Page 5 - Chiron Spring 2016
P. 5

“FITNESS, WEAPONS AND DOGS” –
RAVC Reserves Training Weekend December 2015 by Lt James Wright and Lt Dave Stewart RAVC.
tutorials was on general kennel routine.
On a cold, wet and, due to the weather, a downright miserable weekend in mid- December, the newly formed 101 Military Working Dog Reserve Squadron held its pre-Christmas training weekend at St George’s Barracks, North Luffenham.
The mantra for the weekend was “Fitness, Weapons and Dogs” and this is what we did, after  rstly rescuing a sofa from the top of a fellow Reservist’s car. The sofa in question had been rescued from a  ooded Cumbrian  rst  oor residence. The maneuvering of the muddy sofa reinforced the truly countrywide nature of the Squadron, where Reservists from Cornwall, Leicester, London and Cumbria helped extricate and re-home the soggy 3 seater into Major Chris Ham’s (our Of cer Commanding) of ce.
After a good night’s sleep and a hearty military breakfast it was, for some of us, our  rst face to face introduction to the Regiment’s Military Working Dogs (MWD). Reservists who had passed their Protection Dog Handler’s course, or those who are dog handlers in their civilian jobs, were assigned Belgian Malinois protection dogs. Those of us without experience were assigned much safer, yet no less valuable or important, Labrador Improvised Explosive Device Detection dogs (IE3Ds).
The  rst in a number of interesting
For the unaf liated this is the general husbandry and day to day care of the MWDs and ranges from safety and cleaning to the general exercise of these highly trained animals. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for kennel routine are rigorously enforced by the experienced Regulars and veteran Reserves to reduce any risk of injury to both MWDs and soldiers. Each dog has its own two-bay kennel (outer and inner) and each block of kennels has its own enclosed one-way system to prevent dogs meeting each other in a con ned space. Happily, the order of the day was ‘spot cleaning’ due to the damp extremely wet and windy weather conditions. This involves removing the faeces and just cleaning that area, ensuring the kennel is fully clean, but ‘bone dry’ when the occupant returns. This meant that we could quickly get out for a long supervised walk with our new canine companions around the windswept air eld. Then on to the  rst challenge...Agility training.
Agility training tests both the obedience and  tness of the dog and the skills of the handler as they navigate a series of dif cult to pass obstacles. It is also a great way to encourage bonding and trust between a MWD and handler. It also helps to build the con dence of MWDs on a range of
surfaces, heights and barriers that emulate the environments that they’ll be expected to work on operationally. Of course, to the MWD, agility is also a fun game. MWDs are most effective when they enjoy their work so by keeping the training interesting and varied, the dogs (and handlers) get the most out of their work.
After some practice, our  tness and new-found skills were tested during an intra-Squadron competition. The  rst obstacle was a large wall to jump, followed by a see-saw. A tunnel to navigate led to another jump and then again another tunnel. Finally, a raised platform required the MWD to jump up, sit on command and remain in position for 10 seconds. The competition was  erce but, despite losing her beret halfway around, Private Rosie Jones was victorious.
After a well-earned lunch in the canteen, it was on to the next element of the weekend: weapons and their safe handling. Therefore it was onto the Dismounted Close Combat Training (DCCT) facility at North Luffenham where an intra-unit marksmanship competition was conducted, using both the Glock 17 9mm pistol and the SA80 A2 Ri e with iron sight. Following the rigid safety procedures drilled into us by SSgt Andy Marsh, the Glock with its simple operation was a pleasure to use. As a
‘Brie ng before the agility competition – 101 MWD Squadron Reserve handlers’
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