Page 450 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
The Units were to be fully equipped to meet this new role.
As had been done in the past, suitable E2 Dog Handlers that were serving with the Corps in Northern Ireland and in the Balkans were invited to apply to transfer to the RAVC, to supplement direct entry recruitments. In this way, the Units would be manned as quickly as possible to full strength. It was anticipated that a second tranche of similar additional strength would be approved later in 2003 and that the Corps would have some forty personnel specifically established to support military Operations. It would therefore no longer be necessary to extract personnel from the DAC, and other Corps static units in order to maintain military Operations elsewhere. It was significant that ECAB had recognised the serious and detrimental effect that maintaining Units in the Balkans had on the base structure of the Corps, particularly as the DAC had suffered significant under-manning since the Corps first ventured into Bosnia – Herzegovina.2
With the recruitment exercises completed in 2004, the RAVC was larger in number than it was when National Service ended in 1962.3
Even with the above increases in liability it soon became apparent that even more handlers would be required very soon. The fact that both the MWD Sp Units (101 and 102, previously 1 DASU Sennelager) were still being stretched, confirmed that the value of MWDs was recognised in Operational theatres. The success of MWD teams as a force multiplier, and the enduring nature of Ops TELIC and HERRICK, suggested that there would be no notable decrease in commitments in the foreseeable future.4
More had to be done to meet the successful escalation of MWD use. Major Chris Ham, OC 102 MWD wrote: (in July 2006):
WO1 1 (CT)
SSGT 2
CPL 11 5 2 7 7 PTE 13
‘The RAVC, MWD Sp Units are victims of their own success. MWD assets were still scarce and high value assets because of their force multiplication ability. The global security situation and with Commanders demanding more MWD capability, meant that sadly the request was met by ‘robbing Peter, to pay Paul’.
‘The Army Training Recruiting Agency (ATRAs) MWD outputs were likely to be reduced again and NI were being tasked to provide handlers for the two MWD Units. The over-stretch and trawls from RAVC Units, if not mitigated, may result again in the previous loss of outputs when ‘toured out’ individuals are posted from one Unit to the other.’5
Similar supporting views were also articulated by 101 MWD Sp Unit.
The then ongoing requirement to improve the provision, integration, and management of MWD capability across Defence and subsequent delivery in support of deployed operations, continued to gain momentum.
The Director of Joint Capability, at the request of the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), initiated a MWD Capability Review. The Review included identifying future Operational require- ments for MWD capability against Defence Strategic Guidance 2005, Routine and Double Medium Assumptions and recommending options for improved future capability management including manpower. The Terms of Reference for the Review were drawn up in December 2006.
After further staff work, the review continued of the MWD capability as it supported a range of missions and task lines across the spectrum of conflict. This was particularly relevant in the areas of Force Protection and Stabilisation Operations, deployable Operations at that time. MWD Staffing, Governance, and Inspectorate, were also included as this was seen as disjointed
UNIT RANK
DAC
ADU (1)
CDASU
101
1 DASU
AMD
JWW
NSC
TOTALS
1 (VSET)
2
7 1 33 13
WO2
1 (VSET)
1
1
1 (VSET)
4
1 2
2 (1VSET)
SGT
6
4
2
3
3
1
19
LCPL
26
17
14
13
70
TOTALS
59
27
5
27
26
2
1
1
148
The above table shows the proposed RAVC Dog Trainer Establishment after tranches 1 and 2 as at 23rd August 2002.
2 Head of CEG Letter OC Canine Division dated circa January 2003.
3 Editorial comment Chiron Calling dated Summer 2002.
4 Land/LogCSS Ops/4232 dated 8th August 2006.
5 102MWD/G3/3000/OC dated 31st July 2006.
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