Since its beginning, the U.S. Army, like all other armies of the world, has relied on animals to perform a variety of tasks throughout its history. For many decades, horses and mules served as the primary means of transporting soldiers, artillery, and supplies, whether as cavalry mounts or as draft animals. Animals were also used to communicate on the battlefield. More recently, dogs have been used for several tasks, including security and bomb detection. Animals have also been a source of unit pride and soldier morale, whether as mascots or as individual pets.
For decades after it was established in 1775, horses and mules were the most important animal for the Army. Mounted units relied on horses to perform their duties of reconnaissance, screening, and attack; for inexperienced infantrymen, a charge of saber-wielding cavalry troopers could be extremely unnerving. In addition, for many decades prior to and after the introduction of railroads and motorized vehicles, horses and mules remained the primary means of transporting artillery, ammunition, and supplies. Even during World War II, when the U.S. Army became the first truly mechanized army in the world, American soldiers continued to use mules in the mountains of Italy and the jungles of the China-Burma-India Theater to haul supplies and evacuate casualties. Most recently, Special Forces soldiers rode horses during the early days of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
During both World Wars, Signal Corps soldiers employed homing pigeons to carry messages on the battlefield. The proved to be very effective and several pigeons were conferred hero status, including Cher Ami of the 77th Division’s “Lost Battalion” in World War I and G.I. Joe in Italy during World War II. It was not until 1957 that the Army officially discontinued its use of pigeons.
Prior to World War II, dogs largely served as unit mascots or as companion animals, particularly for officers. The Irish Brigade of the Civil War had an Irish wolfhound as its mascot, and one is featured on the brigade’s monument at Gettysburg. Beginning in World War II, the Army started training dogs for various tasks, including sentry duty and tactical missions, such as patrols. During the Vietnam War, scout dogs were used on patrols to alert soldiers of hidden enemy troops and to uncover caches of weapons. During the more recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military working dogs were employed to detect improvised explosive devices. As in earlier conflicts, local dogs, as well as cats and other animals, were adopted by units or individual soldiers (sometimes against orders), and they provided great comfort to soldiers under tremendous stress in war zones. In some cases, soldiers, assisted by nonprofit organizations, have managed to have their canine or feline companions rejoin them in the States, while several soldier-handlers have adopted their dogs upon their retirement from Army service.
