Page 355 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
husbandry. They regularly visited goat and poultry farms all-over war-torn Helmand Province in 2015, advising and guiding farmers on best practice. All the time working on the front line of life under the watchful eye of the insurgents.
‘Girls on Tour in Afghanistan’:
When LCpl Keita Miller RAVC, was asked to share her experiences serving in Afghanistan with her AES dog, “Ash”, she walked readers of the Corp’s magazine, Chiron Calling, through the heat, dust, and mayhem of her four-month tour of duty with 102 MWD Sp Unit.
LCpl Miller, from her base in Germany, readily agreed to an Afghanistan tour immediately after completing a six-month tour in Bosnia. She begins her account with memories of the long-haul flight to Kabul with a female colleague and their AES dogs “Ash” and “Keira”:
...I managed to sleep (on the flight) from start to preparing to land at APOD in Kabul. It was early afternoon and the weather, to us, was scorching, but everyone else was finding it rather chilly.
On arrival we were met by Cpl Mick McEwan and he took our dogs, Ash and Keira, back to Camp Souter while we donned our CBA and we were quickly ushered into one very hot Saxon. After ‘Arrival Briefs’ we eventually made it to the Dog Section and we were pleasantly surprised with the kennel complex, comprising of four kennels with an indoor and outdoor area, kitchen facility and office. We were just waiting on the plumbing and electricity that was due to be fitted in the next few days.
As soon as our male predecessors left, we were straight out on patrols with the Kabul Patrols Company (KPC), doing an average of two patrols a day between us. Patrols last for approximately three hours and consist of snap VCP’s, area, and rummage searches. Going out on patrol was a real eye-opener; I have never smelled anything like it. The streets are littered with tossed rubbish, and sewage just flows from the houses into the alleys. My worst day in theatre to date was when my AES dog, Ash, fell thigh deep into human waste...not nice!
Within the first month of my tour the Special Forces tasked me several times. Their work is incredibly exciting. Leading up to the elections was a very intense time with several rocket attacks in the Kabul area. We were both on standby over this period and were called out to support a number of times. Both dog teams have been involved in Arrest Ops, which are run by the local civil police, along with KPC who we support. For us, this involves searching compounds and properties after the local police have detained all the occupants.
29 Chiron Calling article by LCpl Keita Miller RAVC 102 MWD Support Unit.
As I write this, we are three-months into a four-month tour, which has been relatively trouble free, but not without the odd incident or two, such as ... being called out to an incident whilst on routine patrol because someone had fired two rounds into the bonnet of a taxi, for getting too close, and then driven off leaving us to deal with it. Also, the other female handler was called out to a shooting. A local man had jumped out of his car and started firing at a French convoy. The convoy returned fire hitting the man and later we learnt that he had died in hospital. The dog team was used to search the gunman’s vehicle and the surrounding area for any IEDs.29
And PAWS...
Of course it was not all the actual serving females that made a positive difference to the RAVC, the author pays a special tribute and thanks must go to the many personnel left behind while others were deployed on operations, whether in Malaya, Northern Ireland, Iraq or Afghanistan as well as the many other deployments and lengthy exercises away from home. Whilst partners were absent on tour, those left behind had to endure long time frames unaccompanied, and as a consequence had to undertake many extra chores, often bringing up young children, while away in countries far away from their own close family. Many a deployed soldier has said their spouses really deserved the medals not them for the hardships the spouses endured at home.
Some were not content with the hardship faced by others; they willingly stepped up and did even more to help others. Mrs Emma Jones married to WO1 (RSM) Sean Jones RAVC of 1 MWD Regt, founded Partners and Wives known as (PAWS) – a ‘military spouse club’, but also for partners and all met regularly to support others. ‘Emma really drove this institution forward with other eager helpers’. She was always busy organising small events and functions for the families of deployed personnel. Emma rallied the other members of PAWS to send parcels to the troops, as well as gifts to those that had been injured and were rehabilitating in Headley Court, parcels were also dispatched to the RAVC ‘In Pensioners’ at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Not content to do all this when her own husband was deployed, Emma was also the ‘go to person’ and often dealt with any non sensitive matters in a swift and pleasant manner helping both families and ultimately other aspects of unit wellbeing. All of this was completed in a selfless and uncom-
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