Page 4 - Chiron Winter 2020

Editor
Lt Col Abby DuBaree Regimental Secretary RAVC RHQ AMS
Robertson House
Slim Road, Camberley,
GU15 4NP
Tel 01276 412749 regtsecravc@hotmail.co.uk or abby.dubaree623@mod.gov.uk
Editorial Team
Lt Col Chris Ham MBE
Maj Sean Jones
WO1 (RSM) Angie Speer
WO1 (Rep RSM) Jody Honeywood
On the cover:
Left: Staff Sergeant Chris Byles with retired Military Working Dog Kuno. Courtesy of PDSA. Middle: Colonel Mark Morrison QHVS
Right: Pack Horse on Training Back cover: Kuno with PDSA Dickin Medal. Courtesy of PDSA.
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2 / Chiron Calling
Foreword
by Colonel Mark Morrison QHVS, Chief Veterinary and Remount Officer
It gives me great pleasure to be able to welcome you to this latest edition of Chiron Calling. The
Journal has been a constant source
of enjoyment, insight, education
and pride for me over the years.
From the range of articles that are consistently on show, the Corps is blessed with capable and dynamic soldiers and animals, who continue to make us highly effective and relevant for Defence. We also boast a fantastic diaspora of Old Comrades, associates and friends, whose support and advice through these pages and beyond adds enormously to the range and depth of our reach. I would like to thank you all for your continued support of, and contributions to, Chiron Calling and for helping to bring the Corps to life through your words and pictures.
I write this Foreword as the
newly appointed Chief Veterinary
and Remount Officer (CVRO), on succession to Colonel Neil Smith. It
is a great honour and privilege to be invited to take on the role and I hope that I will prove as worthy a custodian as those who have gone before me. I offer particular thanks to Colonel Neil for his many years of loyal service to the RAVC, including two periods as our head. The Corps has flourished under his leadership and he leaves it in great shape.
As I take on the role of CVRO,
I reflect very fondly on my career within the RAVC. It has been a hugely rewarding and enjoyable part of my life and I feel immensely lucky to have worked with some outstanding people and animals. Perhaps my
only regret is arriving relatively
late into the Corps, having qualified as a veterinary surgeon only after serving a first Commission within The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’ Own) – the ‘Cherrypickers’. However, I take some pride in the knowledge that this route in leaves me in the very best of company. It was, after
all, the Cherrypickers that our most celebrated Old Comrade, John
Shipp, joined (then as the 11th Light Dragoons), in 1796, when he became the first veterinary surgeon to join the British Army.
The role of CVRO has changed
a great deal in recent years. Most significantly, it has now become an additional duty that must be done alongside a full-time appointment unrelated to animals or veterinary medicine. I am disappointed by this change because I believe our animals,
and veterinary
services in the
round, have much
to gain from having
a dedicated head to
protect their interests and maximise their value. I also believe there are significant benefits to Defence from proper investment in veterinary medicine, science and animal welfare. This is not just because animals continue to have utility for Defence, but because veterinary science is
a fundamental part of a Defence Medical Services ‘One Health’ approach and could also provide another dimension for Defence to contribute to the Government’s prosperity agenda. Within this context, I will work with other senior members of the RAVC and Medical Services to continue to make the case for a full-time CVRO. Until then, I will do my very best to make time to act as a proper champion for the Corps, our people and military working animals in the round.
Notwithstanding that CVRO is
now an additional duty and the old Veterinary and Remount Directorate long gone, animal and veterinary governance within the Army Headquarters has strengthened in recent years. This, in combination with our two well-established and high-performing RAVC units, the
1st Military Working Dog Regiment and the Defence Animal Training Regiment, is helping mitigate the loss of predecessor structures and is particularly important as Defence has to make hard choices about what it invests in for the future. There will inevitably be change and the RAVC
is certainly not insulated from it.
We are, however, well served by our people and our animals and I remain optimistic for the Corps’ future.
I will seek to keep you abreast of developments through these pages as the future unfolds.
I remain immensely grateful for
the hard work and energy of all ranks of the RAVC who, through the Covid pandemic, have made remarkable adaptations to keep each other
and their animals safe, whilst also delivering for Defence. I am hopeful that advances in Covid testing and vaccination will help us return swiftly in the New Year to more traditional practices. Until then, I encourage
you all to continue to lean in to Government guidance and do all you can to help the Nation get through the pandemic safely.