Page 491 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
Op HERRICK 7
In September 2007 102 MWDSU deployed on Op HERRICK 7 in support of the ongoing and broadening counter insurgency operation in Afghanistan.
The deployment to relieve other members of the Unit who had served on Op HERRICK 6 was conducted in two phases: The advanced party, comprised five handlers and six military working dogs (MWDs). The four handlers, and Cpl Charlie Bates, flew from Germany expecting to arrive in theatre several days before the arrival of the main body of personnel due to deploy from RAF Brize Norton a few days later. However, during the flight, the C130 Hercules suffered engine problems and had to divert to Naples, Italy, where much to the ‘dismay’ of all the delayed ‘travellers’ there was an enforced 48-hours stay in the five-star Grande Hotel Santa Lucia awaiting the arrival of the new engine parts.
As if things couldn’t get any better – after bumping into the singer Phil Collins’ management team in the hotel, the advanced party also received star treatment on the basis of their forthcoming six-month tour in Afghanistan. Although the advanced party was not as advanced as planned, personnel arrived in theatre only 36 hours before the main body.
With the handover complete and MWD teams licensed, the HERRICK 6 troops could get away for their well-deserved Post Operational Tour Leave; leaving the fresh MWD handlers to get used to the new locations. At this point, the TMWDSU was responsible for providing MWD capability to Kabul, Camp Bastion, Lashkar Gah, and Forward Operating Base (FOB) Price, Gereshk, all relatively benign and well-established compared to the other areas of Helmand. That was all about to change.
Enter 40 Commando (Cdo) Royal Marines. 40 Cdo were the fighting force in the Battle Group North, which is the area that covered Now Zad, Kajaki Dam, and the infamous Sangin Valley region of Helmand Province. They immediately showed interest in the assets we had to offer and with only a few hours’ notice, LCpl Rob Ardis was moved from FOB Price and Cpl Charlie Bates was moved from the relative luxury of Lashkar Gah to Sangin District.
For those readers who are unaware of the area, this is the location where the Parachute Regiment saw, only a year earlier on Op HERRICK 4, some of the most ferocious fighting since World War Two. Now the Royal Marines had two RAVC Arms Explosive Search dog teams accompanied by Sgt
Al Smith siting kennels for what looked like a permanent dog section in the Sangin Valley.
‘Niv Lines’ – The First Dog Section:
Although MWD teams had previously worked in the Sangin DC AO, it was on an intermittent basis. The first permanent Dog Section was created in Sangin DC circa Oct 2007 and from then on, MWDs were ever present until its closure. It was named ‘Niv Lines’ in acknowledgement of Mr Niv Keightley who worked at DAC in the Canine Division for many a year and provided help and advice to the ‘young handlers’ during training.
The forward location in Sangin was limited in size so the dogs were housed near the handlers, which happened to be near the 81mm Mortar Pits! As the then Cpl Charlie Bates observed firsthand: “Good communication meant handlers knew when the mortars would be fired but it also meant that the dogs were certainly well ‘battle inoculated’ by the end of their time in Sangin DC AO.”32
Moreover, from that point the ‘die was cast’. Such was the positive impact the handlers received from 40 Cdo in Sangin, that requests for the use of all classifications of dogs came from all FOB locations.
Handlers quickly found themselves one minute in the relative safety and comfortable surroundings of Camp Bastion, the next in a FOB location eating rations, existing in the most austere conditions, with nightly sanger routines and, more often than not, suffering prolonged contact with the Taliban either with mortar fire or multi weapon shoots.
However, with the centre of attention shifting to the FOB locations it would be easy to forget about the troops at Camp Bastion where the routine became as busy as any FOB at that time. VS dog handlers were searching well in searing heat an excess of one hundred trucks each, per day – such was the demand for resupply at Camp Bastion as it grew rapidly in capacity and complexity. The Unit also supported Manoeuvres Operations Groups (MOGs) for weeks at a time on convoys with MWD teams accompanying them. Protection dog handlers were not only responsible for patrolling duties at critical locations around the camp at night, but also responsible for providing Protection dog cover to troops on range packages during the day with many handlers constantly working in excess of 18-hours at a stretch.
During this tour, new ISO kennels arrived that were easily capable of housing up to twenty-four MWDs at Bastion and new portacabins acted as an Ops Room and restroom area for the handlers.
32 Oral testimony SSgt Charlie Bates RAVC 1st MWD Regt taken 5th February 2021.
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