A Navy Region Southeast petty officer enjoyed a unique career opportunity recently when she was selected to serve as part of the Department of Defense military working-dog coordination detail for the 2019 United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Melinda Mowery served as one of four coordinators managing 84 working-dog teams handling security planning in the weeks leading up to the assembly and the sweeps throughout the week-long event.

It was an opportunity she thoroughly appreciated.

"Going to New York City for a month is a great experience, and I had the chance to meet many influencing and knowledgeable people," she said. "The Secret Service agents were extremely accommodating, and I couldn't have asked for a better team to work with."

The United Nations General Assembly is the main deliberative and policy making body of the U.N. All 193 members of the U.N. are present, making it the only U.N. gathering that has universal representation. President Donald Trump attended the general assembly and addressed the assembled dignitaries.

Planning for the General Assembly started in June to prepare for the dignitaries arriving Sept. 21. The assembly ended Sept. 28 with a day or two of wrap-up work before she was able to return home.

Mowery and the other coordinators served 12-hour shifts in the command center and coordinated working dogs and handlers to perform planned, and sometimes unplanned, security sweeps in response to requests from agents in the field. Anywhere the VIPs went had to be checked by the teams in addition to more than 50 static security sites including specific checkpoints in Manhattan.

This was not Mowery's first time working with the Secret Service. She has worked security as a K-9 handler for the 2016 Presidential Inauguration, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, a Las Vegas presidential debate, and as part of President Barack Obama's security detail in Martha's Vineyard.

As a regional trainer at Navy Region Southeast, Mowery provides training assistance and helps coordinate schedules for the 13 kennels and the handlers within the regions area of responsibility. Her prior experience is part of why she was selected for the assignment.

"They wanted people in leadership roles who were capable of intense scheduling," she said. "They also wanted prior K-9 experience working with the secret service, and when you get a chance to work with people like that, it's always the best part of the job."

The 12-year Sailor has worked as part of the K-9 community from the start of her career. She attended Military Working Dog Handlers course immediately after graduating from Masters-at-Arms "A" school. Mowery has been forward deployed to both Bahrain and Djibouti in between assignments to Kings Bay, Georgia; Bangor, Washington; and Groton, Connecticut. before her current duties with the region. She completed Kennel Master school in 2017.

Jerry Taylor, the assistant force protection officer for Navy Region Southeast, thinks her skills made her a tremendous asset for the General Assembly assignment.

"She is a fine trainer and is incredibly dedicated to her profession," he said. "Mowery is very attuned to the handlers and the needs of the dogs. She is a real leader and we are lucky to have her."

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