MPs and K9s train to make ‘city’ safe

Assigned under 17 Sust Bde, B Coy and their battalion support 1 (Australian) Div.

Operating between the rear and the close, where needed, to deliver policing effects on combat operations.

In May, that meant policing actions in the urban environment. With military working dogs at their side, handlers guided their partners through tight interiors and cluttered spaces.

The dogs moved first at times, low and alert, reading the environment in ways no human could.

Behind them, soldiers flowed through rooms with practised efficiency, covering angles, communicating in subtle gestures, clearing each space with disciplined intensity.

Platoon commander, Lt Cooper McLaren, said his unit supported the division commander’s priorities.

“This can include MPs being assigned to combat brigades for stages of the fight, which requires us to train in the urban environment to ensure we can deliver these effects,” Lt McLaren said.

Inside one of the buildings, a team paused at a threshold, stacked, silent, waiting.

Then, in one fluid motion, they entered.

Corners cleared.

Hallways secured.

A signal passed back: all clear.

Pte Adam Oliver said repetition and training were paramount in his soldiering skills and his role as an MP.

“If I can’t trust my mates, we can’t communicate properly, then we can’t do our job effectively,” Pte Oliver said.

“You don’t rise to the occasion; you fall to your level of training.”

B Coy crossed the threshold alongside their four-legged partners.

Pte Stephan Egarter, an MP dog handler, said the bond between soldier and animal was tactical and personal.

“My dog sees things I don’t and smells things I can’t,” Pte Egarter said.

“But more than that, we work as a team. When we go into a building, I trust him completely. He’s not just an asset, he’s my partner.”

As the sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the training ground, B Coy continued its methodical prgression through the urban landscape, every movement rehearsed, and every action intentional.

Their mission is simple to describe, but complex to execute: deliver tactical policing effects in order to enable 1 Div.

And in the tight, echoing corridors of the city, they do exactly that.