Page 245 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
tersrand University who were operating on a cheetah, and we were shown a number of African wild dogs that had been a big success story and shown on BBC television’s Animal Park. They had been rescued as pups and reared at the Centre, after being dumped, buried and left for dead. We donated out-of-date drugs on behalf of the DAC and the charity Wildlife Vets International, which was very much appreciated by Africat. We were all grateful to Mark Jago, the vet who laid on this visit especially for us. Mark is a very gifted wildlife vet who has made a remarkable recovery after being attacked and badly injured by a male elephant that cornered him in thick cover three years ago.
Following this very worthwhile visit, which was the icing on the cake, we headed for the airport in Windhoek and the overnight return flight into Gatwick. We arrived back into the Unit where we did a debrief and the expedition was formally ENDEXED.
The expedition team voluntarily raised in excess of £1,500 for Wildlife Vets International, which will go towards supporting wildlife conservation so that future generations can also witness and enjoy the unique diversity of animals and the fragile environment that still exists in Africa. On looking back at our achievements, we had covered over 4,000km by road alone and, therefore, saw a good deal of the country. That said, it is the size of Western Europe (although its population is well under two million) so there’s still a lot left to see. In three weeks, we packed in so much that our time there became something of a blur. Namibia is a hidden jewel in the crown of Africa and all of us, including those who knew other parts of Africa well, said they would certainly visit it again. Its limited tourist development, lack of commercial- isation and friendly people make it an amazing, safe and clean destination and it has a landscape to rival almost anywhere. Most businesses are efficiently run and the German influence (it was a former German colony) is still evident.
In summary, this expedition fully met its adventurous training aims. Everyone was exposed to new challenges and experiences, and most were taken out of their comfort zone at one time or another. Adventurous training should not be undervalued as an investment since it not only provides an opportunity to develop our personnel and aid retention but, additionally, it helps identify the type of individuals the Service requires as future leaders.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and
I would highly recommend future expeditions to consider Namibia. As with most expeditions, my top tips on planning are to book flights early (we saved a third of the normal cost by doing so), work hard at raising sponsorship – we are very grateful to Eukanuba and the RAVC Corp Council in particular – and be prepared for the G3 PAT 4 Div taking a very long time to process things!
This is the first major Adventure Training Exercise in living memory for the DAC and in over ten years for any other RAVC Unit. We need to do everything we can to encourage more of them in the future!31
Canada called in 2009 and a return to the challenge of Arctic conditions. This opportunity attracted SSgt Iain Carnegie RAVC and five colleagues. This is how they described their encounter with the awesome Rocky Mountains:
Exercise CHIRON ARCTIC 2009
Ex CHIRON ARCTIC 2009 was attended by six members of 104 MWD Sp in the Kananaskis Provincial Park of the Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Eastern Canada from 10th – 17th January. This was the second time that RAVC personnel had deployed on this Exercise, the first being from the DAC in 2004. The Exercise used dog sledding as a platform to conduct extreme cold weather military training and covered the following aspects: Canine Husbandry in Cold Climates, Dog Sledding, Navigation and Bushcraft/Survival.
Over the four days the sleds were run over extremely hilly and demanding terrain. The runs varied in distance from 25-30km per day, which may not sound much, however when you have to run, pushing the sleds on the flat and uphill to assist the dogs it brings it into perspective! The sled teams comprised two people and seven dogs and although most of the breeds were Husky crosses (some crossed with breeds as varied as the greyhound) there were other breeds including shorthaired pointers which, surprisingly, were very effective and coped well in the cold.
This Exercise proved as successful as the one in 2004, and allowed lessons learnt from that exercise to be further enhanced. The exercise again proved successful for the following reasons:
The area provides a realistic training environment to conduct arduous, cold weather, military training with dogs.
It allows RAVC trainers to understand the diffi- culties and constraints associated with employing dogs, in extreme, cold climates, this includes veterinary care.
It provides robust, arduous training for the
31 Chiron Calling dated Summer 2006.
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