Page 499 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
very good friend and a work colleague – he was always laughing and keeping our morale high. He will be sadly missed.
Private Dan Watkins RAVC: I first met Ken when I arrived at 104 MWD Sp Unit earlier this year. The first thing he said to me was: “You’re coming out for a drink tonight.” This was typical of Ken in the way he would never see you by yourself and would befriend all those he came across. A true friend who always made you laugh. Ken, you will be missed.
Private ‘Russ’ Russell RAVC: I first met Ken on day one of our basic training. Since that day we have done pretty much everything in our careers together; our basic dog handling course, getting posted to Northern Ireland, our tracker course and our search course. The only difference came recently when Ken deployed to Afghanistan. As I write this it’s hard to imagine a world without him. Only recently, via ‘blueys’, we had planned to visit each other’s homes at the end of his tour.
Not only was Ken a good dog trainer and soldier, but he was also, more importantly, a great bloke. He never thought twice of putting others before himself and was always there for me when I needed him. I count myself lucky to have known Ken and have some great memories that will stay with me forever. Things like our big weekender and the Army versus Navy rugby match, and many a night out on the town which normally ended up with Ken on stage doing Karaoke! We always had a laugh. To sum Ken up, he was a proud Geordie, a proud British Army soldier and a great friend who will be sorely missed. It’s not going to be the same without you; I’m going to miss you mate.
Private Sarah Smith RAVC: I will always remember Ken as an outgoing, ambitious and extremely cheeky Geordie, who never failed to help anyone who was in need. He helped me a lot throughout my start in the unit, something I never properly thanked him for. He was always up for the challenge of a good game of pool – he was beaten a few times by me, however he did manage a good comeback. I’d like to thank him for being such a lovely person and giving a lot of his time and effort to help me towards my career. He will not be forgotten.
Friend and colleague, Sapper Mark Hoynes: LCpl Rowe was only with us for a short space of time but quickly became one of the lads. He was a good friend and an inspiration to me because of the love for his job and his dedication. Rest in peace my friend.
Friend and Colleague, Sapper Michael Warner: Dedicated and determined, always willing to stay and give his service and skills to help patrols. A great and friendly guy to know.
Pte John Allison and Pte Harry McKnight RAVC, paid tribute to their friend and colleague LCpl Kenneth Rowe whose sense of humour, talent as a sportsman and dedication to charity fundraising was an inspiration. In their article below the dog handlers describe how Beat the Dog benefitted HELP FOR HEROES:
Beat the Dog!
Beat the dog was started in Camp Bastion on Op HERRICK 8 by the Protection dog handlers of 104 MWD to raise money for the charity HELP FOR HEROES. The event proved extremely popular with the other Regiments and Corps, with soldiers from other nations also participating.
The aim of the event was for the challenger to beat a Protection Dog to a safe haven before being attacked and taken down; the challenger stands behind a Hesco built hide and the dog is held behind a different hide. Both the handler and the challenger race to a marked point where the handler releases the dog on the challenger and the fun begins.
There were four marked areas in which the challenger had to pass in order to reach the safe haven; each area determined how fast the challenger was in a full pursuit. The ‘closest’ to ‘furthest’ areas were as follows ‘Hats’, ‘Atts’ and ‘Dets’, Airborne, and Vet Corps.
If the challenger managed to reach beyond the Vet Corps section, they would have ‘beaten the dog’ but of course... this never happened! The great thing was that this event kept the dogs’ fitness at a high level and their working ability at a high standard whilst having fun and doing something worthwhile. More importantly the amount of money that was raised (over US $10,000) during such a short period of time was outstanding.
This was an extremely successful event and was enjoyed by both the handlers and those who mistakenly thought they could beat one of our highly trained, military working dogs...!!42
New Kennels:
The deployment of air-conditioned kennels managed to court the interest of the media towards the end of Op HERRICK 8. One article read:
Specially made air-conditioned kennels are being used
42 Chiron Calling dated Winter 2008/Spring 2009.
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