No Ordinary Dog: A Snippet of the True Story of the Dog in the Osama bin Laden Mission

The relationship between SEAL Team Operator and military dog handler, Will Chesney, and Belgian Malinois, Cairo, is profound and goes beyond friendship and the usual ties that unite man and dog. The training is experiential and all-encompassing, a round-the-clock immersion designed to foster expertise and an attachment of uncommon depth and complexity. From the moment Chesney first met Cairo until he was forced to let go a decade later when cancer felled the spirited fighting machine, this was a special union, sometimes separated by thousands of miles, and on other occasions a few feet.

While Chesney trained hard to be a SEAL, Cairo trained just as hard. This included challenges like scent detection, bite work, command response, desensitization to sound, and physical training. Finally, it was time to put the hard work into practice. Their first deployment as a team was in Afghanistan in June 2009, a four-month assignment. And, on one of their first missions, Cairo sustained life-threatening injuries to the chest and a leg following a firefight with insurgents. Fortunately, he was treated quickly in the field by a former combat medic before being flown to Bagram Airfield, the closest military base with a veterinary staff. Then, the 4-year-old Cairo was flown to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, home of the Department of Defense Military Working Dog Program and the premier canine medical care and rehabilitation facilities, for treatment.

The Navy eventually determined that the revitalized Cairo would not be retired, rather become a spare dog, ready for his next call. Then, Chesney’s team was assigned to a dive training trip to Florida, a chance for him to sharpen his water skills, and then on to jumpmaster school in Arizona. On the second day in Arizona, without explanation, he suddenly received orders to return home to Virginia and to pick up Cairo upon arrival.  

This set in motion what was to become the most secretive and famous mission ever for a Navy SEAL Team — Operation Neptune Spear. We know it ended with the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, but many don’t know that Cairo was the mission’s star. During Operation Neptune Spear on May 2, 2011, Cairo performed bomb and insurgent sniffing tasks while the team gathered intelligence and the Belgian Malinois machine protected the team during the entire operation. Both Cairo and Chesney were assigned to perimeter duties for the target.  

But the story doesn’t end there. As with many soldiers, Chesney battled PTSD and TBI, (Traumatic Brain Injury) and was unable to find a medical treatment to relieve either until… Cairo! What helped was stopping by the kennel to play with the then-8-year-old Cairo. In 2013, Chesney heard Cairo would be retired, triggering a desperate desire to adopt him. Though their reunion brought joy, it was short-lived. Cairo's health rapidly declined, and on April 2, 2015, he was euthanized due to stomach cancer.  Cairo was posthumously awarded the Animals in War and Peace Medal of Bravery in 2022. Chesney wrote No Ordinary Dog to honor Cairo's memory and to bring attention to military working dogs.