Page 240 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
bases in the States and around the world. It works by jumping passengers on any available military flight, so if there happens to be a “mission” to Australia and there are some spare seats, and you wanted to go, just hop on for free. So, “Space-A” was the way we had to go, and we learned our lesson – the hard way. Operational circumstances had ‘re-missioned’ the flight and we were now to spend two days waiting to fly out! Never mind, chins up; with the thought that we would still make it to Texas by the weekend, it didn’t really bother us, as we had already been briefed that the hardest part of the trip was going to be getting out of Germany.
After the two hard nights in USAF transit rooms, we eventually departed from Ramstein to our new destination of Dover, Delaware, in possibly the largest aircraft I have ever seen – the C5 Galaxy, the USAF’s workhorse. Dover is just South of Philadelphia, but it didn’t really matter, because our connecting flight was coming in, and we would be airborne again and en-route to Lackland Texas soon. “Yee, haw!”
We waited, and waited, made loads of phone calls, then waited some more. It turns out, our ‘plane had broken down (conveniently on St Patrick’s Day) at the UK’s RAF Mildenhall and would be stuck for a few days for “essential” repairs. So, it was back to USAF transit rooms for us, and a rethink on how to get to Texas.
The weekend was approaching fast, and, like our beloved Air Force, all things must stop at weekends.
So, by the Monday we had a new waypoint – Charleston, South Carolina – and we eventually moved out of beautiful Dover early Tuesday morning, but only after a few more ‘plane issues and a night roughing it in the air terminal. We were now under the impression that we were going to be picked up, so we happily settled into our transit accommodation all excited that the worst was over.
After contacting the powers that be in Lackland AFB, it was now decided the only way we could get to Texas (cheaply) was by getting the Greyhound. So... the Greyhound it was. Now, remembering that the idea of travelling to Charleston was so that we were closer to Texas, a 29.5-hour road trip in a coach was the last thing we were expecting. Through Atlanta, Montgomery, New Orleans, and Houston we finally got to the city of the Alamo, San Antonio.
We were finally met by Lt Tom Mc Gillicuddy, on Thursday, eight days after we set off from 102 MWD Sp Unit, confidently boasting that we had seen most of the USA. He took us to our new place of residence, where our hosts SSgt Laura Jernigan and Margretta made us welcome and fed us.
Over the next few days in the kennels, we were shown the sights of the camp, and introduced to “Detection
Certifications”. The trainers were all interested to swap dog training ideas and ask about our Search dog training. We were also given some very impressive demonstrations from the puppy training program, where they have a class breeding line and are now really reaping the benefits from years of hard work and trials in the form of top-quality dogs.
At the time of our visit, training areas, and new kennels were being built. The training areas are very interesting due to the fact they have spent lots of money, to compensate for the fact that they don’t use civilian areas for training. Most of the funding for the new building and areas is down to the initiation of the Specialised Search Dog (SSD) training program.25 Training and standards are very similar to the AES dog which we use, but they have also introduced some Israeli standards too and they are trying to keep the Malinois as the main breed of working dog.
Our exchange was very interesting and very beneficial; it has certainly opened my eyes to Protection dog training and Military Working Dog procurement. The Americans have huge funding and only buy the best. Their training is based mainly on the European ring sport training disciplines and techniques, and they appear to shy away from operational scenario training. The SSD training should be successful, but I feel they will be learning more from us, than us from them, over the next few years.
Unfortunately, the return flight wasn’t diverted to Hawaii, and surprise, surprise the plane didn’t break down. We got a tail wind and landed in Ramstein in record time!!26
The success of the first Texas exchange fortunately led to a follow-up with three members of the Corps grasping the opportunity to see how Army dog handlers do the job Stateside. LCpl Charlie Bates provided the following account of a very special career step:
102 Military Working Dog Support Unit – Does Texas.
If someone asked you: “do you want to go on a trip to Texas to watch dogs work for two weeks and it will cost you next to nothing?” Your answer would be the same as mine: “When do we go?”
With that, the second planned visit to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas was put into motion.
SSgt Martin Smith, Pte Ali Sutherland, and I, Charlie Bates, were all very excited at the prospect of visiting the United States of America to watch their Military Working Dog program and meet some of the friends we had made in the US Military when they had visited 102 MWD Sp Unit
25 Initially established at Missouri MP School by Mr Paul Bunker and then transferred to 341st Training Squadron Lackland AFB.
26 Chiron Calling dated Summer 2005.
232