Master-at-Arms 3rd Class James Lingerfelter has found a way to combine a love of animals and an interest in law enforcement in a job that takes him around the world.

Lingerfelter is a dog handler with the U.S. Navy, currently stationed in Italy, but from there he can be deployed with his canine to support missions in places across Europe or in Asia or Africa.

A 2015 Kane (Pa.) Area High School graduate, Lingenfelter enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August 2015.

I wanted to use the Navy as a stepping stone to get into the Pennsylvania State Police, a goal which Lingenfelter said is still his ambition. He enlisted to be a master-at-arms military police in the U.S. Navy.

For me, I always liked dogs and animals in general, said Lingenfelter, who is an outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing. He learned to hunt with dogs when he was growing up and finds that the drive hunting dogs have is the same that military dogs have.

Its just one big game for them, he said.

The dog that Lingenfelter is currently working with is a 3-year-old German shepherd named Vicki that has been with the Navy in Italy since February 2016.

This was her first command, he noted.

One big misconception he encounters is that military dogs follow their handlers, but that is not the case, Lingenfelter said. He explained that when he leaves NSA Naples, Vicki will stay there, and he will be paired with a new dog at his next assignment.

The military canines are trained to find various substances, a task which can also be used for deterrence purposes, he said, explaining that when people see one of the dogs at work, it keeps them on their toes.

Lt. Commander Lenaya Rotklein, a public relations officer with the Navy, explained that military working dogs (MWD) receive special training for different tasks that can include drug detection, finding explosives and even finding humans.

Lingenfelter said he is proud to serve the nation and explained that what makes him really proud is being able to do things that most people wouldnt, especially the work he does with the military working dogs.

He is a protector part of a group that is putting ourselves in harms way so other people dont have to. In his role as a dog handler, his team looks for potential dangers before sending others in to the front line.

Being a dog handler is a different specialization than he was in when he first enlisted.

Lingenfelter went to naval boot camp in October 2015, then on to Texas for technical school, where he learned his job of master-at-arms. He graduated from technical school that December and reported to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain at the beginning of 2016.

He stayed at NSA Bahrain for two years, working in antiterrorism and force protection, then reported to NSA Naples in February 2018. He spent a year doing law enforcement and force protection.

At the beginning of 2019, I started volunteering in my off-duty hours going into the kennels.

During that time, Lingenfelter was getting to know the military dog system better and prove myself to the handlers that were my mentors.

In June, he was sent for a handlers course in Texas. He graduated in August and reported back to Italy.

Im still feeling it out and Im loving every bit of it because its so brand new to me, Lingenfelter said.

Lingenfelter may be traveling the world now, but he still has strong ties to McKean County.

His mother and father, Donna and Philip Lingenfelter, live in Kane, and his wife, Taylor, lives in Bradford.

His mother was originally from Shinglehouse and his father from Emporium.

We moved to Kane when I was about 5 years old, he said.

Being away from rural Pennsylvania for a year at a time makes him more aware of his love for the area when he visits.

Its such a beautiful place that we live in, Lingenfelter said.

Being home also reminds him why his work in the military is so important: We do the things that we do in order so that we can have that at home.

Lingenfelter noted he was big into football when he was in high school, serving as a starter for three years, a defensive MVP in District 9 his senior year and an all-star player in 2013 and 2014. He played in the Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic football game in 2015 and was a defensive MVP for the Big 30 team.

He wrestled and played baseball in Kane as well.

Originally posted here:

McKean County man serves and protects as a dog handler in the U.S. Navy - Olean Times Herald