Page 431 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
and the Iraqi stone throwing champions – not to mention countless unexploded ordnance (UXO). The VS handlers also had to adapt themselves to new threats such as the Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) and it was rewarding to witness how all the RAVC adapted to these lethal Operational challenges.
To put everything into some kind of perspective – there were more IED incidents in the month of December 2004 than there were in the whole of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Op TELIC 5/6
Op TELIC 5/6 commenced in late December 2004. A Relief in Place went smoothly and the ‘transfer of authority’ from 102 to 101 was completed. The manning of the Unit was comparable to previous arrangements, except more specialist dog teams were to deploy forward to Basra Palace and the Shatt Al Arab Hotel on the banks of the famous river. Also, the forward placing of AES teams in the city gave battle groups much greater access.
At the end of December 2004 two handlers deployed from Cyprus to support 101 MWD Sp Unit and the RAF Regiment at Basra Interna- tional Airport for short, but what were described as ‘activity filled’ episodes. With the elections looming on 30th January 2005 and the important Muslim festival of ‘Al Hajj’ (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Jeddah during the month of January) it was set to be a demanding time for all. The two AES teams were tasked to search aircraft, carry out vehicle searches on the approach to the airport and also search countless bags, suitcases and belongings. They also conducted airport terminal sweeps for IEDs, and the occasional search outside the wire route.
As time grew closer to the election date, tensions rose as the ‘Day of Fire’ approached. This was the day the insurgents vowed to unleash a huge number of IEDs and suicide bombers to disrupt the process and deter would-be voters. In Basra AO alone there were approximately 400 polling stations, a daunting task for any organisation to search, cordon and control. Fortunately, the day of the election proved to be largely uneventful, which came as a surprise to the British Forces on the ground. Although the Cyprus AES teams’ stay at the airport was short, it was effective enough to prompt the decision that a Specialist Dog capability was required on a permanent basis. Although 101 could not meet this request, two handlers were deployed from Northern Ireland to support the task.
The work was fast paced. At the same time, the Dutch Forces were due to complete their mission in Iraq, a UK led Task Force was created and deployed to dominate in the Almatharna region. The AES teams deployed to support this Force recorded a high number of successes and, at the same time, other Specialist dog teams deployed to support routine and High Risk search ops with the Welsh Guards and RE.
In May 2005, the GOC (MND SE) presented a Certificate of Commendation to Cpl David Blackmore for his exceptional contribution to the current Operations in Iraq. His citation reads:
“For his unselfishness, dedication, bravery and a willingness to place others and his dog before himself, using a combination of skills he developed a training programme that was aimed at specifically addressing the challenges found in Iraq which produced confidence in handlers and, greatly improved the dogs’ ability to work in such a demanding environment. In addition, Cpl Blackmore had a number of significant finds that denied insurgents’ access to weapons, ammunition and explosives that may well have been used against the Iraqi Security and or Coalition Forces.”
101 MWD Sp Unit elements remained in theatre until September 2005 following a long ten-month tour of duty, with some handlers completing the entire tour. 102 MWD Sp Unit took charge once again. By this time, many of the tours were very similar in many ways, some would say, sometimes mundane, often hot and dusty and always very cold in the winter months. The same challenges persisted and had to be conquered. Whether it was the IED attacks on vehicles or mortar attacks on the air base, the enemies’ tactics and changes in modus operandi became increasingly sophis- ticated especially when it came to Anti-Multina- tional Force Elements. The use of passive infra-red means of detonation of IEDs and CWIEDs – often with armour penetrating projectiles and an increase of IDF – increased the threat to all Coalition Forces.
AES handlers were deployed repeatedly in Basra, Maysan Dhi Qar and Al Muthanna. However, obtaining realistic quantities of explosives to train on was an issue – the training samples were inadequate and didn’t realistically reflect the identity of anything that the dogs were expected to find. However, a little dialogue by Chris Ham with an ATO yielded a bountiful supply of TNT, ‘red’ Semtex and other theatre variants, some recovered from the insurgents’ shells and rockets.
It transpired that manning the busy commitment was still a perplexing issue for the RAVC, no matter
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