LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- From the western Kentucky tornadoes, to the eastern Kentucky floods, the Kentucky Air National Guard has been deployed to disasters across the commonwealth.

The Guard gets sent out at the drop of a hat when disaster strikes, but there's one four-legged member of the team that helps them get to people faster.

Even though she's currently on base, Kentucky Air National Guard Search and Rescue K-9 Callie is always ready to work.

"Rule of thumb, if I'm wearing eye or ear (protection), I'm gonna use some eye and ear protection for Callie as well," said Master Sgt. Rudy Parsons, Callie's handler. 

Callie's kid sister Pits is still learning the ropes. Parsons said he's been having the two jump around on unstable boxes on base as part of their training.

"Callie is the only search and rescue dog in the entire U.S. Military," he said. "She's able to fly in helicopters with us, skydive, anything that we could use to possibly get to someplace to affect a rescue."

Callie is certified to look for missing people in the wilderness, an avalanche, rubble piles or disaster areas. She's gone skydiving with Parsons 12 times.

Callie is the only search and rescue dog in the entire U.S. Military, and is ready to jump into action when disaster strikes.

"The amount that she brings and amplifies in our ability to rescue and recover is just incredible," he said. 

When disaster strikes, Callie and Parsons are the ones who get called.

"Our current method is carrying around big, cumbersome devices or just using our eyes and ears, which aren't very effective," Parsons said. "Callie is exponentially better at using her nose than we are, and she can really reduce the amount of time it takes for us to find that person which, in the long-run, those minutes count."

Parsons used an analogy of chili cooking on the stove. While people can smell the chili cooking, it's different for Callie.

"Callie walks in and she'll smell beef, tomatoes, garlic, onion, so she'll smell all those different ingredients," Parsons said. "So, when we're out there with our team, she's able to determine, you know, I'm the beef, that's the onion and that's the garlic, I smell tomatoes, but I don't see tomatoes. She'll start working out to see where those tomatoes are at, and then she'll indicate this is the tomatoes, this is the missing person that we're looking for, and then we'll get to work."

Parsons said a 36-hour search and rescue mission would take Callie just three hours. Most recently, the flooding in eastern Kentucky, where Callie found the four kids who were killed by the floodwaters.

IMAGES: Search and rescue K-9 Callie helps Kentucky Air National Guard when disaster strikes

"The good that we can find out of that is, at least they have closure on where their kids are at," said Parsons.

Their squadron was able to rescue more than a dozen others in the area.

Callie also helped in the recovery mission at the candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, after the December tornadoes.

"It really does have two sides of the coin. There's the hope and the joy that comes when you are able to help in a rescue and really save somebody's life, but then also the other side of the coin, the ugly side of the coin, that a lot of the times it's either too late or there was no ability to save that person," Parsons said.

The hope is that Callie's sister Pits will be the second search and rescue K-9 with the squadron in the next six to seven months.

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