WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released its annual calendar today, which honors the agency’s more than 1,000 explosives detection canines working in the United States. TSA’s 2022 Cutest Canine Contest winner, Eebbers, is featured on the cover of the 2023 TSA Canine Calendar.
Eebbers, now retired, is an 11-year-old explosives detection canine who worked at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He was named in memory of 19-year-old U.S. Army Pvt. James Ebbers who passed away on Oct. 14, 2002, in Djibouti, Africa, while assigned to the 551st Military Police Company, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
TSA uses canines as part of its multi-layered security operations nationwide. These highly skilled dogs are trained to detect the scent of explosives or explosive materials and are paired with handlers who use the working canine’s keen sense of smell when on duty throughout the nation’s transportation system.
Each canine recruit spends 16 weeks in training at the TSA Canine Training Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio. The canines meet their handlers, socialize to adapt to busy transportation environments, and learn their craft of detecting a variety of explosive odors before reporting to their duty stations. TSA trains about 300 canines each year.
The 2023 TSA Canine Calendar features photos and fun facts about each of this year’s 13 canine winners who were selected from dozens of entries submitted by TSA canine teams from across the country. This year’s canine selections came from the following airports in order of appearance in the calendar:
- EEbbers: Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
- Rossi: Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
- Messi: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
- Dusan: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
- Djole: LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Tex-Teepe: San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
- Ava: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
- Szonja: Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
- Shadow-Shaw: John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
- Tom-Magnum: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
- Teo: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
- Loki: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
- Egyes-Abel: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU)
Each canine and its handler serve as a reliable resource for detecting explosives as well as providing a visible deterrent to terrorism across all transportation modes. Once on duty, these canines work to safeguard passengers and cargo across the nation’s transportation systems. To find out more about what it is like to be an explosives detection canine handler, see our Explosives Detection Canine Handler video.
Visit TSA.gov for more information about TSA’s Explosives Detection Canine Program. The 2023 TSA Canine Calendar is now available for immediate download.