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Cini -- a military working dog - 2003-2012

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Cini was a military working dog.

She had a tattoo inside her ear to prove it - H386.

Her Air Force career began when the she was purchased shortly after birth in 2003. It ended March 22 on the door step of the working-dog kennel at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., when she died in the arms of her handler, Staff Sgt. Juventino Salazar.

Cini's specialty was bomb detection, and like all her four-footed brethren, she was a patrol dog at heart. She was a black German Shepherd Dog with deep brown eyes, a 68-pound frame and an independent attitude that did not leave much need for idle affection.

But Cini developed a need when she and Salazar were on their last deployment together in Kuwait from July 2011 until January this year. Half-way through their tour, Cini started showing a demanding need for contact. She wanted to be as close to Salazar as she could get.

"That just wasn't like her," said Salazar. He liked the personality change in his working companion of three and a half years. At the same time, it worried him.

Cini was assigned to Vance Dec. 4, 2005. It was her first base after earning certifications in patrol and explosive detection at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

She had three handlers before teaming up with Salazar in October 2008, shortly after he arrived from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. Cini would be Salazar's first dog.

She was a steady dog. She had a good nose. Both traits made her the choice for six different security details for the president and vice-president of the United States, and the Republican National Convention in 2008.

For Salazar, the space shuttle launch scheduled for April 29, 2011, was exciting because he and Cini witnessed history. They were part of the security detail for President Barack Obama's attendance at the launch. It was only the second time a sitting president was at a scheduled shuttle launch.

The fact the shuttle stayed on the launch pad that day didn't diminish the event for Salazar. He was on an important mission with his partner.

In addition to routinely working at Salazar's side, Cini had more than 131 hours devoted to training - keeping skills, and that nose, finely tuned. Over her almost six and a half years of active duty, Cini spent a total of 766 hours looking for potential bombs.

In addition to presidential details, she used her detection talent at Enid's Walmart twice, and at three different local schools. She even searched the Garfield County Sheriff's Department once.

Cini was born a year before Salazar joined the Air Force. He signed up seven months after the twin towers in New York were attacked Sept. 11, his first day on a new job at the Best Buy in Deerfield, Ill.

"I didn't know anyone who was lost in the 9/11 attacks," said Salazar. "But like the rest of America, I wanted to do something to help. Joining the Air Force seemed like the right thing to do."

Salazar is married with three children, the youngest a 2-year-old girl who looked forward to visiting the military working dog kennel. That's when Cini would lick her toes, something they both seemed to enjoy.

During their first deployment together from July 2009 to January 2010, Cini had some trouble adjusting to the heat in Saudi Arabia. With help she recovered. In fact, she recovered so well her bite-work improved.

However, during Salazar and Cini's second deployment together, this time to Kuwait, she didn't do so well.

In addition to the sudden need for affection, her explosive detection work suffered. She wasn't feeling well. And Salazar knew she was hurting.

She was taken to Germany on a C-17 cargo aircraft to see the veterinarian there. Nothing was found, so Cini and Salazar returned to Kuwait to complete their deployment, coming home to Vance AFB in January.

Everything seemed back to normal, except that continued need for affection. But Salazar knew something wasn't right.

They had worked Wednesday, March 21. The next morning, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lee was scheduled to take his dog, Herk, to see the veterinarian at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.

"I saw that she hadn't eaten again that morning and that concerned me," said Salazar. So he and Cini went with Lee and Herk to see the vet.

Cini was X-rayed and examined by Dr. Heather Cameron with the 72nd Force Support Squadron veterinarian clinic. The news was not good. Cini had a swollen heart and a mass in her chest. She likely had cancer.

That was an immediate Category Four. Cini could no longer work or deploy. The vet told Salazar his dog might have up to a year to live and would be up for adoption immediately.

Although a diagnosis of cancer was not what Salazar wanted to hear, it meant his partner at work would become his family's companion at home for however many weeks she had left.

Salazar and Lee had taken separate cars to Tinker AFB. On the hour and a half drive back to Vance AFB, Cini was still a bit loopy from the anesthesia she was given during X-rays. She was riding in the backseat.

"I would talk to her, just to make sure she was okay and conscious," said Salazar. "She would pop her head up so I knew she was still with me."

They pulled up to the kennel at 2:48 p.m. Tech. Sgt. Gary Eyster, the kennel master, and Staff Sgt. Heath Conley, another dog handler, were on their way to an appointment. Salazar gave them the news about Cini.

"When I opened the back door of the car, she was just lying there," said Salazar. "She didn't want to move."

He playfully encouraged her and she got out of the car. Her gait was unsteady and she stumbled several times as they headed toward the kennel entrance. "I wanted to carry her, but was afraid that would put pressure on her heart and do more harm than good," said Salazar.

He continued to encourage Cini as she moved at her own slow pace toward the building.

When they got to the door, Salazar reached for the keys in his pocket and Cini collapsed. He knelt beside her, hoping she was still dealing with the effects of the anesthesia. Then Salazar heard the heavy, labored breathing. "I knew she was in trouble."

He called the kennel master on his cell phone. "Cini needs medical attention," was all Salazar said before throwing the phone aside and starting CPR on his partner.

"She gasped for air once or twice," said Salazar. "Then she raised her head, as if she was checking to make sure I was still with her. That's what partners do. They stay together."

Then her eyes rolled and he knew she was gone.

When Eyster and Conley got back to the kennel, they found Salazar holding his dog, tears in his eyes, stroking her fur. They left the handler and his partner alone for a time.

That afternoon the kennel master took Cini's body back to Tinker AFB for a final determination of cause of death. Salazar wanted to go along. If it had been him, Cini wouldn't have left his side. But the kennel master didn't want Salazar's last memory of his partner to be on a cold, metal examining table.

Cini's body was cremated. Cameron, the vet who examined Cini a few days before, brought the remains to the Vance kennel Monday, March 26. She didn't have to. But she wanted Salazar to have closure.

Salazar is back on duty now, without his partner, Cini. She was a military working dog, with a tattoo to prove it.