Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 4 (CA-TF4)
Agency: San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District
Level: Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Labrador
Sex: Male
Born: May 28, 2018
Recruited from: Private Donor in Roggen, CO
Sponsors: The Joel and Dena Gambord Family
Named in honor SDF’s partnership with the United States Navy and the construction work their Seabees completed on our campus
Navy (formerly Maverick) and his brother, Curly, grew up on a ranch in the Southwest. With horses to play with and countryside to explore, these black Labrador Retrievers had plenty to keep them busy and expend their seemingly endless energy. Then the littermates moved to Colorado, where they began training for blood-sugar level detection, which means they would be paired with diabetes patients, typically younger children. This form of detection training allows the children to attend school with their companion service animal at their side to ensure their safety. Not long after beginning training, it became clear that Navy had too much energy for this line of work and that partnering him with a young child would not be successful.
In light of this, Navy’s trainer put him on a rubble pile to test his footing and desire for the toy. After he and his brother both easily flew across the pile, the trainer reached out to SDF and began making arrangements for the brothers to fly to California and enter our search and rescue training program.
SDF volunteer Tim Turpin picked them up at the Los Angeles International Airport and brought them to their new home at our National Training Center.
Once at SDF, Maverick was renamed Navy to honor SDF’s partnership with the United States Navy and the construction work their Seabees completed on our campus.
He excelled in all areas of the training program and graduated on December 11, 2020, when he was paired with Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Medley of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. The new team returned home to train with their California Task Force 4 (CA-TF4) teammates in Oakland and made regular trips back to SDF for follow-up training with our staff.
Their hard work paid off when Brian and Navy achieved certification by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on April 24, 2021, in the Bay Area! This certification allows the team to deploy locally with their department, as well as nationally, with CA-TF4 when larger disasters strike.
The first call to action came on August 29, 2021, when members of CA-TF4 deployed as a Type 3 resource to the Gulf States as Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4. Brian and Navy went to assist in locating persons missing due to the devastation and flooding in the region.
Brian and Navy continue to train with their task force to be ready the next time communities need them.