Q: It was reported that a dog was used by Navy SEALs in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. What branch of military service trained this dog? Also, what breed of dog is used by the SEALs?
—William McKee Jr., Flowery Branch
A: It's thought the dog was either a German shepherd or Belgian Malinois, which are favored by the military, The New York Times reported earlier this month. The article stated that the military uses a variety of dogs, including a growing number of Labrador retrievers. The most common are German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, which "have the best overall combination of keen sense of smell, endurance, speed, strength, courage, intelligence and adaptability to almost any climatic condition," according to a fact sheet from the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The Department of Defense oversees the school, but the U.S. Air Force's 341st Training Squadron "has the mission of operating this program," according to the fact sheet.
Q: Why does Georgia Power require a caller to give them a complete Social Security Number when calling in a power outage after having given them your home address and telephone number?
—Joseph Dabney, Atlanta
A: When speaking with Georgia Power customer service representatives about a specific account, customers are asked for the last four digits of their Social Security Number in order to verify they are the authorized user of the account, spokesman Jeff Wilson told Q&A on the News. "This adds another layer of security to access a customer account," he wrote in an email.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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