Ahmad Houston and Hecktor, who served together in the U.S. Air Force. Houston is a senior studying marketing at UMSL who also works in the UMSL Veterans Center. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)
Ahmad Houston was overjoyed when he reunited with Hecktor, a former military working dog, in Washington, D.C. in mid-March.
Now a student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Houston was first teamed up with Hecktor in 2021 when he became a dog handler with the 316th Air Wing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. He had initially joined the United States Air Force in 2018 and served as a Military Police Entry Controller in Japan before being upgraded to a dispatcher. Wanting to make the most of his time in the military and get more hands-on experience, Houston signed up for the dog handler classification in his field. After three and a half years in Japan, he spent three months training as a dog handler before he was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he was paired with Hecktor. From the start, the two were a perfect fit.
“It was amazing,” Houston said. “It was perfect. They usually try to pair you with a dog with a similar personality, and we match together pretty perfectly. I’d say we’re both very laidback, chill, nonchalant. We work pretty good under pressure. It was seamless work.”
Houston and Hecktor served together for about four years in Maryland, primarily working to detect possible explosives. They provided direct support to high-profile individuals such as the president, vice president and international dignitaries by executing comprehensive explosive detection dog operations to enhance security for the Air Force One complex, flight line, aircraft, equipment and facilities. After Joint Base Andrews, Houston and Hecktor were deployed to Saudia Arabia for about seven months before Houston returned to Maryland to start an internship.
For six months before leaving the military, Houston completed the SkillBridge internship program, which enables active-duty service members to participate in industry training, apprenticeships and internships toward the end of their service to help bridge the gap to civilian employment. On the advice of a career advisor in the military, who highly recommended he look into the field, he decided to pursue a career in marketing. For several months, he interned with SpringFree EV, a fintech company that aims to make electric vehicles more accessible. In this role, he helped design and implement cross-platform marketing campaigns to elevate brand awareness and engage key demographics through strategic client engagement and customer retention.
With his sights set on a career in marketing, in 2024 Houston transferred to UMSL from the University of Maryland Global Campus, where he started studying while still serving in the military. He had always planned to move back to St. Louis and said he’s loved his UMSL experience so far. In addition to studying marketing, he was selected as one of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship recipients earlier this year in recognition for his commitment to community service.
As one of 344 certified military-connected students at UMSL, Houston also works as a student assistant at UMSL’s Veterans Center, which offers resources to help military-connected students transition into college and the workforce. He assists fellow student veterans in navigating their VA education benefits, enrollment and campus resources and also contributes to outreach efforts and campus events that support veteran engagement and wellness.
Houston was first connected with the Veterans Center when he enrolled at UMSL and worked with manager Martina Meng to activate his benefits. Wanting to pay it forward and help out fellow veterans, he decided to start working in the center, which he said has been one of his favorite jobs so far.
“I’m not sure if every university has something like this,” Houston said. “It’s very unique, and I hope other schools follow suit. I think it’s so important for veterans like me and other veterans finally going back to school to have a network, or at least a first stop to come and see that they’re not alone. They can chill there. They can eventually branch off to other organizations and other programs in the school, but at least it can start here, where they know they have a home.”
On days he doesn’t have classes, Houston is often joined in the Veterans Center by Hecktor, whom he picked up in Washington, D.C. just a few weeks ago. Now 9 years old, Hecktor served in the Air Force until March 20 when his time in the military ended. Because dogs are given one rank higher than their handlers in the military and Hecktor worked with a technical sergeant before being paired with Houston, he retired as a master sergeant – a higher rank than anyone in the Veterans Center. Houston was excited to be reunited with Hecktor – who ran toward him as soon as he saw him – and is enjoying helping him adjust to retired life.
“Now, it’s just for me to give him the life he’s always deserved,” he said. “The way I treat him is pretty much the same, just spoil him and not overwork him and just let him be a dog, let him be free. Usually he’ll chill at my house, just sleeping on the couch or walking around. He loves it.”
Houston is on track to finish his degree in December but plans to walk the stage at commencement this spring alongside his co-workers in the Veterans Center. After graduating, he hopes to find a job in marketing and get more experience in the field, but he’d also like to pursue his passion as a voice actor. He’s started marketing himself to companies to lend voiceover services for commercials, corporate work and e-learning and has already helped his first client, a small indie author, with narration for a novel.
“There was one day I was sitting on my off day after studying very hard,” Houston said. “I’ve always heard various comments about my voice, how it’s a nice voice. ‘You should go into voiceover work.’ ‘You should tell ghost stories.’ ‘You should go into opera,’ stuff like that. I thought, you know what? I never really had time to dive into that since I had a much different life in the military. I thought, let me just try this. What’s going to stop me from doing this? At least give it one good try. And I’ve loved it ever since.”
Student Veterans Week at UMSL is being observed April 13-16. For more information, visit TritonConnect.
