Canine Supply for Physical Security: An Analysis of the Royal Australian Air Force Military Working Dog Program

Abstract : The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is undergoing its largest peacetime acquisition of air assets, with increased demand on its physical security elements. Its military working dog (MWD) workforce is required to meet an inventory of 204 by end of year 2023 as a means to provide effective security for RAAF assets. This thesis conducts two areas of research. First, an econometric analysis of MWD gender, breed, and source against select dependent performance variables. Second, a fixed inventory Markov model is developed to determine how many MWDs need to be recruited between 2016 and 2023 to meet the increased quota. My results find that male and vendor-purchased MWDs outperform female and RAAF-bred MWDs, with varying results between German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois. The Markov model transition probabilities validate as sufficiently stationary and determine that 282 canines need to be recruited over the prescribed time period to meet the 204 required by end of year 2023.