Dog Soldiers organizational structure is a meshing of Cheyenne-Lakota societal structure with a mission control aspect as utilized by German forces during World War II.
The Elder Council does the background work…. recruiting, sponsorships, schedule, uniforms, code of conduct, campaign strategies, and performs a mentoring, guiding role to the rest of the Dog Soldiers. The Warriors are the leaders of the young men, who take charge in the thick of battle to rally the Braves and keep the Dog Soldiers on task no matter how confused and chaotic the situation becomes. The Braves are mostly youth and new members who use their enthusiasm and guile to best carry out the plans of the Elder Council and bring victory to the tribe, the brotherhood. The mission control (Germans WWII) aspect of Dog Soldiers battle structure has been proven very effective even under severe duress. The Dog Soldier who first spots a situation, even a Brave, assumes temporary tactical command of the entire war party until command can securely be passed back to the Warriors or Elders after they have a working knowledge-understanding of the current situation. It took more than a year for Dog Soldiers to effectively utilize mission control, but it was worth the wait and work. It is not an accident that Dog Soldiers have blended German and Native American structure-tactics; it was the co-founders way of paying homage to their German-Native American ancestors. The team name; Dog Soldiers are named after the fierce Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.
Every Dog Soldier is a very unique person who willingly blends his talents and 
character into the soul of the team, while remaining a completely original individual. This is the essence of what it means to be a Dog Soldier.
The Dog Soldiers came to be in September 2006, a couple of brothers looking for some common ground with their teenage sons. Scenario/Woodsball had everything we were looking for, strategy, realism, endurance, and quality time spent together. At first the Dog Soldiers were simply a couple of dads, their sons and nephews playing paintball in the woods and at scenario games.
By 2008 Dog Soldiers started picking up event walk-ons who were looking to join an organized team. Every new member was a story and brought their talents and life experiences with them. Dog Soldiers were growing and becoming a team that was recruited for games, was sought out for missions, given more vital roles at the events we attended. They were becoming a fun loving tough team…a team of character and a team of characters. Compulsive disorders, outbursts of Monty Python bits, long conversations about the healing powers and great taste of potted meat, not to mention Huggy Bear’s ongoing conversations with his marker are the blood that pumps thru the heart of the team known as Dog Soldiers. It is this eccentric group of characters that go into the teeth of the battle without hesitation and who would carry a bulldozer across the finish line to win the game. They are the Dog Soldiers.
Before the start of the 2009 season Dog Soldiers, still growing in members, decided on two uniforms, all cotton tiger stripe for the summer and thick black ACUs for the colder weather. We wanted our uniforms to be memorable, but not too loud. The unique Dog Soldier team patch adorns every Dog Soldier’s uniform. Their team name and the individual’s name is patched loudly on the vest of every Dog Soldier. Besides uniforms Dog Soldiers picked up a team RV (price was affordable because gas was not). Dog Soldiers also picked up a host of team sponsors, some of the best sponsors the sport has to offer. Companies apparently liked what they saw in the Dog Soldiers. They’re very proud of their sponsorships
By the start of the 2009 season Dog Soldiers in a little over two years had transformed from a couple of brothers looking for a sport to play with their teenage sons to a twelve man team, with two distinct uniforms, shooting sponsor X7s, using sponsor radios and riding to events in the team RV. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience
Dog Soldiers won the MVT (Most Valuable Team) at The Battle of Bocage, Realms of Ruin during Bill Bailey’s last year on the Tour of Duty Tour.
Dog Soldiers won the MVT at Bastogne, White River Indiana, our first game of the 2009 season.
Dog Soldiers held the job of Australian General at World at War, Battlefront Paintball, Hubbard Ohio, and with our friends BioHazard & N.E.O.S.M.U.T. rolled to a huge win, scoring almost as many points as the other 3 sides together
Dog Soldiers scored more points than any Merc team before them at Heroes & Villians (2009), FOX Paintball, Millington, Illinois with Dog 8 Adam Harris awarded MVP
Dog Soldier 12, William Karwatka was awarded Red Team MVP at the 2009 Michigan Monster Game
Dog Soldiers were on the pinnacle of the German assault at Colleville that saw the American forces surrender with 20 minutes remaining in the game at Oklahoma D-Day 2009
As of this writing Dog Soldiers are 8 wins and 2 losses in our last 10 games. We play this game for fun. But to this team playing hard and winning is all part of the fun. I guess we’re old school in that regard…proudly
In 2010 Dog Soldiers will have use of their tank, Potted Meat 1 (will be finished building during the winter) and will run a full travel schedule with a concentration of games in the Midwest. Dog Soldiers roster for 2010 is expected to be roughly 15 members. They have numerous applications from individuals that are being sorted thru currently by team elders
SPONSORS
Dog Soldiers are currently sponsored by
Tippmann Sports
RAP4
TriSquare Radios
Flurry Industries
Chicago Army Navy Surplus
Bad Boyz Toyz
The BadLandz
Dog Soldiers are about to sign with Sport Smoke LLC
And are in preliminary discussions with Ninja Paintball
Dog Soldiers 2010 tentative schedule highlights
Castle Defenders – Castle Siege, Sherwood Forest (LaPorte, Indiana)
General – World at War (Poland), Battlefront Paintball (Hubbard, Ohio)
General – Battlefield, Realms of Ruin (Crete, Illinois)
With some other team highlight games being Living Legends 3 at CPX (Joliet, Illinois)
And the 20th Anniversary Game at Sherwood Forest (LaPorte, Indiana)
It’s been a heck of a ride for Dog Soldiers, and 2010 seems like it will be another chapter in the adventure. We simply couldn’t ask for more. What a great sport!!
