Page 184 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
thought through. The training of personnel, the provision of the dogs and their kennelling had not been given full consideration.
Following a visit to Long Kesh, the GOC wrote (on 20th July 1975) to WO2 Tom Netherton RAVC to thank him for his time and commented: “Needless to say Long Kesh is our ‘bank’ in the sense that its contents represent the accumulated wealth of all our security efforts. It has always been comforting to me, personally, to know that security of its prisoners rested to a large extent in such safe hands.”
The ADU HQ remained at the Kesh until 197915 when it relocated to Shackleton Barracks in Ballykelly (BK). This old airbase was situated between Londonderry and Coleraine where the weather has, for many RAVC members, a particu- larly memorable quality. Referred to ‘London- derry’s sunshine’ the rain doesn’t just fall, it comes down sideways driven by the cold prevailing winds. Many remember it being so wet in BK that ADU could have appropriately stood for Army ‘Diving’ Unit.
The new base was spacious and more than suitable for training dogs for duty in the Province. Two to three Guard dogs and their handlers were deployed from BK to Magilligan Training Camp for a two-week period providing vital security to the range complex which was adjacent to the prison. Meanwhile the Long Kesh Guard Dog Detachment, commanded by an RAVC Sergeant and with normally an E2 handler 2IC, held 15 Guard Dog teams remained on site, being withdrawn completely when HMP Long Kesh closed in late 2000. This saw the resulting estab- lishment of ADU NI RAVC reduce to just 67 personnel; 35 of which were E2 handlers, an E2 SQMS, a clerk and driver, all other key positions were held by RAVC 3 Officers and 29 RAVC ORs. The entire Province’s establishment for Army dogs was 176 dogs consisting of the now renamed Patrol (Guard) AES, VS, Tracker and Drugs dogs.16
Appreciation of the dogs’ abilities was clearly bolstered by their tally of successes and the reassurance their presence projected wherever they were deployed – in prisons or on the streets. It was during the period October 1975 to 1978 – so pre-British Army Tactical Code (BATCO), which was introduced in the 1980s – that the Appointment Titles such as Snapper, Wagtail, and Groundhog were instituted and first appeared in
the NI Operational Aide Memoire. The titles, more often referred to as ‘call signs (C/S)’, remained in regular use for most of the conflict despite others being introduced across the entire Army. Later when using ‘tactical voice communications’, letters and digits were used the normal C/S for search handlers being ‘Foxtrot Three Four Charlie’. That said appointment titles were still commonly used right up to the cessation of Operation BANNER.
Five Principal Locations
As previously mentioned, ADU handlers were deployed throughout the Province during the campaign. However, as far as bases were concerned, RAVC personnel were based in five principal locations: the HQs at Long Kesh and Ballykelly, and the sites of three different Infantry Brigades: the 3rd, 8th and the 39th. Each of these ADU locations, were permanent bases for the RAVC and many E2 handlers, each one providing personnel to smaller locations seconded to ‘user units’ or Roulement units17 whose ‘emergency tour’ of duty lasted 6 months. These tended to be in zones of high threat and consequently, the locations where the invaluable capability of the Search and Tracker dogs were habitually deployed.
From 1972, the 3rd Infantry Brigade was headquartered in the Kitchen Hill Factory in Lurgan before moving to the Mahon Road Barracks in Portadown in late 1976. It was under the command of HQ Northern Ireland and was the HQ element for the Security Forces which controlled the South Armagh region of Ulster, including several battalions of the UDR. This formation continued until September 1981 when the Brigade was temporarily disbanded and its units divided between 8th Brigade and 39th Brigade before re-forming as 3 Brigade seven years later in the Drumadd Barracks in Armagh.18 The Brigade was disbanded once more on 1st September 2004 and its former units again divided between 8th Bde and 39th Bde 19
Having responsibility for the south-eastern and central portion of Northern Ireland, 3rd Infantry Brigade’s territory stretched from Strangford Lough across to the border area of south Armagh into mid-Tyrone taking in more than 50 miles of the Irish border including the busy crossing points of the main Belfast to Dublin road and rail links. The border invited infiltration by the IRA and was under daily threat of terrorist attacks, making it a
15 Chiron Calling No 11 dated 30th April 1979.
16 AFC 8005 dated 1st April 2000.
17 A term used by the British Army to signify major combat units that are deployed on short tours of duty, normally for six months. Wikipedia.
18 Potter, John (2001).Testimony to Courage: The History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 – 1992.
19 Wikipedia webpage.
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