Transportation Security Administration opens canine training centre

The Transportation Security Administration has announced opening of a new canine training centre at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, the US.

The new 25,000 ft2 facility is intended to support the mission to provide, train and certify highly effective explosives detection canine teams.

This facility has seven new classrooms and a 100-seat auditorium and administrative space, besides a parking lot and courtyard.

The new building is a partnership among TSA, JBSA-Lackland and the US Army Corps of Engineers, which built the facility in a just more than a year.

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger said that the new $12m training facility is "an ideal complement to the existing training center campus, where our canines and their handlers come to learn the skills necessary to demonstrate proficiency in four key elements: the canine’s ability to recognize explosives odors, the handler’s ability to interpret the canine’s change of behavior, the handler’s ability to conduct logical and systematic searches and the team’s ability to locate the explosives odor source."

The programme outgrew the original facility, which was located on base but not adjacent to where the dogs and handlers train at venues that replicate real-life scenarios.

The new centre is now across the street from the field training center and kennels. The structure will be certified at the LEED Silver standard for sustainability set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design of the U.S. Green Building Council.

This energy-efficient, water-conserving building was erected using green resources and materials as part of federal leadership in sustainable construction.