Southern Pines, N.C. (February 16, 2016) – We at K2 Solutions hope that the following information will clarify K2’s involvement in the US Army’s Tactical Explosive Device Detector Dog (TEDD) program. Please understand that due to contractual restrictions, we are not at liberty to discuss the details of the program or the people who administered it. We would, however, welcome an official governmental investigation of how the adoption of the TEDD dogs was conducted.
In 2013, the US Army awarded the contract for the TEDD program to Davis Page Management Systems (DPMS) of Annandale, Virginia over incumbent contract holder Vohne Liche Kennels of Denver, Indiana. K2, as a subcontractor to DPMS, was engaged to provide the canine and handler training to the TEDD program.
At the direction of the TEDD Program Manager and DPMS, K2 canine transportation professionals traveled to the Vohne Liche Kennels to pick up all of the government-owned TEDD dogs and transport them to the K2 Canine Training Center in Derby, North Carolina. For the subsequent year, K2’s canine professionals then provided training to the Army’s TEDD dogs and handlers before they were deployed to Afghanistan to detect hidden and buried IEDs.
In February of 2014, the Army discontinued the TEDD program. As the dogs came back from deployment, they were kenneled and cared for at K2 while the Office of the Provost Marshall General (OPMG) and DPMS set up and administered the adoption process. An OPMG representative was present at K2 during all of that time to provide governmental oversight of the disposition of the dogs. K2 played no role and had no say in the adoption process of any of the dogs. K2 simply turned the dogs over to the government-approved recipients. It must be emphasized that the TEDD dogs never “belonged” to K2, and that no one affiliated with K2 was compensated as a result of the adoption process. Nor did we retain any of the dogs for use in any other program. Any inquiries regarding the adoption of the TEDDs should be directed to Office of the Provost Marshall General of the United States Army. The website for OPMG is http://www.army.mil/opmg, and you can request information by using the “contact us” link on the left side of the page.
We at K2 are incredibly proud of the work we do training dogs and handlers for various US Military, Law Enforcement and Commercial entities. We are equally proud of the important work we do training Emotional Support, Therapy and Service Dogs for Veterans suffering from the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress. We also pride ourselves on our Veteran and Service-Disabled Veteran focus. In recognition of our work with and for former and current service members, we have been awarded several Veterans’ Awards including the American Legion of North Carolina Employer of Veterans Award 2010, the National American Veterans (AMVETS) Employer of the Year (2011), and the Disabled American Veterans Large Employer of the Year (2011 & 2012). Our mission at K2 has always been and will always be to provide solutions that support the American warfighter.