Page 458 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
standard was drawn to the correct level. All the dogs passed through with no trouble ensuring that in the last three weeks of training the teams could concentrate on finalising all the other aspects of the deployment. They needed to be speedy, flexible and have a structured approach to London 2012.
Overall, the training was seamless with support gained at all levels especially from those within 104 MWD Sqn who remained back in the Sqn lines. With the hard work still ahead of them – with over seventy search venues in over fifty locations spanning the length and breadth of the United Kingdom – the Regiment and supporting Services showed their ability to work at the highest level of search and in the public eye. The work began on 14th July 2012.
A personal account of the London Olympics deployment was brought to life in Chiron Calling:
Op OLYMPICS 2012
So, there we were settling in to our office/accom- modation block. Our seven weeks Olympic build-up training was complete and were ready for an exciting month of searching ahead of us. The rooms were what you made of them, females having a slight advantage on space as usual, but hey I wasn’t complaining.
The dogs were housed nicely in the garage below us and so all that was left for us to do was prep our vehicles for glorious London driving. To me, and Sgt Jones, this meant a competition as to who could have the most luxuries and comforts in our dog vans. I, of course, won this hands down with a travel fridge, kettle, and deckchairs!
We were all paired up a week before the Olympics. These pairs were to stick together throughout the Olympics and go on tasks together. The pairs included Sgt Matt Jones and LCpl Andrew Duff. This pair was clearly placed together so LCpl Duff could keep an eye on Sgt Jones’ searching ability, nothing to do with keeping Sgt Jones’s tea and cupcake supply running. The rest of the teams were a good match of personalities.
After a couple of training days with the Police dog handlers, it was time to get started with the build-up searches towards the Olympics. This was mainly lock-down searches during the day working the venues and VIP areas ready for the opening ceremony. A number of these searches started off as a ‘flying column’, (the Army Equivalent to QRF). Meaning that there was a lot of hurry-up and then wait and wait some more to do a last-minute job that could last up to 12-hours, depending on how long you remained on standby.
After the Opening Ceremony the shifts started to move into the night. This was mainly to carry out searches at the Olympic Venues prior to the following day’s events. This is where it got interesting.
Being able to get into the Olympic venues was brilliant, especially when the tasks involved searching the VIP suite. By mid-Op OLYMPIC, the workload had increased, and all teams were being used as much as they could. We had all turned a shade of white through the lack of sunlight and the dogs were also looking like they were feeling the strain.
Towards the end of the Olympics, certain venues were beginning to close and so this took some of the pressure off our dog teams. We were no longer working such long hours, and this gave us the opportunity to get out and do half a day of sightseeing in London. I didn’t use the time for sightseeing, I used it for shopping and lucky for me my team member (Captain Jay Rowlinson RAVC) is even more of a shopaholic than I am, so it all worked out well.
As the closing ceremony approached, and Cpl Rob King carried out the last search of the main stadium (eighty thousand seats... treat yourself Rob) it was time to pack-up and head back to 104 MWD Sqn for some well-earned leave... but not before an end of the Olympics knees up.
I was detailed to find an appropriate venue for us and the Engineers to have a meal and few drinks. Let me think, forty soldiers to eat as much as they can and drink as much as they can.....A Turkish Meze, free bottles of wine and a belly dancer should do it, and it certainly did. Everyone had a great time, and it was a good end to Op OLYMPIC.
It was then back to North Luffenham. A day or so to sort kit and vehicles out, and everyone was off on leave. Towards the end of my leave, I was starting to think about getting back into work mode, back into Squadron life again and putting the Olympics behind me ready for pre-de- ployment training. That was until I had a phone call from the OC telling me that the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had invited me to be his plus-one at the Para-Olympics Closing Ceremony. I had to check my diary of course to check if I was busy that night but, luckily for him, I happened to be free!
I had to meet the Deputy Prime Minister at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on the night of the Para-Olympics Closing ceremony. We talked about the dogs working on the Olympics and, after hearing about the dogs, he wanted to talk about nothing else. This upset some of the Venue
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