Man's Best Friend

[Tim]

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EXERCISE MAN'S BEST FRIEND
07/1998 -- CLASSIFIED

SECTION I. INFORMATION
[Commanders] Luitenant Kolonel Otto P. van Wiggen
[Staging Point] Oirschotse Heide
[Date] 07/1998
[Skill] Dog Handling & Cooperation
[Belligerents]

Netherlands

v.​

​

[Casualties and losses]

Dead: 0 Wounded: 0

Dead: 0 Wounded: 0​

SECTION II. STRENGTH
[360] Korps Commandotroepen

[40] Opleidings- en trainingscompagnie speciale operaties
[64] 103 Commandotroepen-compagnie
[64] 104 Commandotroepen-compagnie
[64] 105 Commandotroepen-compagnie
[64] 106 Commandotroepen-compagnie
[64] 108 Commandotroepen-compagnie
[36] Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle​

[40] K-9 Dogs

Supporting Forces
[10] Defense Helicopter Command

[6] 298 Squadron
[4] 931 Squadron
[2] Boeing CH-47F Chinook​

SECTION III. OBJECTIVES
PHASE A. PREPARATION
A01 -- COMPLETED -- TRANSPORT TO OIRSCHOTSE HEIDE
A02 -- COMPLETED -- TRAINING OBJECTIVE MEETING
PHASE B. PLAN
B03 -- COMPLETED -- BASIC DOG HANDLING
B04 -- COMPLETED -- DOG HANDLING AROUND VEHICLES
B05 -- COMPLETED -- HELICOPTER DEPLOYMENT WITH DOGS
B06 -- COMPLETED -- EXAM MISSION

​

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[Tim]

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On Tuesday July 2nd the entirety of the Korps Commandotroepen would start preparations for Exercise Man's Best Friend were each of the Commando Troops would be assigned a dog, and learn how to work together with it. All Commando's would be fully equipped and would enter a Bushmaster. All 36 Bushmasters were fully filled with 10 men, meaning some of the Troops and Companies had to split up but they would soon be reunited. The first Bushmasters left once they were ready, and they were followed by the rest. All thirty-six vehicles drove in a large row over the A58 highway from the Engelbrecht van Nassaukazerne in Roosendaal, to the Oirschotse Heide which would be used as the training site for this exercise.

The dogs which had recently undergone their basic training had already been brought over to the Oirschotse Heide.

At Gilze-Rijen Air Base the six crew members of 298 Squadron were doing final checks on their Chinook's, and the four Engineers from 931 Squadron loaded their equipment into the Chinook Avenger. The other Chinook had been loaded with equipment to build some tents. Once both Chinook's were ready for take-off they contacted flight control individually. "Flight control this is Avenger, requesting permission for take-off." The flight control tower, manned by 930 Squadron, would answer. "Copy. This is flight control, permission for immediate take-off granted." The first Chinook would lift-off. "Flight control, this is Corona, requesting permission for take-off." "Copy that Corona, permission granted." With that the second helicopter took off and they both flew the short trip to Oirschotse Heide, where they would land at the marked areas that had been marked by the police.


Corona taking off at Gilze-Rijen Air Base

Not long after the arrival of the two Chinook's the first Bushmasters entered the terrain, parking close to the Chinook's. It was only a fifty minute drive and by departing as early as 6 o'clock they were able to avoid rush hour. All commando's left their vehicles and met with their Troop in five designated area's for each of the Companies. The Training Company would set up a small Headquarters tent with equipment from the Chinook. Another tent would be made with the help of some Commando's for the four Chinook Engineers.

 

[Tim]

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After some hard work by the commandos the command tent was ready for operation. The training company went over the briefing one last time in the tent, going over the map and detailed plans before splitting up. The five companies of 64 men consisted of 8 men troops which work independently on missions. All fourty commando troops were assigned one of the trainers from the training company who would take the dog and meet with their troop somewhere on the terrain. Each troop would get their own dog for permanent service, which would ensure the troop and dog could work together well.

