Page 85 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
Advice was sought on the best breeds for training and, although against the agreed viewpoint of a failed Guard dog and the Tracker being a non-black dog, the final selection was “Jerry-Lee”, a GSD, as the IP dog, and “Mungo”, a black Labrador, as the Tracker dog.
It was key for the IP dog to be balanced and environmentally and socially sound, as the team often needed to sit still for hours in the jungle. The small mound by the ammo compound at Dog School was the chosen spot for assessing the dogs’ ability to sit patiently; those who were too fidgety, restless, or easily spooked were returned. The Tracker dogs selected were high prey drive and nose naturally to the ground – excellent confor- mation and agile.
Much of the training was undertaken at the gun ranges and reservoir around Asfordby near Melton, making good use of the woods and areas of thick undergrowth. The dogs then passed on to Hong Kong to acclimatise while the two NCOs undertook the JWIC in 1996. The dogs’ first taste of action was the 2 RGR Battalion FTX, and although there were no planned serials, it proved invaluable as a way to expose the dogs to the jungle environment for the first time.
Many lessons had to be re-learned and so, initially, the dogs were used intermittently; on a short term ambush for the IP Dog and an advance to contact for the Tracker dog. What did not help the trial at all was the heavy rainfall in 1995 – it was regarded as the heaviest on record. This clearly resulted in mixed results, particularly for the IP dog; the Tracker dog had no difficulty following a scent after a heavy downpour. The trial complete, the team returned home to the UK; the dogs were handed to GRU in Bandar. Cpl Frank Holmes and Cpl Pat Stewart returned for a final confirmation on Ex SETIA KEWAN II in 1997. With dogs borrowed from GRU, the Cpls spent two weeks building up to the seven-day Exercise with the Royal Marines. This success and the recommendation from TTB ensured the establishing of the post in April 1998.
Two new dogs were selected for training: “Jess”, a black Labrador and “Lennox” a GSD. They were trained, with all lessons learned from Jerry-Lee and Mungo, and consequently the new dogs emerged stronger candidates and proved excellent in the jungle.
New courses were devised: the Jungle Warfare Tracking Instructors Course (JWTIC) and the Jungle Warfare Long Range Patrol Course (JWLRPC). Lennox was used in both short-term (up to 12 hours) and long-term (over 12 hours)
ambushes in the early warning cut-off group. The average warning a cut off group would give was between 30 – 60 seconds, which was not a lot of time to get prepared. Lennox was extremely reliable giving early warning in up to three to six minutes without compromising the position.
Lennox was one of the first dogs to wear specially designed ear-defence. The noise created by a company ambush using simulated claymores, General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), in addition to 40 soldiers firing on automatic, was incredible – especially for dogs’ sensitive hearing. Consequently, a company was tasked with designing an ear-defender, using standard green ear defence, which Lennox’s handler, Chandra clipped over the dog’s ears prior to the ambush being sprung and after the enemy went through the cut-off.
The dogs, like the men, got into their stride in the jungle putting all their learning into action while all the time adapting to the challenging environment. Jess, the Tracker dog, led an advance to contact after a fire-fight following four-to-eight ‘enemy’ (Gurkhas). She had to track slowly as if she tracked too fast she would catch the enemy but possibly compromise the group who were unlikely to be able to keep up. The track still had to be completed tactically to avoid an ambush by the enemy. Naturally, once close to completing the track Jess speeded-up in anticipation of her reward.
Re-establishing the Jungle Dogs:
As the post became more established and more was learned about the capabilities of the dogs, they were much more involved within the Training Team Brunei. On the LRPC the Tracker dog, alongside Visual Trackers, followed-up one of the patrols and presented the information of their route plus anything they learned about the patrol’s tactics and procedures. The IP dog went into one of the two main camps and always indicated on the students who were trying to conduct a Close Target Reconnaissance (CTR).
The CTR lesson was delivered by the SAS instructors and listening to them present and discuss how difficult, if not impossible, it is to effectively CTR a camp with a trained dog in it said everything that needed to be said about the power of the dog.
The dogs’ resilience was also a major factor in their success in the field. The Tracker dog on the LRPC was often tracking for 12-24 hours after the trail was laid and this became important, especially as a way to slow the dogs down to ensure that
77