Barking echoed off the rugged buttes surrounding Fort Robinson. Feeding time was particularly raucous as the 1,300 war dogs in training anticipated their daily ration: eight ounces of cooked horse meat, 12 ounces of raw horse meat, eight ounces of cornmeal, and eight ounces of commercial dog food. In a feat of military efficiency, trainees served all the dogs within 15 minutes. Doubtless, the animals didn’t take that long to devour it.  

It was October 1944, and World War II still raged. Americans had a new weapon in their arsenal. The military hadn’t initially planned on using dogs when the United States entered the war in December 1941. However, renowned trainers and breeders persuaded military officials that dogs could provide value to the war effort and help protect the nation’s borders from attack.

The secretary of war authorized the acceptance of donated dogs in February 1942, and in October 1942, after months of preparation to ready its facilities, Fort Robinson’s K-9 Corps training center was activated. Other Quartermaster Corps in Virginia, Mississippi, Montana and California also established dog training centers, but Fort Robinson became the nation’s leading military dog training center within two years.

By 1944, more than 3,500 dogs had already been deployed as sentry, guard, silent scout, pack, detection and messenger dogs throughout the U.S., Europe, Africa and the China-India-Burma Theater. These animals hadn’t been bred for use in war – they were beloved pets donated by patriotic Nebraskans and families around the country. To qualify for service, dogs had to be between 1 and 5 years old, weigh at least 50 pounds and stand at least 20 inches at the shoulder. Dogs that met the initial qualifications were shipped to training facilities for further inspection.

Army remount depots, like Fort Robinson, were chosen as the training centers for the K-9 program because of those facilities’ experience managing animals. Fort Robinson also had the land to build kennels for more than 1,800 dogs, the rugged terrain to exercise and train them, easy access to transportation with two major railroad lines in Crawford and an ample supply of horses and mules to slaughter for food. 

After receiving immunizations and spending time in quarantine, dogs underwent a rigorous six-week training program to prepare for deployment. If a dog escaped, one of the remount’s expert ropers would chase it down on horseback and lasso it like a wayward calf.

Human trainees came to Fort Robinson from different service units, including the Marines and the Coast Guard, before deploying with their assigned dogs. Sailors in northwest Nebraska made for an unusual sight for locals. But their presence also provided comfort, knowing that those Coast Guard members would soon be protecting America’s borders with their canine partners.

Silent scout dogs proved particularly effective at saving lives in the jungle warfare of the Pacific Theater by alerting troops to hidden enemies. So in 1944, experienced sergeants who’d engaged in combat abroad came to Fort Robertson and applied their experience to a new-and-improved 12-week canine training program.

By the war’s end in 1945, more than half of the dogs trained for World War II had received their training at Fort Robinson, 5,000 dogs in all. After Japan’s surrender in August of that year, the military demobilized the dogs, sending them back to Fort Robinson. There, trainers worked to recondition the canines to civilian life.

Most dogs successfully returned to their families. Suitable owners were found for others, including the dogs’ wartime handlers. Welcomed home as heroes, the dogs took it in stride, settling into the simple comforts of a warm hearth and a happy home among people who loved them as much as they loved their country.


Visitors to Fort Robinson can see a marker near where the training facilities once stood.
To learn more about the K-9 Corps and Fort Robinson, pick up Fort Robinson and the American Century 1900-1948
by Thomas R. Buecker, published by University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.