Page 266 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
of course, invited much to his and the crew’s delight. On another occasion, Casper managed to persuade the Skipper to personally bathe his paws, a useful exercise tool. All-in-all I had a good and interesting tour, seeing many places and doing some work with the many different agencies we work with. Life on board was hard, but rewarding, and I feel that I have come away from it having gained some valuable experience.21
Colombia – 2011
When the Republic of Colombia is mentioned most people think of poverty, drugs and drug cartels, fortunately Chris Ham’s perspective changed after his visit.
During November 2011, Lt Col Chris Ham MBE RAVC was selected to be part of a Short Term Training Team in Colombia as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in MWDs, tasked with reviewing the Colombian Armed Forces and considering areas suitable for the sharing of experiences. The Colombian Armed Forces consisted of four forces: Paramilitary Police, Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. All had MWDs employed in a variety of roles which included the following classifications: Explosive Detection, Search and Rescue, Narcotics Detection and various Protection roles – as always the ‘Bread and Butter’ of most Forces, including the RAVC – providing base security. Every Security Force establishment that the team visited had a high-profile presence of MWDs, not least at main entrance points, where the dogs were tasked to conduct rapid vehicle searches.
In all, there were approximately four thousand dogs in service, all a selection of the favoured breeds including Labradors, GSDs and Malinois, and all recruited domestically. The Colombians love their dogs and whilst the Colombian Air Force had its own veterinary surgeons, the other Forces used civilian vets. In other areas, such as the licensing of MWDs, matters were completed internally within each Force. Operationally, teams were employed against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in areas from sub-tropical to tropical and mountainous. Advice and guidance were offered to the Colombians concerning MWD aspects and, in return, observa- tions were fed-back to the UK. One of many useful observations shared was how syringes were being used out there as a means of initiation for IEDs. A follow-up visit was recommended for a RAVC WO2 to visit the country and provide further advice.22
Lt Col Ham was based in the capital, Bogotá, but managed to visit other parts of the country during his short stay. Given that the country had suffered for decades at the hands of insurgents, his tour proved to be an eye-opening experience. The FARC, the well-known enemy, claimed to have ‘represented the rural poor in a struggle against Columbia’s wealthier classes’, while, at the same time, taking the majority of its funding from the vast revenues made through the production and supply of illegal drugs.
It was, consequently, due to the existence of the FARC, that the Columbian authorities had those four thousand MWDs widely employed within their Armed Forces. Highly organised and professional they, like the RAVC, used positive reward-based training methods for their dogs. Judging from the numerous sites visited across the country, it appeared that accommodation for their canine capability was excellent too. The kennels varied in design, a necessity in a country that has a varying climate – tropical along the coast and eastern plains, and a cooler mountainous terrain. Flying north for one-and-half hours, from Bogotá to Cartagena took the traveller into the tropical climate of the Caribbean with the accompanying mosquitoes, flora and fauna all pretty akin to that of Brunei. However, viewing how the Marine Corps employs Search dogs in the jungle seeking out IEDs, is not unlike our employment of IP and Tracker dogs.
Search and Rescue dogs are very much part of the Columbian MWD capability, mainly because of the country’s mountainous regions, the frequent landslides, and the threat of other natural disasters. Flying south east, towards Tolima, and landing on a short grass airstrip on the very fringes of another jungle region, we were allowed to visit the very modern Special Forces Anti-Narcotics Jungle Police (Jungla) training school. Demonstra- tions included how Search dogs were integrated with Search teams and how they conducted their search procedures to counter the IED threat – the weapon of choice for the FARC. There was also the opportunity to view Coca cultivation and to see the frightening simplicity of cocaine manufacture.
The DEODS team were very fortunate in being able to visit several of the sixteen Army Dog Training Schools that were dotted across the country. The Air Force dog training facility located in Bogotá and the National Police Dog Training School were where the majority of the one thousand two hundred and fifty police handled
21 Chiron Calling dated Winter 2004/Spring 2005.
22 EinC(A)/10 SO1 MWD DEODS Visit Report – Republic of Columbia dated 8th November 2011.
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