BIRD STRIKE CONTROL PROGRAM

• Complete Wildlife Control Packages For military airfields that either do not have the required personnel in place to handle a dog or have a high turnover rate of personnel (due to reassignment, for example), BCR offers complete wildlife control packages - including wildlife control personnel, trained dogs, vehicles, and variable secondary control equipment. With the complete package, the dog(s) remain the responsibility of BCR and BCR staff members are charged with the overall harassment duties of wildlife control at the airbase. BCR wildlife control personnel house and handle the dog(s) as well as collect bird population data, monitor perimeter fencing, trap wildlife as needed, and coordinate airfield habitat management. Additionally, BCR wildlife control personnel recommend, develop and implement new control methods and procedures in conjunction with base command and other wildlife control/safety units.



• Custom-Trained Dogs For airbases that do have the required personnel in place to handle wildlife control (without turnover) and are looking to include a dog into their wildlife program, BCR offers custom-trained dogs, specifically prepared for that airbase. BCR's dogs are not simply trained for bird control work and then placed with the next facility that garners the requisite funds. Every airbase environment is unique (from the wildlife that are to be harassed down to the vehicle that transports the dog) and each dog is precisely qualified for the specific airfield environment after months of specialized training. Dogs are put through an initial four to five month training regimen and then an individual dog is selected from the group and trained in the requisite tasks of the airfield for an additional four to five month period.



• Consulting and Training Services For those airfields that already have a Border Collie provided by BCR or are simply interested in learning more about wildlife control at their airfield, BCR offers expert training and consulting services in Border Collie handling and overall wildlife control. BCR personnel are trained not only in handling dogs but are also wildlife management experts with the skills, education, and experience necessary to help formulate new wildlife control programs or upgrade existing ones. Consultation and training are achieved either by phone, or more often, on-site with direct interaction with airfield personnel.

Most military bases require the complete wildlife control package, including our management officers. Compared to the damage that a single bird strike can cause to a multimillion jet fighter or commercial airliner, it is an investment well worth the cost.

Costs to Military Due to the high-priced nature of military aircraft, repair costs for the U.S. Air Force can balloon even higher. The special composite materials of today's modern fighter jet makes even the smallest dent in the aircraft shell overwhelmingly expensive to repair. Dover AFB, for example, loses roughly $600,000 a year to bird strikes in replacement parts alone. This does not include downtime for the aircraft, labor costs, or repair crew transport costs. Even dumping the fuel on a forced precautionary landing for one of Dover's C-5 cargo planes can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Every three or four years, however, this figure jumps to $3 to 5 million in parts, when a more serious bird strike takes out an engine. The loss of a single small jet fighter can be even more costly. Since these aircraft generally rely on small twin turbojet engines, loss of a single engine in flight, particularly at takeoff or landing, is oftentimes catastrophic and frequently results in the total loss of the aircraft. Pilots are normally able to eject safely but the aircraft is destroyed. Replacing the jet is exceedingly expensive. The cost of a new F-22 Raptor fighter jet, for example, is approximately $166 million.


Our Border Collies "have got your wing" - as if they were riding in the cockpit themselves.

Cost in Lives

On September 22, 1995, a U.S. Air Force 707 E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) plummeted to earth after striking more than 34 Canada geese during takeoff at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The plane fell from the sky in the dense woods just beyond the runway after ingesting five Canada geese into its numbers one and two engines. A huge fireball erupted skyward as the aircraft, loaded with 125,000 pounds of jet fuel, slammed into the ground. All 24 crewmembers were killed and the $270 million aircraft was destroyed. Before this fateful day, E-3Bs boasted a spotless safety record -- this was the first crash of an AWACS plane since the Air Force began using them in 1977.

Because of this and many other similar events, the U.S. Air Force is certainly mindful of the massive bird strike problem existing at their air bases. All USAF bases must maintain comprehensive bird hazard avoidance programs (BASH programs) and assemble bird hazard working groups (BHWG) to attack the problem. With responsibilities for more than 188 air bases, the task faced by the USAF is a monumental one. The Canadian Air Force, the British Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the Israeli Air Force have similar program requirements.