Page 410 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
injuries. The report requested that investigations were made to alleviate the problem.66 The extra weight carried is a result of new equipment designed to counter the new threats. The potential effect is limited by the individual’s ability to carry the appropriate capabilities on patrol. Whilst the report does not go as far as to suggest horses, it is a simple jump of imagination to identify that this requirement could easily be met by such an animal.
There have been two programmes attempting to address the mobility and carriage issues. The Light Forces Tactical Mobility Programme is seeking to provide tactical mobility and sustainment of the force by March 2011. This requirement is being compared to the quad bike and trailer. Secondly, the Defence Technical Information Centre is seeking, through Task 4 of the Reducing the Burden on the Dismounted Soldier Capability Vision, to demonstrate a semi-autonomous prototype carriage system, also by March 2011. Both these programmes are primarily concerned with wheeled platforms, but in parts of Afghanistan the capability of wheeled vehicles is severely challenged.67 This very specific requirement shows how seriously the means of movement, and the burden it places upon the infantry, is taken. It is encouraging to see that novel technology may be used, but the obvious utility of the horse has been missed.
Both these papers suggest that to every change in threat to our forces there is a technological answer. When the IED threat first emerged in Iraq in 2005 the British and American Commanders immediately turned to industry to diminish the threat. The most advanced technologies available used ground penetrating radars, ultrasound, and sensors that sampled the particles released from the components of the IED. With millions of dollars committed, the first devices were issued to troops in the summer of 2006 at the beginning of the counter IED campaign. Whilst it is hard to quantify the results, anecdotal evidence suggests that these new equipments were ineffective, cumbersome, and prone to false detections.
At the same time the UK military was using their High Assurance Search Dogs to make-safe compounds and arms caches. It was apparent that the skills of the dogs could not be matched by any technology. The search dogs could quite easily be trained to detect the signature parts of these devices and quickly became expert at their recognition.68
The lesson is obvious in that technology is not the only answer and that animals have traits that can be harnessed to develop techniques that money cannot buy from defence contractors. It remains a difficult task to persuade Commanders that this analogy is not biased
and is indeed applicable. But it is felt by the hierarchy of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps that the crossover in abilities from dogs to horses is comparable, and as the employment of High Assurance Search dogs becomes second nature, so could the employment of the horse or mule.
The Utility of Mounted Troops. Perceptions of Afghanistan, and in particular Helmand province, are set by the media coverage of incidents in Sangin, Babaji and Garmsir within the Green Zone of the Helmand River. The area particularly open to exploitation by mounted troops is the flat open expanse beyond the Green Zone up to the foot of the mountain ranges; this is referred to as the “Barren Zone”. This vast area remains relatively untouched by ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) King’s Royal Hussars troops as the population density is low, but may account for up to 20% of Helmand inhabitants. By using the open space, lack of established roads and sporadic population, a mounted force could cover the ground to advantage.
It is important that the image of mounted troops trotting down the Sangin High Street into an ambush is dispelled. Mounted troops are not relevant here but would excel at engaging with the more remote villages whose opinion and consent is still needed. The Taliban TTPs are not established for dealing with mounted troops, nor are they currently interested in fighting for the more remote villages. In this way, a mounted force would have the opportunity to influence this part of the population with relative impunity. Once a mounted force had established its patrolling credentials and worked in the vast expanse of the Barren Zone it may exploit further towards the edges of the Green Zone. Once confident and accepted by the majority of locals, the mounted force would be at its most influential and tactically beneficial when patrolling on the outskirts of the villages. It could interdict enemy movement and limit their ability to manoeuvre through their presence and silent movement. This is a very traditional cavalry role of flank protection, and an element of reconnaissance of which all the TTPs for these drills remain within the cavalry journals of the early nineteenth century.69 Ironically, these TTPs were developed in the same region of the world and would appear to be equally relevant today as 120 years ago when the horse was the only means of transport.
What Horses Bring to Afghanistan. From the earliest times, soldiers mounted on horses have had the advantage of improved mobility, making them an “instrument which multiplied the fighting value of even the smallest forces, allowing them to outflank and avoid, to surprise and overpower, to retreat and
66 42 Commando Post Operational Interview – OP HERRICK 9, dated July 2009.
67 DSTL/LBSD/CCS/FDS/23ISSE/TASK1/01, Report on the use of Mules for Operations in Afghanistan, 19th November 2009.
68 Ogilvie-Graham, Brigadier Tom, interview with author, May 12th, 2010.
69 In 1908 various Regimental Cavalry Journals were combined to form a British Army Cavalry Journal that became the bedrock for all tactical Polish Cavalry
during a manoeuvres of the Polish Army in late 1930s (Wikimedia Commons) The British Army Review Number 151 79 knowledge.
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