Page 383 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
guarantee our long-term retention in the Defence Forces of the future.”3
The move to AMS was without doubt the “brainchild” of Geoffrey Durrant, but unfor- tunately he retired before seeing this come to fruition in 1985. His successor as Director RAVC (not DAVRS, as he was not MRCVS qualified), Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles OBE, was (as a new man to the RAVC) loath to complete this momentous transfer and it fell later to Brigadier Paul Jepson DAVRS to complete the deal. Brigadier Paul was summoned to the office of the Armed Forces Minister (Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill) and was interrogated to convince him that it was a good idea.
“I remain convinced that it was and for which we owe our continuing identity as a Corps. Medical services are involved in every operational commitment and the union gave us early access to promote the very wide range of skills and assets the Corps has to offer.”4
Important Roles Defined:
Clarity in roles was a good starting point for that ‘extra’ something that Durrant was looking for in the Corp, or as he put it: “The provision of services is not enough; all personnel should look for oppor- tunities to expand the range of services which we offer. Only by making ourselves indispensable...” The clarity came from the top:
Director Army Veterinary Remount Services (DAVRS) – the post established as the professional head of the RAVC, encompassed, from the start, a number of roles and responsibilities including, Army Competent Authority and Inspectorate for all Military Working Animals (MWA). The Arms and Service Director for the RAVC, the Professional Head of Veterinary Officers and so responsible for maintaining links with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. DAVRS mission along with his staff was to ensure the RAVC was organised, manned, equipped, trained, developed and motivated to meet its Defence commitments. DAVRS’s staff were to ensure the Capability Governance of Military Working Animals in Defence, and that included the dogs, horses and all Regimental mascots. Within this role was full responsibility for the procurement, disposal, health and welfare, training and Operational employment policies. In short, it was laid down that: ‘DAVRS, the professional head of the RAVC, is responsible for the provision of advice, special to arm doctrine, setting the individual training requirements
and the Continual Development of Regimental and Corps ethos and values.’
The role was also to provide coherence across the Lines of Development for the RAVC, through the provision of Policy, direction and professional advice in order to sustain military capability in the Army in the present and in the future. By doing so, the RAVC would always be able to Provide Defence with the greatest mass of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on MWD capability and training. In every way the Corps’ role in the Defence structure, from procurement, use, welfare and veterinary care was overall responsibility for all MWAs ‘from cradle to grave’. That responsibility was divided in order to provide focus, in that 1st MWD Regiment (RAVC), was to provide the Land Component in the provision of MWDs and Veterinary Capability, plus support to UK ceremonial operations, and support to the Surgeon General’s Department and the Director General Army Medical Service (DGAMS) in Public Health and Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) and Medical Intel- ligence. Support to also be provided to Civil Military Co-operation (CIMIC) and Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) tasks. In this period of merger and change the rank required of the DAVRS post was downgraded from Brigadier, in line with many other reductions in rank across the wider Army. The DAVRS role is now fulfilled by a full Colonel and has been re-titled to Chief Veterinary and Remount Officer, or CVRO.
Since around the time of the AMS merger the Corps has been able, and expected, to play a larger and more general role within the wider Army. This removed the constraint of the cap badge to the point that it opened up opportunities including staff appointments and other Command roles. For example, Brigadier Andrew Warde conducted two, four year tours as Medical Liaison Officer at the British Embassy in Washington DC; Lieutenant Colonel David White was in control of the large medical budget at the Medical Support Agency, Ludgershall; Captain Roy Thornton MBE, was posted as Adjutant at 34 Field Hospital RAMC and was later Commander the Multi-National Field Hospital in Bosnia; Lieutenant Colonel Paul Marks conducted a tour as Commander Medical Services, Balkans; Major Tiffany Cottrell, was SO2 at the Directorate of Joint Warfare; Lieutenant Colonel Tom Ogilvie-Graham MBE, worked alongside the Surgeon General’s Department at their European Desk while Major Neil Smith was SO2 at the Blood Supply Depot, Aldershot.
3 Ministry of Defence Army Veterinary and Remount Services D/DAVRS/6/12/1 dated 4th July 1990 by Brigadier Geoffrey R Durrant CBE MBE – Corps Director.
4 Written testimony by Brigadier (Retd) Paul G H Jepson dated 11th July 2021.
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