A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) explosives detection canine who works at LaGuardia airport is featured in the free downloadable TSA 2024 monthly calendar that features its explosives detection canines from across the country.
Gini-Gina is a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois who works with her handler, Julie Guevara, at LaGuardia Airport. The dog was named after Gina Sztejnberg (pronounced Steinberg), 52, formerly of Ridgewood, N.J., who worked as a database architect consultant on the 96thfloor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, when she was murdered by terrorists.
“Gina is a lovable and hard-working dog who enjoys playing tug-of-war when she finds the training aid during training exercises,” Guevara said. “Gina loves to be petted and especially loves getting petted on her rear end.”
Guevara, like her dog, has a special connection to the events of September 11. She worked at the World Trade Center (WTC) as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for the New York Fire Department on the day that the terrorists hit the WTC. After the towers fell, she worked for several weeks alongside the search and rescue team at the World Trade Center site, and in the months that followed, she served on the recovery team on site. In 1993, Guevara also served as an EMT when terrorists first attempted to take down the World Trade Center by detonating explosives in the parking garage beneath the building complex.
“It is an honor to continue to serve and to do so alongside Gina, who was named to honor the memory of Ms. Sztejnberg,” Guevara said.
TSA trains each of its explosives detection canines at the TSA Canine Training Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio – Lockland in San Antonio, Texas. Considered the “Center for Excellence” for explosives detection canine training, the TSA National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest explosives detection canine program.
About 300 canines complete the training annually. Each canine recruit spends 16 weeks in training, where they meet their handlers, socialize to adapt to busy airport environments and learn their craft of detecting a variety of explosive odors before reporting to their duty stations.
Each canine and its handler serve as a reliable resource for detecting explosives as well as providing a visible deterrent to terrorism directed towards various types of transportation nodes. Once on duty, these canines work to safeguard passengers and cargo across the nation’s transportation systems.
This year’s calendar features fun facts and great photos of a few of TSA’s dedicated canines selected from dozens of entries submitted by canine teams from across the agency to help TSA celebrate National Dog Day in August.
TSA has more than 1,000 canine handler teams deployed in support of security and screening operations nationwide. The explosives detection canine teams inspect passengers and all areas in and around terminals. They are so effective at their jobs that other public and private sector law enforcement agencies often request their support for similar security missions.
