Congress honors heroic MARSOC working dog with 4 deployments
Multi-purpose Canine Shimanski is a true Devil Dog.
BY JEFF SCHOGOL | PUBLISHED MAR 8, 2023 4:44 PM EST
Multi-purpose Canine Shimanski, a 12-year-old Belgian Malinois who is going slightly gray in his muzzle, has more than earned the title of combat veteran.
Between 2013 and 2018, Shimanski deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Somalia with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, during which he searched for explosives while under fire, said retired Marine Staff Sgt. Brandon Marquez, Shimanski’s former handler.
“This does really take a very special animal to only do it but to be capable of doing it, the things that we put them through,” said Marquez, who later adopted Shimanski “He’s not just a dog that’s getting pet by the team and everybody’s happy to have him around. He’s really out there holding his weight.”
For his service with the Marines, Congress is awarding Shimanski The Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery, an award created in 2019 to honor service animals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marsoc-military-working-dog-honored/