"Commandos, at ease. As you know we are here to work together with our newest asset of four-legged manpower, specially trained dogs. These dogs have been trained to find humans, among other things, and can be a great asset when deployed in unknown territory as they can be an extra pair of eyes and a way stronger nose. Today is about basic tasks of working together, safely navigating with your dog, making sure it listens to you and getting you both to fully trust eachother."

As part of this initial phase of the training all commandos had to do some basic training with their dog, making them follow, sit, on short distances.

Once all commandos had practiced with the dogs every troop had to go through a parkour which contained a forest session and a building with a possible armed treath inside. Inside they would have to let the dog find a possible hostage that might be there. The training went well, with the dogs having had a long training before they listened easily, even when given a command quietly because of a possible threat.

Troop A, 108 Company approaching the building with their dog

Troop C, 105 Company breaching the building with their dog

Troop E, 104 Company looking for signs of humans

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[Tim]

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After one attemt 37 of the troops had finished the training, meaning 3 had to re do it as they had failed to keep their dog in control at some point. After their second attempt they also passed the dog handling training phase of the exercise. After a good night of rest it was time for the next phase of the training.

The next phase was the dog handling around vehicles. All dogs had been trained to detect bombs by smelling the explosive vapor contained in the mines and unexploded ordnances (UXO). The fireteams would all have to go through a route which had fake mines along the route (boxes filled with explosive vapors that smell like mines). Each fireteam would go through the course riding in their Bushmaster. They started slowly, with one or two soldiers walking with the dog until he found the first mine. After all dogs found this and sat down the commandos knew how to safely go around it. After a few bombs they continued with all commandos in their car, the dog walking in front of their vehicle, still on the lookout for mines. Every time they had to stop because the dog sat down they checked to see the mine, and treated the dog. In the few cases of a false alarm the dogs did not get a treat, and they went on further. The long 20 km circuit over the terrain took each commando troop some time, and part of them had to continue into the dark hours. At 1 am the last Bushmaster came in at the end. No bombs had been missed, the few false alarms weren't seen as too bad as it was better to be too careful than to be too careless as it could lead to death in a real scenario.

As the last troop came to base camp they saw the field full of small tents and they all set up their own tents as they had the freedom and space to do so and they had a good nights rest.

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[Tim]

PRIVATE

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The last phase of the exercise consisted of a basic deployment exercise. Despite plans of HALO and HAHO plans being made with the dogs these had been decided to be incorporated in a separate parachuting exercise. For now the dogs would need to be transported for long times and deployed quickly. To do this all troops would one by one board on of the Chinooks. Each Chinook would take 32 troops, 4 groups each with their dog who had been muzzled. Two trainers would also be present in the helicopter. They began with taking off and flying around, doing several manouvres which included loud sounds to check none of the dogs reacted heavily, and that the few who did react could be calmed down by their troop. Once they arrived at the deployment area all troops put on their repelling rope hook. One of each group had one with an extra hook which was attached to the dog's harness. The helicopter hovered over the deployment zone shortly and they all had to repel in the same time as usual. Once theyy arrived they all had to quickly get ready and leave the deployment zone to an assigned destination together with the dog.

This cycle would be done by both helicopters simultaneously, deploying an entire Commando company at once. After five cycles all commando's had been deployed with their dog via helicopter.

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[Tim]

PRIVATE

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After the completion of all exercise parts each group would have to partake in an exam exercise, which would be spread out over 5 days, one for each company. The mission was an infiltration mission with a human target which needs to be brought in alive. The groups were one by one deployed with their dog from a helicopter, repelling out with the dog and getting to cover quickly and unseen. From there they had to make their way over to a compound that had been set up by some large concrete slabs. The target was heavily guarded and of great importance so they needed to ensure they wouldn't scare the enemy into possibly killing the target.

They had to combine their experience with the dog to safely and quietly make it towards the compound. Once inside they quickly cleared all rooms, killing the enemies with a laser system that had been attached to their guns. Once they reached the target they had to command the dog to grab him, so he could not do himself or the commando's any harm.

Most troops were able to go through this exam in one go, and a few needed a retry. After the final day the commando's were awarded the 'Special Forces Dog Cooperation' degree. They commando's cleared camp and travelled back to the base with the Bushmasters and the two helicopters also returned to their base. With this the exercise was completed.

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