Put this one on your calendar if you’re gonna be anywhere in Southern California on Saturday, July 11th. In fact, this event is so great, you might want to plan on making a special trip to SoCal for it, especially if you’re a veteran considering getting an assistance dog.
The Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) Southwest Regional Center in Oceanside, CA is hosting their second annual “CCI Salutes Independence” event, an open house for active duty military members, veterans, their families, and friends, from 11AM to 3PM on that date:
More details are available here: www.cci.org/salutes
Last year’s inaugural event was a HUGE success – around 400 people turned out for a day full of training demos, presentations from graduate teams, campus tours, and just plain old fun. Beyond that, there were a number of applications from veterans and subsequent assistance dog placements that were a direct result of the event.
I’ll tell ya, my hat’s off to the Southwest Region staff, because they have really led the way within CCI in working the veterans initiative. In the last year alone, for example, they’ve placed facility dogs at the Wounded Warrior Battalion – West at Camp Pendleton, the Oklahoma City VA hospital, and Naval Medical Center San Diego, Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care (C5) I know there are more individual veteran service dog placements on the way as well and I look forward to hearing and writing about those.
While the open house is targeted at military veterans, everyone is welcome, and it’s a tremendous opportunity to see the wonderful work that CCI does in a way you normally don’t get to see.
Don’t miss it!











I'm very active with Canine Companions for Independence as a volunteer, to include being a past member of the Veterans Task Force and puppy raiser. Retired US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant with my last assignments at the Air Force Academy as the Fourth Group Sergeant Major and Dean of Faculty Superintendent.