Page 457 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
As the Regiment formed up for a photo, MWD “Chance” took a nibble on the Princess’s bouquet! The resulting chuckle coincided with the camera’s flash which created a lasting memory of a significant day.20
Op OLYMPICS – 2012
The first modern day Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896 and from that day, the event has been the focus of supreme sporting achievement. Athletes from all over the world demonstrate feats of human endurance, speed, and strength as they compete for the recognition of gold, silver, and bronze medals.
It was on 6th July 2005 that Lord Sebastian Coe headed-up the London 2012 bid for the London Olympics – and achieved the success that brought with it all the hype, hysteria, excitement, and anticipation that always accompanies this great sporting event. The following day, a series of terrorist bombs rocked the Capital and wiped away the excitement and hype of the Olympic bid victory. It was the horror of the loss of fifty-two innocent lives that day that shaped the way the security for the games was to be carried out seven years later. The nature of the suicide devices used by the terrorists impacted on all levels of the security planning, and the training of the dogs. There was a new awareness of the wide spectrum of explosives openly available to the terrorists.
Training for the security operation surrounding the London Olympics had to be wide and varied with both RAVC and RAFP handlers working together to offer military assistance to the civilian authorities. This combined approach – working in major venues, deploying on exercises, liaising, and working with civilian agencies – became the cornerstone of the training to ensure that the teams were at a level to licence and deploy throughout the duration of the games. The training was made much easier by the standard of the dogs supplied by the Defence Animal Centre (DAC). This was a credit to the trainers and the dedicated hard work that they invested in the dogs.
The training comprised a four-tier structure; Pre-evaluation on Exercise SEA STOAT, Pre-Li- censing Training and Licensing, followed by consol- idation through continuation training searches. Throughout the training, the end goal was always to ensure that the support was centred on mutual aid to the Metropolitan and City of London Police. The aim being that it was at a high level, if not above that of those civilian agencies.
Exercise SEA STOAT started as our first initial phase where the dogs rolled-out onto a five-day
Metropolitan Police run exercise testing the dogs on all levels. Participants reported that the integration was immediate, and the access to all the diverse types, grades and weights of explosives was of great benefit. From that initial training day on Exercise SEA STOAT, the teams were able to work consistently on explosive making ingredients and chemicals, as well as detonating cords and blasting gels. During this phase, the dogs were subject to differing levels and quantities of kit. The exercise established a good base level to assess the dogs’ suitability for the task, and ability to work for the duration of the Olympics.
On 15th May 2012, seven weeks before deploying on the Games, the dogs and handlers embarked on a training package that encapsulated all the different types of searches that they would be required to carry out. At the same time, putting emphasis on venue searches with a view to the ultimate search of the main venues of the London 2012 Olympic Park.
The training got underway with two weeks of Focus and Indication training to build up the dogs’ indications and scent recognition. This was the most vital time in the training as it built up the foundation of the dogs’ ability to recognise the target scents. It was an exercise that paid great dividends when raising the dogs’ abilities and assessing scope for the rest of the training. The location for the exercise was the DAC training area at Old Dalby, and the scent imprinting was pushed through all the dogs to a level where they were consistently finding 5mg of explosive with consummate ease.
Once the initial phase was finalised, the dogs were straight into venue searches at locations such as Tottenham Hotspur FC, East Midlands Airport, Birmingham Airport, Birmingham NEC, The LG Arena, DHL UK Logistic Hub and many more locations around the country. Each of the venues held a different level of search and the dog teams progressed with speed and ability to be ready for licensing three weeks ahead of schedule. The venues offered differing layouts to ensure maximum exposure to a range of conditions that could be encountered when deployed in London. It was always perceived that each dog and handler partnership needed an end level to attain that, when reached, saw the dogs consistently searching live venues in a myriad of locations without distraction or showing a reduction in their efficiencies.
The Licensing was conducted early, with both Army and RAFP input, to ensure that the quality
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