Sentry Dog School - Korea

Danny R. Myrick
SFC (Retired), US Army

I arrived in Korea on my second tour in September 1970. I was assigned to B Company, 728th Military police Battalion, Camp Humphries. My first job was as NCIOC of the Sentry Dog Section under the Office of the Provost Marshall and the 23rd Support Group. The Sentry Dog Section at that time consisted of about 25 Korean Civilian Army employees. A couple were supervisors and the rest were Sentry Dog Handlers. We were responsible for manning security post at the Air Field and other critical locations on Camp Humphries. I believe it was February, 1971 that the Sentry Dog Section was deactivated. All the Korean civilians lost their jobs by this reduction in force, but did receive a considerable RIF payment. Many of the dogs were euthanized due to age. Others were transfer to the Sentry Dog School that had recently moved to Camp Howard. I was reassigned as Training NCO for B Company. In June, 1971, I was reassigned to the Sentry Dog School at Camp Howard. I trained there as a Dog Trainer/Instructor and was awarded a secondary MOS 00C40. I was an Instructor and then Chief Instructor until I left Korea in June, 1973. I don't know what happened to the Dog School after I left, but believe that it was relocated to Camp Carroll in 1974. It was about this time that the letters were dropped from the companies and all were renamed numbered companies. B Company became the 557th MP Company in 1976.

The original Sentry Dog Handler School was the 820th MP Platoon (Dog) located at Camp Mercer, near Kimpo Air Base. Sometime in early 1970, this unit was deactivated and the personnel were transferred to Camp Howard. Camp Howard was an ammunition storage area close to Camp Humphries. B Company has a small detachment of MP stationed there. As the "official" unit (820th MP Platoon) had been deactivated, the Sentry Dog School was referred to as EUSA (8th Army) Sentry Dog School. The personnel that transferred with the unit were assigned to B Company, 728th MP Battalion. Soon thereafter the School was renamed 728th Military Police Battalion Sentry Dog School. The mission of the Sentry Dog Handler School was to train soldiers to become Sentry Dog Handler. Tours of duty in Korea at that time were 13 months. Handlers rotated to new assignments, but the sentry dogs remained in Korea. We trained new handlers as needed as replacements. Below is the original members of the EUSA Dog School, Camp Howard from the 1970 Yearbook.

I think the above photos were taken in the summer of 1970. In June of 1971, when I was assigned to the Sentry Dog School, SFC John C. Hampton was the NCIOC. Only Sgt Billie C. Helton remained from the original school.