Page 238 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
The expedition was a fantastic experience and gave both Capt Gledhill and LCpl Hamilton a chance to develop their veterinary skills in an extremely challenging environment. It also provided an unparal- leled opportunity to meet the other expedition members, all from various backgrounds, with differing skill sets and from a wide age range – the youngest member being 20 years old, and the oldest a very young 72! This experience should be recommended to all.17
Dogs and their handlers have often been used to great effect on escape and evasion exercises. In early 2003, LCpl Scott Davison and Pte Gary Rutherford were re-assigned to participate in Exercise PILGRIMS PROGRESS, as part of the hunter force which, on this exercise, were the Royal Irish Rangers. The operation took place in the Galloway Forest in Scotland.
Initially, there was little success for the hunter group and questions were raised, such as why were dogs on the exercise at all? However, there were three captures in quick succession following the insertion of the dog teams by helicopter. The importance of dogs, alongside their RAVC handlers, began to be realised and it was those partnerships that brought success to the Exercise. That and some dogman humour, like the offering from Pte Rutherford, who once on night op shouted: “I’ve found a Bergen.” After a decent pause a voice came back: “wait it’s still attached to someone!”
The results of the Exercise were good; of the 26 runners, three surrendered and sixteen were captured – ten of the captures were down to the dogs.18
In Cyprus, also in 2003, Exercise LION SUN (for the Regular Army) and LION STAR (for the Territorial Army and Reservists units) took place through the summer months. It was an exercise over two to three weeks operating out of the Western Sovereign Base Area (WSBA) and comprised several phases culminating in an attack on a Fighting in Built Up Areas (FIBUA) village. This was a specially designed, purpose- built area for soldiers to train for combat in urban surroundings. The Corps provided dog security support by deploying Patrol and Tracker dogs in escape and evasion scenarios.
The exercise tapered down at night to enable the soldiers and, importantly, the dogs to manage
the extreme heat and rough, arduous terrain. This was tough on the dogs who found it tiring which in turn resulted in a loss of concentration and therefore effectiveness.19
From 19th to 31st March 2004, Exercise MAD DOG ARCTIC had participants heading for the Kananaskis Provincial Park, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Eastern Canada – the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS). This exercise was very much for the lovers of colder climes.
Selected participants moved to the Trails End Camp which was chosen over locations in Norway as being cost minimal for the unit ‘forward mounting’ to the latter nation. BATUS supplied the logistics such as rations, accommodation and all the dogs. The DAC personnel taking part were Sergeant Iain Carnegie, Lance Corporals Craig Ide and Keily Osborne and Privates Charlie Bates, Dan Baron, Dan Bowden, Hanna Bamford and Lindsay McGlynn.
The creator of Ex MAD DOG ARCTIC was inspired while watching the TV programme Telemark Heroes and went on to perfect the idea a few days later after a screening of the film Tomb Raider. In a final scene, the main character, Lara Croft, is being pulled along at speed, on skis by a team of dogs – ski joring. In that moment Exercise MAD DOG ARCTIC was born. As Chris Ham said in his DAVRS RAVC Dog Trainer Update: “Some say why? I say... why not?”20
In his post-exercise report, Sgt Iain Carnegie RAVC, wrote:
The aim of the Exercise was to close the identified training gap – which was that the Career Employment Group (CEG) works in many hot climates but not in very cold regions. Therefore, the Exercise was to familiarise the participants with the intense cold, Arctic conditions and practise the skills required to maintain working dogs in such an inhospitable terrain and climate. Dog sledding was used as a platform for this type of military training as it provided the ideal environment to prepare dog trainers for operations in arduous, hostile, extreme cold climates. And in doing so, it gave the CEG the flexibility to respond to the changing needs of today’s expeditionary Armed Forces.21
One of the strong elements in the Ex MAD DOG programme is encouraging team and leadership skills. In order to achieve these goals, the 2004 team received instruction in canine husbandry in cold climates, dog sledding, ski joring, navigation,
17 Chiron Calling, Summer 2001.
18 Chiron Calling Summer 2003, ‘Exercise Pilgrims Progress’ by LCpl Scott Davison RAVC.
19 ‘Exercise Lion Sun/Star’ by Corporal Steve Edgeler Chiron Calling Summer 2003.
20 DAVRS’ Study Period RAVC Dog Trainer Update 21st – 22nd October 2004 Head of CEG PowerPoint.
21 Post Exercise Report Exercise MAD DOG ARCTIC by Sgt Iain Carnegie RAVC.
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