At The Brownstone restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, the founder of a small but mighty nonprofit organization and its sponsors gathered on November 14 to honor Rich Farley and other veterans. Farley received Jack — a highly trained service dog — a few years ago, thanks to the work of J.T. Gabriel’s nonprofit organization, K9 Soldiers, and its benefactors.
Gabriel’s organization had a mission: to acquire and “re-home” retired military dogs owned by the Department of Defense. Since its inception in 2008, the group has expanded on that mission, and today the Argos Project, operating under the banner of K9 Warriors, connects disabled veterans with service dogs that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“I’ve got big, strong war fighters who get on their knees when they’re given their dogs and just cry. These dogs are their lifeline,” Gabriel told LifeZette. “These soldiers realize that their new dog is a miracle that will help them get back to normalcy.”
Recipients of these special dogs are often Purple Heart-decorated warriors, noted Gabriel. The Argos Project’s focus is on Special Forces operators. The group receives referrals primarily through SOCOM (the U.S.’s Special Operations Command) out of Brooke Army Medical Center’s for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. It also receives referrals through word-of-mouth via the very close-knit Special Forces community.
With great pride, Gabriel noted she’s been able to provide a dozen former Special Ops soldiers with dogs. Her first special operator recipient, in fact, was a pararescue jumper — or a “PJ.” These individuals call themselves the quiet professionals, as much of what this elite force does is accomplished with little if any public fanfare.
According to Gabriel, when soldiers are in dire straits, they call on the PJs. These PJs parachute into the zone and fight their way past the enemy to get to a downed pilot, an injured Marine, or an embattled SEAL — and then they battle their way back to safety. They are highly trained combat medics, numbering only about 500 in the country.
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“If I were in a car wreck on the highway, and I had a choice between an emergency room doctor and a PJ, I’d take the PJ without even thinking twice about it,” she said.
Gabriel refers to the Argos Project’s recipients as “my guys.” She fondly notes that four of her “guys” are PJs who were featured in the book “Guardian Angel Life and Death Adventures with Pararescue, the World’s Most Powerful Commando Rescue Force,” by USAF Senior Master Sgt. William Sine.
The dogs that Gabriel’s PJs, SEALS, Rangers, and other military heroes receive must go through extensive and specialized training; they learn to perform tasks and duties identified by their future owners. Each dog is trained for a specific veteran to perform specific tasks.
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Some dogs, for example, learn to work with veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Others are trained to identify dangerous swings in blood sugar for veterans with diabetes. Still others perform tasks essential to those veterans who have sustained combat-related and traumatic brain injuries.
This specialized training is pricey, as is the cost — from beginning to end — of connecting a service member with his specially trained dog. The cost runs as high as about $15,000 for each veteran-and-dog pair. Gabriel has provided about 30 dogs so far, thanks to sponsorships from companies such as BAE Systems, among others.
The Argos Project/K9 Soldiers group flies recipient veterans and their spouses or caregivers to and from New Jersey, and puts them up at a local hotel. They typically stay several days, during which they become acquainted with their new service animal.
Gabriel’s organization funds the purchase of the dogs, the training of the dogs, the associated veterinary bills, and all other incidental expenses. Veterans who receive the animals pay nothing — and Gabriel wants to keep it that way. In Gabriel’s words, these Special Forces heroes deserve “the white glove treatment,” and she has made it her mission to provide just that.
Though she wishes she could do more, Gabriel’s organization does not have the means to grant every veteran’s request. Their administrative office in Flemington, New Jersey, for example, was recently in urgent need of exterior repairs but was cash-strapped. A local painting company, CertaPro, took on the task and provided about $10,000 worth of pro bono service to get the historic home back into shape.
“I’ve got big, strong war fighters who get on their knees when they’re given their dogs and just cry. These dogs are their lifeline,” Gabriel told LifeZette. “These soldiers realize that their new dog is a miracle that will help them get back to normalcy.”
Not unlike the quiet professionals of the PJs, CertaPro owner Bob Jamrog didn’t want to be in the limelight for his generous gift. He told LifeZette, “We basically try to live by the Golden Rule at CertaPro. That’s why our company’s color is gold, actually. I’ve personally been extremely blessed in my life, and I’m a strong advocate of paying it forward.” Sherwin-Williams of Flemington donated the paint.
The Argos Project’s Flemington office is still in need of a boiler, some plumbing and electrical work, and several other big-ticket items. The group hopes, for example, to make some renovations on the first floor of the small building to add a kitchenette and to make it more accessible to veterans, many of whom are amputees or have other physical disabilities that make mobility quite challenging in the old Victorian home.
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Other needs are less financially intensive — but they’re still vital to the small nonprofit. Last summer, for example, a special sign with the angel-winged German shepherd logo was stolen from the yard just five days after it was installed. On hearing of the theft of the sign this week, Jessica Wallace, proprietor of Chirp Marketplace, volunteered to replace it.
Right now, Gabriel largely runs her 501(c)(3) nonprofit from her home near Frenchtown, New Jersey.
To learn more about the Argos Project/K9 Soldiers, visit their website. Michele Blood is a freelance writer with a passion for children’s literature. Based in Flemington, New Jersey, she leverages her background in psychology in her work for publishers, businesses and NPOs.
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