories regarding the canine and their psychological learning processes allowed him to correct aggressive behavior in dogs which were written off for euthanasia. Sean became the trainer other dog trainers would refer the most difficult cases to. Sean was fully successful and never had a dog euthanized after training.
Sean was a featured handler and the senior advisor and contributor for the book, “War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love” written by Rebecca Frankle. He has also been a guest writer for the Pulitzer Prize recipient, Tom Ricks for Foreign Policy Magazine.
Currently, Sean is a Police Captain at a police department near Huntsville, Alabama and oversees the K9 Branch.
Sean says the more rewarding aspect in dog training is educating owners how their dogs think and how to interact with them differently. Then, watching their relationship blossom over time as the owner learns to communicate with their canine.
