Page 428 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
continues to punch over its weight, and praise from both visitors and those we worked for.12
TMWDSU:
The Theatre Military Working Dog Support Unit (TMWDSU) was established on 8th August 2003 and replaced 101 MWD Support Unit on the recovery of the personnel of Op TELIC 1 the ‘war fighting phase’.
The TMWDSU role was to provide MWD capability and advice in support of the UK Joint Force Scheme of Manoeuvre in order to enhance UK Force Protection. The Unit’s previous Command struggles had moved on and from being an independent minor Unit, under the Operational Control (OPCON) of the UK National Support Element (NSE), the Unit, from 19th April 2004, had moved under the Tactical Command of Headquarters Shaibah Logistics Base. This was home to the vast majority of British, Czech, Danish and Norwegian Forces and located in southern Iraq. It was also the main British military base in the sun baked desert of southern Iraq, not too far from Basra city, in Basra Province.
Flight Lieutenant Jez Hadland RAF gave a first-hand account of the site: Shaibah Logistics Base was home to around four thousand, four hundred British, Danish and Czech troops, with the vast majority being British. “SLB” was for a British Serviceperson in Iraq a somewhat strange place to live and work. It is clearly a shadow of the former RAF base that now lies in ruin.
It is doubtless the case one day Shaibah will be returned to Iraq control, but in the meantime the base had to be fortified and protected against insurgent activity. Unfortunately, the twin factors of FP and relatively short-term planning mean that facilities such as the former swimming pool and cinema will not be returned to their former glory. Instead, sand packed “Hesco” barriers and concrete blast walls dominate the landscape. The base and its surrounding area were scarred by neglect and bombing resulting from the Iran-Iraq war and the 1991 Gulf War.13
The Shaibah Blues – Updated.
(based on an original from the 1920s)
A little piece of dung fell out the sky one day.
It fell into Persian Gulf not many miles away,
And when PJHQ saw it, it looked so bleak and bare: They said, “That’s what we are looking for – we’ll put
our Log Base there.”
So, they sent out Sappers and REME, Medics and
Guard dogs, too,
And then to make it orderly, they added our HQ.
Oh, one day I’ll be EOT from dust and flies afar,
Until that day, you’ll hear me say.
“Roll on my R&R!”
I’ve got those Shaibah Blues, Shaibah Blues,
I’m fed up, and I’m tired out, and I’m old.
Oh, I’ve been sitting here, for what seems like half a
year,
It’s either too damn hot or too damn cold.
I’ve tried to learn the lingo, but it’s much too hard
by far.
The only thing I can say is “Roll on my R&R!”
Some days we get newspapers, and some days we get
mail,
And often we get neither – and how we weep and wail. On Wednesdays, we have quiz nights, and flock to the
tea bar,
But the puzzle to be answered is who wanted to come
this far?
The water’s always short here, so we never dare to
spill it.
We’ve even got a swimming pool, but nothing left to
fill it.
But even filling sand-bags our pleasure cannot mar, As the sun climbs high, you’ll hear us cry,
“Roll on my R&R!”14
The newly established Unit then had two AES dog teams, four VS dog teams and fifteen Protection dog teams. Protection teams patrolled the sprawling Logistics Base, enclosed by 15 miles of wire fencing. The total establishment comprising of 22 personnel – RAVC Regular soldiers, TA and other Reservists from all three Services. Two posts were vacant. At the same time three soldiers were attached to the RAVC from the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) providing protection at that site. Protection dog tasks were prioritised to sites such as SLB, Umm Qasr Port, Basra Airport and Basra Palace. Specialist dog tasking taking precedence to support UK Bde Operations, supporting 2 Sqn RAF and other tasking as required.
Despite the number of personnel, there were difficulties; there was a reluctance to provide staffing from other Services with E2 handlers. Incredibly, the TMWDSU was established for three Army RAVC personnel only. This placed an ongoing burden on the already busy RAVC team. Continuity was also a challenge due to the rapid turnaround of replacement handlers and often they were not trained for the job.
12 Chiron Calling article dated Winter 2003/Spring 2004 ‘Op TELIC 2 (IRAQ) TMWDSU’ by WO2 Paul Williams RAVC. 13 Extracted notes from Shaibah Military Base 1915 – 2006 by Flt Lt Jez Hadland RAF.
14 Ibid.
420