On May 22, a presentation on the training cooperation between the Austrian Armed Forces and the Ghanaian armed forces on the subject of “Combat Dog Training” took place at the Military Dog Center in Kaisersteinbruch.
As part of this cooperation, the Austrian Armed Forces are supporting dog handlers from Ghana with their training. At the beginning of March, a female and a male soldier from the Ghana Armed Forces began a three-month dog handler training course in Kaisersteinbruch for the first time. The protection and detection dog training ends on Friday, May 24. The aim of the training is to impart the acquired knowledge on the basis of “train the trainer” on site in order to sustainably optimize dog handler training in Ghana. In 2018, the first practical dog training course “Combat Dog Training Basic” was successfully carried out by a Mobile Training Team (MTT) of the Austrian Armed Forces in the capital of Ghana, Accra. Another deployment of a Mobile Training Team of the Austrian Armed Forces to Ghana is planned for fall 2019. Together with the Armed Forces team, the Belgian shepherd dogs of the two Ghanaian soldiers, which were provided by the Armed Forces, will also be brought to their new owners in Ghana. This team includes a veterinary surgeon who will accompany the transportation of the two dogs and will also provide information on the spot regarding questions of rearing and medical treatment. The soldiers will also help to organize and set up the center of excellence.
Through the support and training, a regional competence center for dog training is to be established with the help and know-how of Austrian soldiers – the so-called “National Dog Training Centre”. In addition to military dogs from the Ghana Armed Forces, the training center will also train service dogs from authorities such as the judiciary, customs and the police. The aim of the project is to promote dog handler training in Ghana so that well-trained dogs can help improve border management or combat organized crime in the future, thereby making a significant contribution to the stability of the West African region. Active training cooperation in Ghana began in 2014 with the secondment of an officer from the Austrian Armed Forces to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center (KAIPTC) as course director. As part of this ongoing cooperation, a training program for the dog training center called “Combat Dog Training” was agreed with the Ghanaian army.
