VetSpot: United States Air Force Vietnam Veteran

Wayne Soares — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 10:47:04 -0500

Tim Flynn served his country in the United States Air Force as an Airman 1st Class from 1963 – 1967 and is a Vietnam Veteran. Born in Newport, KY he enlisted at the age of (17) with his dad co-signing for him. “Had a couple friends that were going in so I decided I wanted to as well” he remembered. His basic training took him to Lackland AFB in Texas. “It was hot as hell as it was in the summer….gave us salt pills…..guys were dropping like flies from heat exhaustion….I wanted to be a pilot, but they gave me a test and found out I was color blind…..that killed any desire I had” he recalled.

Airman Flynn was then offered the job of AP (Air Police) or working in a supply depot. He chose Air Police and did an 8-week training course at Lackland. His first assignment was to Otis AFB on Cape Cod, MA. While on base, he became interested in being a Sentry Dog Officer. He volunteered for Sentry Dog School and was sent back to Lackland AFB for (8) weeks of training. At the time, the only U.S Military Sentry Dog Schools were located only at Lackland, Germany and Japan.

He talked about the training that goes into being a Sentry Dog Officer. “You learn obedience training with your dog….how to keep your dog under control…keep him/her away from other dogs….other handlers would come by their cage and yell at them to get a reaction…..it all comes down to you and your dog’s relationship.” He continued. “When you have a new dog, you sit outside his cage and talk to him, let him get used to you…..after a few days you give him light commands and, if he lets you, stroke him/her….then you tell the kennel master you want to go in and put a collar on the dog and you take them out…..toughest part is getting them to go back into their cage” he recalled.

Airman Flynn came out of Otis AFB in September/October of 1965 with his new dog, Rommel for (8) weeks of training that included Rommel getting used to machine gunfire and explosions. He then left for Vietnam out of Kelly AFB on a C-130 Cargo Plane with a group of about (50) dog handlers and their dogs. They then flew to Hamilton AFB in California, then to Hickham in Hawaii. They left Hawaii but had to stop on Wake Island in the Pacific because of plane trouble. While they waited for the plane to be fixed, they took the dogs for a walk on the beach. “Wake Island is in the middle of nowhere…had the dogs out of the beach to let them run…..remember seeing the Japanese pill boxes on the beach from WWII. They then landed in Saigon.

In Vietnam, one of his duties was to patrol the outer perimeter of airstrips and airports where there were highly explosive materials of gas and oil. Was he ever afraid? “I was afraid every (expletive) night…..when your dog alerts, he’s not playing games….something’s out there…..human or animal….that’s when it gets tricky…..we would call in an alert and the jeeps with guns mounted on them would arrive” he recalled. He shared this story. “Fog would come in…..one night, fog was so thick I could barely see Rommel at the end of his 6ft leash… report came in that there was a tiger on the prowl….I’m thinking, ‘Jesus Christ’! I was patrolling a bomb dump….thankfully, we never ran into the tiger…..sundown still affects me to this day….I still get very anxious” he said. When asked him what it was like to leave Rommel his dog, he offered this; “it was tough…..you never want to leave your dog…..went through a lot together…..didn’t want to leave him…it was tough to do…..you say goodbye and leave them…...did some research and found out he had another dog handler that worked with him for about a year……lost track after that and don’t know what happened to him” he remembered. Thoughts on serving your country? “Had a bit of satisfaction that I served my country….glad I served….saw a lot of corruption…..anyone that served in Vietnam, I support 100%. He is the proud father of two girls, Shannon and Tieraney.

Airman 1st Class Tim Flynn, thank you for your service to our great country and welcome home.

Response by SGT Ruben Lozada made Jan 30 at 2023 11:24 AM

SGT Ruben Lozada — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:24:30 -0500

Excellent post. Thank You for sharing this.

Response by Cpl Vic Burk made Jan 30 at 2023 2:38 PM

Cpl Vic Burk — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 14:38:23 -0500

Thanks for this share Wayne Soares .

Response by SGT Stephen Rowland made Jan 30 at 2023 2:51 PM

SGT Stephen Rowland — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 14:51:13 -0500

Outer fence lines got an extra dose of agent orange regularly. Thanks for your service and Rommels dedication.

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Jan 30 at 2023 3:05 PM

LTC Trent Klug — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 15:05:48 -0500

Great personal history share!

Response by SGT Gerald “Jerry” Harrell made Feb 1 at 2023 12:34 AM

SGT Gerald “Jerry” Harrell — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:34:37 -0500

Awesome share. Sentry Dogs were not as easy as the patrol dogs of today.

Response by SrA Alan Dirk Scott made Feb 4 at 2023 3:47 PM

SrA Alan Dirk Scott — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 15:47:34 -0500

Also, Medical Technology. I am a Vietnam Vet I have suffered for many years with PTSD. I got talk therapy, hospitalizations, group therapy, classes, apps.
Helpful but not as much as EMDR. EMDR is inexpensive. It will not make you new but it helps a lot. I asked my Military Therapist why the VA won't offer EMDR? He said to expensive. I asked a doctor how much is a unit? $300.

Response by SP5 Kim Windsor made Feb 11 at 2023 3:29 PM

SP5 Kim Windsor — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 15:29:49 -0500

Welcome home