Page 376 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021
P. 376
THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
and sustaining MWDs. It is integrated at all force element levels.
C2 and Integration
MWD capability needs to be commanded by the appropriate level of MWD commander. Charged with providing a single point of MWD advice to the formation, this commander must also be supported by a unit/sub-unit/detachment organi- sation which is capable of providing the necessary control functions to enable the capability to be appropriately resourced, managed, maintained, prioritised, reconfigured and employed across the force. This includes the need to: plan, resource and deliver continuation training; to deliver equipment support and veterinary support to the MWD force package; and to be able to reconfigure and redeploy assets across the operational area.
1 MWD Regt is configured to provide one MWD Squadron per Brigade scale of deployment. As part of the Brigade’s Combat Support organi- sation, the MWD Sqn is normally subordinated to the CS Engr Regt50 and provides support to the whole force. The Squadron OC acts as the specialist advisor for the employment of MWD and Veterinary capability within the Brigade, as well as commanding the Squadron. The MWD Squadron Headquarters provides the necessary control and support functions, with a technical reach-back facility available to it from RHQ 1 MWD Regt. The Troop Commanders and Troop SNCOs are similarly employed as MWD control and integration nodes within the Battle Groups, working through the Battle Group Engineers. Smaller deployments, such as in support of VHR Contingency forces, are supported by similar C2 and integration structures.
MWD Teams
An MWD Team comprises of the MWD and Handler; the key point being that it is a ‘team’, not just a pairing. Neither can operate without the other, but continuity of the dog/ handler relationship is fundamental to output performance. The sum of the pairing is synergistic and is based upon deep learning on the part of the handler, and trust and obedience on the part of the dog. This is why handlers can team with multiple dogs if necessary, but why teaming individual dogs with multiple handlers reduces performance. It is also why continuity of the dog/ handler relationship is more important than the acclimatisation of the dogs when determining force generation processes.
During the latter periods of operations in Afghanistan (2009 to 2014), the majority of MWD capability was dedicated to C-IED operations, but this is just part of the MWD capability set. 1 MWD Regt maintains a comprehensive suite of MWD capabilities. Two principles underpin how each capability delivers effect:
Scent and Aggression. All MWD capabilities utilise some balance of two of a dog’s innate characteristics; scent and aggression. These are combined in different measures, and the scent characteristic is tuned to different targets, in order to produce the spread of capabilities. This relationship is shown for the main types of MWD.
Manoeuvre
Protection
Tracker (Tkr)
IED Detection Dog (IE3D)
High Assurance Search (HAS)
CPAD
Arms Explosive Search (AES) Vehicle Search (VS)
Infantry Patrol (IP)
PROT
Explosive Detection Dog (EDD)
Police
Drugs Detection (DD) Cadaver Detection (CD)
50 The MWD Sqn may form part of a C-IED/EOD&S TF if one is generated.
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Close Support
General Support
MWD Capabilities can be employed in support of a variety of force elements and activities.
A dog has an unrivalled vapour detection ability; both in terms of the large range of target scents it can recognise at any one time and also how it can also learn new ones very rapidly. This is what saw MWD used so extensively in support of C-IED and EOD operations in Afghanistan. These same characteristics make