HURRICANE POINT, AR RAMADI, Iraq -- It's been said many times, "A man's best friend is his dog." One Marine here certainly agrees with that saying.
Lance Cpl. Marshall S. Spring, a military working dog handler with Operation Force Protection, I Marine Expeditionary Force, has formed a special bond with his partner, a three-year-old Belgium Malonois named Rex.
"He keeps me happy while I'm here," said the 21-year-old Spring Ashland, Ore., native. "Being responsible for his well-being makes it harder for me to slip into a funk and feel anxiety about being deployed to Iraq,"
Spring and Rex are based out of Marine Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., and are deployed here with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Their mission is to conduct random vehicle checks at the three vehicle checkpoints outside the camp's perimeter.
The long-time dog lover said he plays ball with Rex when they aren't working.
"I enjoy throwing the ball for him and giving him his exercise," the 2001 Ashland High School graduate explained. "He cheers me up when I'm down, which isn't very often. But when I do feel bad, he makes me happy, because he's always happy."
Spring and Rex have had their share of close calls. Spring recently received a Purple Heart for wounds he received while returning to camp two months ago.
"We were riding in a (light armored vehicle) when an IED detonated on the side of the road as we passed," he recalled. "I took shrapnel to my left ear and hand, and the blast was so loud it ruptured my eardrum. Luckily, Rex was protected from the blast and didn't get injured."
Spring knows everything about his canine companion of almost a year.
"He's a co-dependent dog," said Spring. "He gets separation anxiety if I leave him for too long, like going to chow. Sometimes he has to be as close as he can get to me at night. He's also headstrong and the friendliest dog I've had."
According to Spring, Rex often jumps into his bed at night when insurgents are lobbing mortars at the camp.
Rex may be young, but according to Spring, he knows his job.
"He has the best nose of any dog I've ever handled," said Spring, who's handled three dogs during his career in the Corps. "He's just young too, which means he has got a lot of raw, natural talent. I see him becoming an even bigger asset to the military once he's fully mature."
Spring plans on leaving the Marines in a year and possibly returning to Iraq.
"I'd like to come back and work as a dog handler for a civilian contractor," he said. "Either that, or working as a handler for the (Department of Defense).