Page 500 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
by the Britain’s military dogs cope with the blistering summer heat of the Afghan desert.
The highly trained dogs, which are used to guard bases and sniff out explosives and illegal drugs, are a vital part of British military operations in Helmand Province, where the summer temperatures routinely reach over 50 degrees – in the shade. Although the dogs are extremely fit and acclimatised to the strenuous conditions, midday temperatures can be intense, and the use of air condi- tioning units means the kennels can be given a blast of cooling air to bring temperatures down and help the dogs get a much-needed break from the heat.
Major Chris Ham of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, based in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan said: “These are highly trained working dogs, and they have a vitally important job to do out here doing everything from help guard bases to searching for booby traps and searching for explosives and illicit drugs. They have undoubtedly saved lives. The welfare of the dogs is paramount, they have to be fit and well looked after in order to work properly and ensuring they are able to cope with the heat is an important part to that.”
The dogs, who work with individual handlers as part of a team, can be used to support operations anywhere in the province and have proved they are vital in helping stabilise situations. The scheme has been a great success and no dogs have suffered from heat problems despite the extreme conditions. British troops in all the main bases also enjoy high quality accommodation – which includes air-conditioned tents, hot and cold showers and flush toilets as well as gymnasiums, cafés and private e-mail/telephone facilities.
The Handover and the IED:
As Op HERRICK 8 concluded in late September 2008, Major Chris Ham handed over command of the TMWDSU to Captain Tom Roffe-Silvester RAVC of 103 MWDSU for Op HERRICK 9. Tom continued in the role until March 2009.
In the winter/spring issue of Chiron Calling 2009, the following comment highlighted the high level of concern regarding the rising death and casualty rate related to the insurgents’ use of IEDs:
Since January 2008, IEDs in Helmand Province have accounted for 79% of UK KIA and are responsible for significant constraints in the TFH AO. The dynamic evolution of EF tactics and their increasing use of IEDs as a weapon of choice threaten to continue to inflict significant
casualties. Winning the C-IED battle can no longer be considered a niche or specialist activity – it is the very essence of the current fight in Helmand.43
As the Taliban tried and tested to perfect the use of this deadly and arbitrary weapon the RAVC focussed on the MWD teams to find a search solution.
HIGH ASSURANCE SEARCH DOG CAPABILI- TY – ‘Born of HERRICK threats’
In October 200844 WO2 Frank Holmes, the Sergeant Major at 104 MWDSU at the time, was called to a meeting at the DAC to discuss a new Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR).45 46 Recently returned from Afghanistan, Holmes had been trialling the use of MWDs in the detection of pressure plates, working with Joint Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (JF EOD), for a dog to be employed with Advanced Search Teams from JF EOD. The project, which was co-ordinated by Lt Col Mark Morrison from his base at MoD Main Building in Whitehall, had been granted a budget of one million pounds.
At the culmination of the DAC meeting, WO2 Frank Holmes was put in charge of training two ‘BARMA’ dogs that would either prove or disprove the possibility that MWDs could be used effectively in a high threat environment.
The project re-located from Germany to Cyprus which was chosen as the most suitable area to train dogs destined to serve in extreme heat. During November 2008, SSgt Wes Quigley, LCpl Maz Hay and Pte Stu Watson deployed to work on the project and the initial batch of dogs was procured from Holland. The chosen breeds included Labradors, Dutch Herders, GSDs and a couple of Belgian Malinois which, with the RAVC, were still a new entity in the role of detection. Generally, they were bred for bite work and protection work, as opposed to search assignments.
Unfortunately, it became clear from the initial assessment that the dogs procured did not have the right qualities in terms of resilience or drive for the required high-risk duty ahead of them. Although the bespoke training team were not fans of GSDs for search work, one GSD, “Bixie”, continued to pass every assessment and continued to progress from one stage of training to the next with ease.
WO2 Holmes developed a scoring sheet to
43 Between April 2002 and 5th September 2010, 61% of the 297 UK Service Personnel KIA were killed by IED/mine strike (Source – SCIAD PJHQ).
44 Oral testimony from Mr Frank Holmes Ex WO1 (Chief Trainer) RAVC dated 13th February 2021.
45 UOR ’An Urgent Operational Requirement seeks to address a capability gap by rapidly procuring new or additional equipment, or by achieving the en-
hancement of, or essential modification to, existing equipment. This may involve bringing forward the planned procurement of equipment (or the funding
of it) from the future Equipment Programme (EP).’
46 HASD was procured as an Urgent Operational Requirement, to support Op HERRICK deployments – to detect and indicate mines and VOIEDS in areas
in support of RE Advanced Search Teams. The HASD varied from IE3D in the fact it provided a very high level of assurance that there is no presence of known and detectable IED threat scents in an identified area. In contrast the IE3D ranges a greater distance and was much faster. Vulnerable Points or VPs were those points where it was considered particularly likely for the enemy to position an IED.
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