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COMMENTARY: BOB WILLIAMS Corbett inconsistent on pensions

First Posted: 3/12/2014 SHAVERTOWN &#8212; There&#8217;s nothing quite like the love between a man and his dog.
For Army Sgt. John Nolan, his 7-year-old Specialized Search Dog (SSD), Honza, is more than just a dog.
&#8220;He&#8217;s like my son,&#8221; said Nolan, 28, of Shavertown. &#8220;We&#8217;re together constantly.&#8221;
The duo returned from deployment in Afghanistan in December 2012. They then reported to Fort Eustis in Virginia, where they did law enforcement operations on the base for about a year.
On Jan. 23, Nolan began to transition out active duty service &#8212; he also started the adoption paperwork to bring Honza with him.
The first application was not completed in time, resulting Nolan being separated from Honza for two months.
&#8220;That&#8217;s the longest we had ever gone being apart,&#8221; Nolan said.
The first application was denied, but the second application was approved, and the pair were reunited indefinitely on Feb. 28. Nolan and his father woke up at 2 a.m. to make the seven-hour drive to pick Honza up.
&#8220;My dad kept telling me, &#8216;get some sleep,&#8217;&#8221; Nolan said, but he said that he felt like &#8220;a kid on Christmas.&#8221;
When they arrived, Nolan said Honza didn&#8217;t see him at first &#8212; when Nolan called him, Honza ran and jumped onto him before rolling over for a belly rub.
&#8220;Short of meeting my daughter after coming home from Afghanistan or seeing my son being born, that was probably one of the happiest reunions I&#8217;ve ever had,&#8221; Nolan said.
Honza initially suffered from separation anxiety from being away from Nolan, but Nolan said he is healing well since they reunited. Honza is not only by Nolan&#8217;s side once again, but he also receives attention from Nolan&#8217;s wife Cara, 28, his year-old daughter Riley and his newborn son Hunter.
&#8220;He&#8217;s very suited for being a house dog,&#8221; Nolan said. &#8220;He was born to sleep on the couch.&#8221;
Perfect pair
Nolan and Honza have been partners since 2011. Nolan was selected to go to Specialized Search Dog School, a branch of the Army&#8217;s canine program, in January of 2011 in San Antonio, Texas. He said it was a 12-person class, and typically, each person in the class would receive two dogs to work with.
&#8220;There were 12 of us in the class and 23 dogs, and I was the last one to get a dog,&#8221; Nolan said &#8220;So, I ended up with Honza, who was kind of the odd man out that they didn&#8217;t really like giving to anybody.&#8221;
Honza, a yellow lab, was initially brought over as a puppy from Germany and was trained at the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Honza then went on to work with an engineering unit after years of training, but he did not quite meet expectations. At one point, he was labeled as an untrainable dog after being assigned to another handler before Nolan.
Nolan was not sure what specifically constituted an &#8220;untrainable dog,&#8221; but said some dogs just do not have the attributes the military values.
Nolan said his instructors told him he would receive a second dog to work with, but that never happened. Instead, Nolan had more time to spend working with Honza to form not only a great partnership, but an unbreakable bond.
&#8220;For one reason or another, he decided that I was going to be the handler that he started working for,&#8221; Nolan said. &#8220;I tell people all the time &#8212; I didn&#8217;t settle on Honza, he settled on me.&#8221;
Nolan explained that Honza works differently than most working dogs in the military &#8212; he is slower and does not move as quickly as others. Nolan said his demeanor earned him the nickname &#8220;Honza Bear&#8221; because when he is searching, &#8220;he kind of looks like he&#8217;s out foraging through the woods looking for picnic baskets.&#8221;
Despite that unique demeanor, Nolan said he has had no problems with his faithful friend and comrade.
Answering duty&#8217;s call
Nolan graduated from SSD school and brought Honza with him to Fort Eustis in June 2011. The two deployed to Afghanistan in December of that year.
Nolan was previously deployed to Iraq with a company of soldiers to train Iraqi police officers. In Afghanistan, Nolan and Honza were assigned to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, which Nolan referred to as the &#8220;hub&#8221; for all special operations in the country.
It was Nolan&#8217;s second deployment, but his first to Afghanistan and the first as a dog handler. They were attached to an Army Green Beret team to search for explosive devices.
&#8220;We spent every minute together,&#8221; Nolan said.
Honza did lot more than just serve as a source of support and companionship for Nolan. Honza found 14 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during his deployment, which resulted in the destruction of 400 pounds of explosives.
&#8220;That&#8217;s a lot of American lives, countless lives that could have gone down that road that he saved, that didn&#8217;t blow up, because of him,&#8221; Nolan said.
Nolan even credited Honza for saving his life on several occasions, but one story stood out to Nolan.
Nolan and Honza were searching for an IED in a dried river bed. Snow covered the ground from the night before. Nolan released Honza from his leash, and he instantly began searching for the explosive.
Nolan stepped down into the area with Honza, and he noticed that Honza was getting upset because he could not exactly pinpoint where the explosive was.
Honza eventually sat close to Nolan&#8217;s feet, which Nolan said indicates that he found something. Honza&#8217;s tail began to wag in the snow, clearing the ground. As his tail cleared the snow, it revealed a doorbell ringer that had been hooked up to a battery.
&#8220;If his tail hadn&#8217;t have been wagging, I would have stepped right on it and I would have blown the two of us up,&#8221; Nolan said. &#8220;His wagging tail and his happy demeanor definitely saved my life that day.&#8221;
What&#8217;s next
Nolan is considering getting Honza certified as a therapy dog to provide a stress relief for people that suffer from medical problems. Nolan&#8217;s active duty contract will expire on March 17, marking 7 years he has served in active duty. He&#8217;ll be joining the Army Reserves with the 361 Military Police Company in Ashley.
&#8220;I&#8217;m sure Honza will be excited when he sees me back in the uniform again,&#8221; Nolan said.

A couple of vets reunited