The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issues an annual calendar to honor its explosives detection canines from across the country. For the first time ever, TSA is making the 2021 TSA Canine Calendar available to the public.
TSA trains each of its explosives detection canines at the TSA Canine Training Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland in San Antonio, Texas. Considered the “Center for Excellence” for explosives detection canine training, the TSA National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest explosives detection canine program.
About 300 canines complete the training annually. Each canine recruit spends 16 weeks in training where they meet their handlers, socialize to adapt to busy airport environments, and learn their craft of detecting a variety of explosive odors before reporting to their duty stations.
Each canine and their handler serves as a reliable resource for detecting explosives as well as providing a visible deterrent to terrorism directed towards various types of transportation nodes. Once on duty, these canines work to safeguard passengers and cargo across the nation’s transportation systems.
This year’s 2021 TSA Canine Calendar features fun facts and great photos of about 13 dedicated canines selected from dozens of entries submitted by canine teams from across the agency to help TSA celebrate National Dog Day in August. This year’s annual calendar canine selections came from the following airports:
- Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
- Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- McCarran International Airport (LAS)
- Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Oakland International Airport (OAK)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
- Portland International Airport (PDX)
- Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
TSA has more than 1,000 canine handler teams deployed in support of security and screening operations nationwide. The explosives detection canine teams inspect passengers and all areas in and around terminals. They are so effective at their jobs that other public and private sector law enforcement agencies often request their support for similar security missions.
Aside from making this year’s calendar available for download to the public as a PDF file, TSA will celebrate those selected for this year’s canine calendar across its social media platforms.
