Canine Ground Search Specialist™ Certification

BACKGROUND:  AERIE’S LONGSTANDING PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN THAT CANINE HANDLERS MUST BE FULLY KNOWLEDGEABLE IN ALL TACTICAL ASPECTS OF A SEARCH INCIDENT.  SIMPLY MANAGING A CANINE PARTNER IS NOT SUFFICIENT.  THE HANDLER MUST UNDERSTAND AND BE COMPETENT IN TRAVELING AND SEARCHING THROUGH THE MULTITUDE OF DIFFERENT SAR ENVIRONMENTS INCLUDING URBAN AND WILDERNESS.  SAFETY AND TRAVEL SKILLS ARE OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE IN THE PROTECTION OF ALL MEMBERS OF THE CANINE UNIT.  THE HANDLER MUST BE ABLE TO SEARCH FOR AND ACCESS CLUES THAT MAY NOT BE RELEVANT TO THE CAPABILITIES OF THEIR CANINE PARTNER.  THEY MUST ALSO BE COMPETENT IN NAVIGATION.  SUCH NAVIGATION INCLUDES THE USE OF MAPS, GPS AND COMPASS WHETHER IN URBAN OR WILDERNESS ENVIRONMENTS.  AS WITH ALL GROUND SEARCHERS, THE HANDLER MUST HAVE A FULL UNDERSTANDING AND BE PROFICIENT IN APPLYING CRIME SCENE PRESERVATION, BLOOD BORNE PATHOGENS, CPR AND FIRST AID SKILLS.

DUE TO THE NECESSITY OF VERIFYING THE CANINE HANDLER’S GROUND SEARCH SKILLS, AERIE HAS REQUIRED THAT CANINE HANDLER CANDIDATES FOR AERIE CANINE SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION BE CURRENTLY CERTIFIED AS AN AERIE SARRESPONDER™ 2 OR NASAR SARTECH™ II, PRIOR TO BEING ACCEPTED FOR FIELD TESTING AS A CANINE SEARCH SPECIALIST™.  AS THE AERIE CERTIFICATION REQUIRES THE COMPLETION OF THE AERIE SARRESPONDER™ COURSE AND THE NASAR CERTIFICATION IS UNLIKELY TO BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT FIRST COMPLETING THE NASAR FUNSAR™ COURSE, MANY “CANINE HANDLERS” HAVE ELECTED TO OBTAIN LESS RIGOROUS CREDENTIALS OR EVEN FOREGO CANINE CERTIFICATION.  THIS LACK OF CREDIBLE CERTIFICATION HAS CAUSED MUCH CONCERN WITHIN THE AGENCIES HAVING JURISDICTION OVER SAR INCIDENTS.

IN ORDER TO FACILITATE CANINE HANDLERS ACHIEVING CERTIFICATION IN THEIR CANINE SPECIALTY, WHILE ADHERING TO THE PROPER STANDARDS OF VALIDATING THE HANDLER’S OVERALL SEARCH COMPETENCY, AERIE HAS DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING CANINE GROUND SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.

1. PREREQUISITES: THE CANDIDATE MUST FURNISH DOCUMENTATION OF SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE FOLLOWING COURSES:  (FEMA) IS-100, BLOOD-BORNE PATHOGENS, CRIME SCENE PRESERVATION, CPR AND FIRST AID.  THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT OR RECURRENCY REQUIRED ONCE THE CANDIDATE HAS COMPLETED THE APPLICABLE COURSE.
2. WRITTEN TESTING: THE CANDIDATE MUST SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE THE AERIE ONLINE SARRESPONDER™ 3 WRITTEN EXAM.  THE STUDY/PREPARATION TEXT FOR THIS EXAMINATION IS THE AERIE SARAWARE™ TEXTBOOK.  THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON.COM.   UPON COMPLETION OF THE SARRESPONDER™ 3 EXAMINATION, THE CANDIDATE WILL ALSO BE AWARDED THAT LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION.
3.  AFFIDAVIT OF FIELD TRAINING: AS AERIE WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN ANY FIELD TRAINING OR TESTING OF THE CANDIDATE’S GROUND SEARCH COMPETENCY, DOCUMENTATION WILL BE REQUIRED OF THE CANDIDATE, VERIFYING THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED APPROPRIATE TRAINING IN THE FIELD SKILLS REQUIRED OF THE CANINE GROUND SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION.  A DOCUMENT WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE CANDIDATE’S AGENCY/TEAM UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE AERIE ONLINE WRITTEN EXAMINATION.   THIS DOCUMENTATION WILL CONTAIN A DETAILED LISTING OF THE SKILLS REQUIRED TO BE DEMONSTRATED BY THE CANDIDATE.   THE DOCUMENT WILL BE SIGNED BY THE INSTRUCTOR/TRAINING OFFICER WHO CONDUCTED THE TRAINING FOR THE CANDIDATE AND SERVE AS AN AFFADAVIT THE CANDIDATE WAS FOUND COMPETENT IN THESE SKILLS AT THE TIME OF THE TRAINING.  AT THE TIME THIS PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED, THE CATEGORIES OF FIELD SKILLS INCLUDED:  ROAD/CITY & TOPOGRAPHIC MAP WORK (INCLUDING USNG COORDINATES, STRAIGHT LINE & ROAD DISTANCES), CLUE AWARENESS/SEARCH/ACQUISITION, FIELD NAVIGATION (INCLUDING GPS AND COMPASS NAVIGATION PLUS DISTANCE MEASURING NAVIGATION), COMMUNICATIONS, ICS ORGANIZATION & SAR INCIDENT SPECIFIC DOCUMENTATION, PHYSICAL FITNESS & OUTDOOR SURVIVAL, PARTICIPATION IN SAR EXERCISES UNDER ICS GUIDELINES AND TRAINING AS A CANINE UNIT FLANKER OR WORKING WITH FLANKERS AS A CANINE HANDLER.  THESE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS NEW STANDARDS EVOLVE.

UPON COMPLETION OF THE ABOVE NOTED (3) STEPS, THE CANDIDATE WILL BE AWARDED THE AERIE CANINE GROUND SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION.  HANDLERS GAINING THE AERIE CANINE GROUND SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO CHALLENGE AERIE CANINE SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION EXAMINATIONS WITHOUT HAVING FIRST GAINED THE AERIE SARRESPONDER™ 2 OR NASAR SARTECH™ II CERTIFICATIONS.  CANDIDATES WHO HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED AERIE SARRESPONDER™ 2 OR NASAR SARTECH™ II CERTIFICATION WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO CHALLENGE ALL AERIE CANINE SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATIONS WITHOUT HAVING TO ATTAIN THE AERIE CANINE GROUND SEARCH SPECIALIST™ CERTIFICATION.