Rebecca's War Dog of the Week: 4th time's a charm for Lucky the survivor

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, January 21, 2011 - 11:20 AM Share

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

We're hearing more and more about soldiers who are taking multiple tours to Iraq or Afghanistan, some heading back for a seventh time. Our military canines' careers may be short by comparison, but they're certainly not slacking on taking their fair share of deployments. Take Lucky, a ten-year-old Belgian Malinois with a "graying muzzle," who just started his 4th tour of duty this week.

Lucky is now in Kyrgyzstan where his new handler, Staff Sgt. Chris Fall, served two previous tours. The pair (pictured above) is tasked with the "relatively safe" job of patrolling the grounds at Manas Transit Center. While serving in Iraq and Afghanistan Lucky was a patrol explosive detector dog on the prowl for "IEDs and weapons caches."

According to the AP's Dan Pelle, Lucky was pretty good at his job and earned himself "legend" status with the Air Force after uncovering an "explosive fastened to military generator at a forward base in Afghanistan" and "survived an improvised bomb attack" in Iraq.

But Lucky isn't just survivor of the dangers of war -- he's a two-time survivor of cancer. Lucky's had two tumors removed -- one in each leg. He's also had radiation treatment. The second tumor was found just last year, but Lucky made a fast recovery, and was deemed healthy enough to serve this last and final tour by military veterinarians.

Neither his battle with disease or the fatigue of service has phased this old dog known for his ability to keep "cool under fire" and his "tenacity to subdue fleeing suspects."

"For 10 years old, he's still healthy," said one handler. "[Lucky's] young at heart."

For photos of Lucky, see this a gallery.