WHO WE ARE
United States War Dog Association (USWDA) was established in 2000 by 5 dog handlers(Ron Aiello, Bucky Grimm, Bob Cicero, Bob Thompson, and Al Gunderson) who served in Vietnam. Representing the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force, they found a common bond through K-9 and formed an organization to honor war dogs; past, present, and future. USWDA started with a mission of raising money to dedicate a memorial to honor the legacy of war dogs.
The USWDA Memorial was dedicated in 2006. During this time, military working dog teams started deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan so, a new mission was born, support the current dog teams through care packages. Throughout the years, USWDA established new programs to fill in gaps of much needed support to the K-9 community and it typically was initiated from a conversation with current dog handlers. The shared bond between a nonprofit ran by dog handlers and the dog handlers currently serving was instrumental in the growth and development of USWDA.
Over the last 21 years USWDA has donated to or gifted K-9 memorials to honor our war dog legacy, shipped over 30,000 care packages to dog handlers serving overseas, and we are currently supporting over 1,000 retired military working dogs through our prescription program. 2021 is a big transition year for USWDA as a new board members have started to phase in which also consist of military dog handlers who served overseas. Please follow us as this journey continues. We are very excited for the future of this organization.
OUR MISSION
Mission Statement: Honoring our nation’s war dogs and their handlers, past, present, and future.
Vision: Our vision is to provide support throughout the life cycle of a military working dog and promote the distinguished history of their invaluable service.
Objectives: To accomplish our mission, we have the following objectives:
- Sending care packages to K-9 teams currently deployed.
- Providing working dogs with necessary equipment both overseas and in the US.
- Recognizing military working dogs who are retiring through our awards program.
- Facilitating a free prescription drug program for retired working dogs.
- Providing funds for The Rainbow Bridge Assistance Program Memorializing K-9 Heroes.
- Educating the public about the service and sacrifice of military working dogs.
Chapters: Through our US War Dog Association Chapters, we support additional objectives:
- Transporting veteran war dogs back to the U.S. after their service.
- Finding homes for retired K9s
- Train service dogs for Veterans with a disabling medical condition(s).