K9 teams prepare for Afghanistan

Dogs and handlers prepare for Afghanistan

A Training and Adventure news article

2 Sep 10

Dogs and their handlers from 104 Military Working Dog Support Unit have been preparing for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan where they will help ensure the safety of troops in 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Afghan National Army.

Sergeant Matthew Jones from 104 Military Working Dog Support Unit
[Picture: Stuart Bingham, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

The highly trained dogs and their handlers from the unit, which is based at St George's Barracks, North Luffenham, will carry out tasks that will include patrolling the bases where fellow British soldiers are based, searching vehicles at checkpoints and going out on patrols on the front line to search for weapons, ammunition and explosives.

Sergeant Matthew Jones, aged 32, is one of 42 soldiers from the unit that will deploy. This will be his second tour of Afghanistan. The unit last deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. He said:

"We have been completely focused on pre-deployment training since January. It has been a steady and methodical build up and we are all now just wanting to get there and get on with the job."

Private Sarah Smith with her dog Eddie
[Picture: Stuart Bingham, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

Private Sarah Smith, aged 23, will deploy with Eddie, a black Labrador, as part of the Arms Explosive Search (AES) Team. All AES dogs are trained to indicate the presence of arms and explosives in everything from buildings and compounds to all types of vehicles.

This will be Private Smith's second tour of Afghanistan. Although they won't know their exact location until arrival in Afghanistan, she expects to deploy on the front line working with the infantry units:

"Eddie is a cheeky but loveable dog and he chews everything at the moment, but he is still young, he is only two years old," she said.

There is much more here.

*this post Bratdog approved...wooooof*