Page 496 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
thoroughly searched by a Search dog team.
A summary of Operational tasks carried out during March 2008 stated there were eleven operational AES Teams responsible for completing seventy-seven taskings; two VS teams completed forty tasks and the seven Protection dog teams completed forty-two tasks. Teams were deployed
as follows:
Camp Bastion – four AES, two VS and five
Protection dogs.
Kabul – one AES.
Lashkar Gah – one AES.
Sangin – one AES.
Kajacki – one AES.
FOB Robinson – one Protection.
Musa Qal’eh – one AES and one Protection. Kandahar – one AES.37
Veterinary Treatment Facility:
The same report highlighted a request to hasten the delivery of the Veterinary Treatment Facility (VTF) which had been submitted to DCOS BSG. The report went on to articulate, that all MWDs originating from the UK had been granted dispen- sation to return directly to the UK devoid of the need to serve a six-month qualifying quarantine period. The report highlighted the ground- breaking work being conducted, in conjunction with theatre EOD, to improve support to the Op BARMA drills38 with Military Working Dogs. It was reported that this work would expectantly see the development of the proposed VP MWD.39
The VTF was subsequently installed in May 2008 and at the same time an SOI was established with the UK JF Sp Med Group, which authorised access to facilities such as radiography, scanning and laboratory facilities in the unfortunate event of any MWD casualties. Additional requests for CIMIC support were received by the TMWDSU to establish the ‘veterinary ground truth’ in Helmand Province.
A summary of Operational tasks during June 2008 stated there were: ten operational AES Teams responsible for completing ninety-two taskings; one VS team completed twenty-one tasks and five Protection dog teams had completed one hundred and forty-five tasks.
Teams were deployed to:
Camp Bastion – two AES, two Protection dogs and one AES dog attached to Jt Force EOD.
Kabul – one AES.
Lashkar Gah – one VS.
Sangin – one AES and one Protection.
Kajaki – one AES.
Musa Qal’eh – one AES and one Protection. Gereshk – one AES and one VS.
Inkerman FOB – one AES.
Kandahar – one AES.40
The following article, by Captain Martyn
Thompson RAVC, appeared in the summer 2008 issue of Chiron Calling:
‘The Places in Between’41
The astute of you out there, will recognise the title of this article from the book of the same name by Rory Stewart. His book tells the story of his trek in 2002, completely on foot, across an almost inaccessible Afghan mountain route previously taken by the Mongol Emperor, Babur the Great. This was at the same time as the American Invasion and highlights the perils of travelling alone. It is well worth a read as it sets the context for both the Region and the Afghan culture.
OC 104 MWD Sp Unit, asked me to write something highlighting the changes to the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) since his tour last year. So where to begin?
The three most significant places in the country are Kabul to the North-East (the capital), Kandahar to the East (Taliban capital) and Lashkah Gah the capital of Helmand Province; what I will try and elaborate on are the ‘places in between’.
To the North of Lashkar Gah is the massive logistical hub of Camp Bastion. Situated in the middle of a desert plain, it currently houses some 6,000 troops and includes an airfield capable of receiving C-17 aircraft. In addition to us, there are also the Household Cavalry (HCR), 2 PARA, 2 SCOTS, 13 AA Logistics Regt, 7 Bn REME, US Marine Corps, DANBAT and a Coy of Estonians amongst others. Next to Camp Bastion is Camp Sharobak which houses 1 R IRISH, their RHQ and Observation, Mentoring and Liaison Team. To the North West of Sharobak is Camp Juno which is the training camp for the Afghan National Army and Police (ANA/ANP) who are mentored by the UK training teams.
About 10-miles to the East of Bastion is FOB PRICE near Gereshk, which continues to be developed as another logistic hub. To the North East of here are a number of PBs such as ATTAL (just been built) and KEENAN; there is a small British presence here and these sites are occasionally supported by MWDs.
FOBs GIBRALTAR and ARMADILLO are further to the North East of PRICE and have a heavy British (GIBRALTAR) and Danish (ARMADILLO) influence. Specialist handlers continue to operate periodically out
37 TMWDSU/J1 dated 3rd April 2008 by Captain Martyn Thompson RAVC.
38 Op BARMA Drills and procedures for searching for IEDs in front of vehicles and foot patrols normally using Vallon hand held detectors and later MWDs.
39 Later to be named as HASD classification.
40 TMWDSU/J5 dated 16th July 2008 by Captain Martyn Thompson RAVC.
41 Chiron Calling Summer 2008 article ‘The Places in Between’ by Captain Martyn Thompson RAVC.
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