Every military working dog is an NCO

From Military Working Dogs: Guardians of the Night by Linda Crippen.

Every military working dog is an NCO - in tradition at least. Some say the custom was to prevent handlers from mistreating their dogs; hence, a dog is always one rank higher than its handler.

"That's out of respect," said Sgt. 1st Class Regina Johnson, operations superintendent at the Military Working Dog School. "I see it all the time, especially in these young handlers. They make the mistake of thinking they're actually in charge. You've got to tell them, 'Hold up. That dog has trained 100 students. That dog is trying to tell you something.' I think the tradition grew out of a few handlers recognizing the dog as their partner."

Johnson said some "non-dog people" get offended when animals receive honors normally reserved for humans, but the tradition seems to be growing stronger. A quick search on the Army website will yield several recent stories about military working dogs receiving promotions, medals and funeral ceremonies with military honors.

The fact is these dogs and handlers save lives. "The more we're out there with the combat commanders, they see. They see that the dog just saved their Soldiers' lives. That dog just saved that entire platoon," Johnson emphasized.