 Al's current partner is Caesar, a Belgian Malinois dog. Caesar is a Human Remains Detection Dog. Some of their current K9 Certifications are: LETS Cadaver, Virginia Dept. of Emergency Management Cadaver, along with Maryland State Police and DNR Police current state SAR requirements.
Al and his dogs have helped in bringing closure to numerous search missions over the last 20 years. In addition, they responded to well known incidents such as the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Hurricane Fran in North Carolina, Atlanta Olympics, the F-3 Tornado that touched down at the University of Maryland in 2001, and the Pentagon-911. From 1991 through 1997, he was a canine search specialist with FEMA and Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. Over the years Al and his canines have received numerous awards for their work from various State, Federal agencies, and politicians including personally receiving the State of Oklahoma medal of valor from then Governor Keating and President Clinton for Al and Silke's response to the Oklahoma City bombing. Through the years he has attended numerous seminars and courses, such as: 1990 - National Rescue K-9 School, Bar Harbor, ME 1991 - SAR Techniques for K-9 Handlers and Dogs, Quebec, CN 1991 - K-9 Cadaver Workshop, VDEM 1992 - Managing Search Operations, VDEM 1992 - INSARG Canine Training, Camp Bennett, MD 1994 - FEMA's Canine Training Course, Camp Atterbury, IN 1995 - International Symposium on Rescue Dogs in Boulder, CO 1998 - K-9 Specialty Search Associates, Basic Cadaver Dog Course, Kentucky 1998 - K-9 Specialty Search Associates, Advanced Cadaver Dog Course, W.Va. 1999 - Inland SAR Management at the National SAR School in Yorktown, VA 2000 - Rescue Systems 1 - Dallas, TX. 2000 - National Association of Search & Rescue SAR TECH II, Maryland. 2000 - National Association of Search & Rescue SAR TECH II Evaluator, Md. 2001 - DMORT Region III Training 2001 - Basic Forensic Anthropology Course - Arm Forces Institute of Pathology 2001 - NASAR Canine SARTECH III 2001 - NASAR State SAR Dog Coordinator 2002 - DMORT Region III Training 2003 - DMORT Region III Training 2004 - CERT Training 2004 - Practical Search Operations - VDEM 2004 - V.I.P. Maryland State Police (Central Maryland Crime Scene Team) 2005 - NIMS: IS-00195, IS-00700, IS-00800 2006 - Incident Commander for Ground SAR, VDEM 2010 - Law Enforcement Training Specialist International LETS Cadaver/HRD Cert. 2010 - Canfield K9 Training –HRD seminar 2010 – North American Police Work Dog Association, Associate Member Al lives in Rockville, Maryland. |
Al Rossi |