Page 15 - Chiron Winter 2020

heavily involved in a number of projects that improved dog welfare and capability including a complete overhaul (including both the design and procurement) of all MWD equipment .
In July 2007 WO2 Jones was posted to 102 MWD Sp Unit (SU) in Germany as Unit Sgt Major (USM). After overseeing the recovery of half of the Unit from Ops in Afghanistan and Iraq and co-ordinating the training and deployment of their replacements, he deployed as USM/ Ops Warrant Officer of the Theatre MWD Unit on Op HERRICK 7 from December until March 08. During this tour, he again seized the rare opportunity to licence with an
AES dog and deployed to Kabul
for 3 weeks providing support to
1 Coldstream Guards. In April
08, WO2 Jones was cross posted within Sennelager as the USM of the newly formed 103 MWD Sp Unit and set about preparing them for
Op HERRICK 9/Op TELIC 11 whilst covering the duties of USM 102 and 2IC 103 SU until the incumbents arrived in August. In September 2008 he deployed with one half of the SU to Op HERRICK and co- ordinated MWD Support to 3 Cdo Bde until their recovery in Mar 2009.
On promotion to WO1 in July 2009 WO1 Jones was posted back
to the DAC for the first time in
ten years as the Chief Trainer.
Here he was responsible for
the procurement of all dogs for Defence and for the training of
all detection dogs and handlers. With his recent experience, he
was ideally placed to implement
Op ENTIRETY at the school and
get handlers more operationally focussed in preparation for tours
of Afghanistan. Barely 6 months into this challenging but enjoyable job, he was offered the opportunity to become the first RSM of the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment that was forming up in Sennelager based on the old MWD Support Units with a skeleton RHQ over the top. He leapt at the chance to take this on and was back in Germany by July 2010, helping to weld the 5 disparate Sub Units (three in Sennelager and two in separate locations within the
UK) into one Regiment working to an RHQ (and not directly to their respective Brigades as they had in the past). As the post was gapped, he also acted as RCMO working both with APC Glasgow and the DAC
to ensure that the Regiment was fully manned to support a rolling deployment on Op HERRICK. During this period, he also acted as the Regiments Welfare Officer and was given the honour of being OC Wives!
Selected for Commissioning in November 2011 Captain Jones was fortunate to be able to deploy with 101 MWD Sqn on OP HERRICK 16 in Feb 12 for a six-month tour
‘This was the largest deployment of MWDs for over 40 years and was an excellent first job as a commissioned officer’
as Sqn 2IC. This was the largest deployment of MWDs for over 40 years and was an excellent first job as a commissioned officer. On his return from tour, he took up the post of the Regiments first Welfare Officer and after flying solo for the first six months his team doubled in size and they supported the soldiers and their families in Germany and the UK as the Squadrons rotated through Afghanistan.
In December 2014, Captain Jones moved two offices down to become the 1 MWD Regt Training Officer.
More collection of Air Miles ensued as he conducted a large amount of travel between UK and Germany, particularly in support of the COS Rebasing Team in preparation for the Regiments planned move to North Luffenham. The highlights of this posting were the execution of two PNCO Cadres and two separate deployments on Ex SHAMAL STORM in Jordan. It was during this period that the Training Wing moved to St Georges Barracks along with the RHQ and the rest
of the Regts supporting elements
in August 2015. In June 2016, Capt Jones was assigned to 105 Sqn in Sennelager as Sqn 2IC, where he served unaccompanied. The next two years saw him responsible for generating, preparing and deploying the Sqns soldiers on numerous exercises and operations both in UK and abroad, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Canada, Belize and Kenya. He was also the Sqn lead for the Rebasing of all personnel, families, dogs and equipment to North Luffenham in August 2017.
Following selection to promotion to Major in Dec 2017, Maj Jones was assigned as OC 103 (HQ & Sp) Sqn on 01 Aug 2018; the first incumbent in this role since the Sqn reformed in its new guise. In Feb 2021, he will be assigned as OC Canine Training Squadron at the Defence Animal Training Regiment. Maj Jones is married to Emma and they have two daughters Elisha and Cayley who are studying at Peterborough and Derby Universities.
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Chiron Calling / 13