Friends and Neighbors: Doug Provance

Although Doug Provance grew up in Trenton, Missouri and graduated there from Grandview High School in 1981, Kimball is home.

Provance met the lady who would later become his wife, Jennifer, when they both worked as military police officers in security for the United States Air Force at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

They married in 1983 and when Jennifer, a Kimball native, was due to have their first child, Zach, she decided to quit the military after two years of service. The young family, including children Zach and Jenna, moved to Kimball in the mid 1990s.

Provance worked for the Kimball County Sheriff's Office and then for the Kimball Police Department for seventeen years, eventually as the Chief. After five years as Kimball's Chief of Police, Provance retired, in 2011.

Following his retirement from the local police department, in Nov. 2011, Provance began training with his canine, Cobra, at the AMK9 Company in San Antonio, Texas, to ready them to work as private security at the American Embassy as the Baghdad Security Force, or BSF, in Baghdad.

AMK9 Company, started in 2003, has worked with the US Department of Defense to achieve a certification standard for contract working dogs.

The company implemented standards in the performance and training of the working dogs and used the service dogs to protect men and women overseas in their missions and appointments.

Provance and Cobra left for their commitment in Baghdad, Iraq, that same year. Provance explained that he couldn't offer many details of their time there but that they worked discovering explosives, as Cobra's official title was an Explosives Detector Dog.

The embassy in Baghdad recently released a statement on the subject of explosives in the region, reading in part: "Today the U.S. Embassy announced new U.S. funding worth $5 million to assist in safely clearing explosive hazards in Ramadi, an essential first step to supporting Iraqi authorities as they repair key infrastructure and help displaced families return home. This new initiative reaffirms our continued commitment to building a strong partnership with Iraq and the Iraqi people."

"You have confidence in your dog and you have confidence in your abilities," Provance said of his work with Cobra in Baghdad. "We're going to get through this."

In October of 2015 while on leave, Provance said he realized that he was missing out on so many changes while he was gone, including his children and their growing families – he was ready to retire from working at the Embassy.

Provance retired this past January, but his K-9 partner, Cobra, was officially retired in October of 2015 due to his age, though he is only eight years old, because of the incredibly hot climate in that region of Iraq, which can wear on the animal.

"AMK9 is excellent in working with someone who wants to get their dog back. They are top-notch about that," Provance said. "There is a lot of misconception about this, that the dogs are left behind, all sorts of rumors. Not in any way, shape or form, are the dogs left behind. We, as handlers for AMK9, have first right of refusal. Those who knew us there, knew that we were extremely attached." Therefore, Provance had no doubt from the beginning of Cobra's retirement that he wanted to adopt his partner.

Following his retirement from duty, Cobra was placed with a couple in Pennsylvania as a "foster" dog, until Provance could reclaim him. Provance met Cobra's foster parents in Iowa a couple of weeks ago to bring Cobra home.

Now at home with Cobra, Provance plans to relax and hang out with grandchildren, Roslynn, 8 and Damon, 2 ½.

Now that the Provance children are parents, and since both Provance and Cobra are retired, Provance said they plan on just 'hanging out' and enjoying the grandchildren.

"It was time to come home," he concluded.