Caesar the War Dog
Page 21
CAIRO
Cairo is a long-nosed Belgian Malinois shepherd that was trained as an EDD for service with the United States Navy SEALs (Sea, Air and Land teams), a unit within the US Special Operations Command. In 2011, Cairo was part of SEAL Team 6, which landed by helicopter in a compound in Pakistan to deal with Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda. Cairo’s job was to go in first to locate explosives in the compound. Cairo and all members of his team returned safely from the successful mission.
Because he and his unit are top secret, little more is known about Cairo. It is known that he was trained for insertion by helicopter and by parachute, strapped to his handler, just as Caesar is in this book. And it is also known that Cairo later met US President Barack Obama, when the SEALs were presented with the Presidential Unit Citation for the bin Laden operation.
AUSTRALIAN MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN
In 2001, the Australian Government sent SAS troops to participate in operations with US, British and other coalition forces in Afghanistan, following Al Qaeda attacks in America. Although those Australian troops were withdrawn in 2002, Australia resumed its military involvement in Afghanistan as part of ISAF in 2005. By 2012, Australia had 1500 troops in Afghanistan, the largest military presence of any foreign nation other than members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Most of these Australian troops have either been involved in reconstruction programs, rebuilding destroyed or run-down infrastructure in Afghanistan, or the training of the Afghan National Army. Three hundred members of the Australian contingent have been SAS operators and commandos from the Royal Australian Regiment, involved in special operations against the Taliban and other anti-government militias.
SAS
The original Special Air Service was created by the British Army during the Second World War for special operations behind enemy lines, with the motto ‘Who Dares Wins’. In 1957, the Australian Army created its own Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), commonly referred to as the Australian SAS, two years after the New Zealand Army founded its Special Air Service.
Australia’s SAS is considered by many to be the finest Special Forces unit in the world, and its members help train the Special Forces of other countries, including those of the United States of America. Operating all over the world, the unit has received numerous awards, including the prized US Presidential Unit Citation for exceptional service. The Australian SAS Regiment’s extremely tough selection course is only open to serving members of the Australian military, with very few soldiers who begin the course completing it.
The Australian SAS is based at Swanbourne Barracks in Perth, Western Australia. A top-secret unit, its men are often involved in covert anti-terrorist work, so their names and faces cannot be revealed. The only exceptions to this rule are SAS members who receive the Victoria Cross. The unit is divided into three squadrons, with one squadron always on anti-terrorist duty and the others deployed on specific missions, such as those undertaken by the SAS in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 21st century.
The primary role of the SAS in wars such as that in Afghanistan is to provide information about enemy movements and operations. They generally do this by mounting secret patrols in enemy territory for a week or more at a time, being inserted by helicopter, parachute, submarine, small boat or special long-range patrol vehicle, depending on the location. Usually, but not always, working in teams of six ‘operators’ including a signaller, they will observe and report, or will seek to capture enemy leaders. Sometimes, they will call in air attacks on enemy targets they locate, or in support of other units under enemy attack.
During the war in Afghanistan, Australian EDDs and their handlers have increasingly worked with Australian SAS and commando units on special operations.
THE TALIBAN
The Taliban is an armed political movement that originated in southeast Afghanistan and is confined to Afghan tribes that speak the Pashto language. By 1996, the Taliban had gained control of much of Afghanistan by force, after which they permitted terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda to set up training camps in Afghanistan. In late 2001, foreign coalition troops joined Afghan Northern Alliance forces in driving Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters out of Afghanistan, after which an elected Afghan Government was established in the country’s capital, Kabul.
Since then, Taliban forces, reinforced by other anti-ISAF militias and extremist Muslim fighters from many countries, and operating from mountainous regions of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, have waged a fierce insurgent war against the Afghan Government and ISAF forces. In 2011, secret talks were initiated between Taliban leaders, the Afghan Government and the US Government to seek a peaceful solution to the war. ISAF troops, including those from Australia, are currently scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan by late 2014, after which the Afghan Government will be solely responsible for security in Afghanistan.
If you love this book, please recommend it to a friend, and help send Caesar around the world. Thank you.
STEPHEN DANDOCOLLINS
April, 2012
www.stephendandocollins.com
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Version 1.0
CAESAR THE WAR DOG
Published by Random House Australia 2012
Copyright © Fame and Fortune Pty Ltd 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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First published by Random House Australia in 2012
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Author: DandoCollins, Stephen, 1950–
Title: Caesar the war dog / Stephen DandoCollins
ISBN: 9781742756325 (ePub)
Target audience: For primary school age
Subjects: Dogs – Juvenile fiction.
Detector dogs – Afghanistan – Juvenile fiction.
Combat survival – Juvenile fiction.
Dewey number: A823.3
Cover photographs: chocolate labrador © Brian Summers/Getty Images; Chinook © iStockphoto.com/BreatheFitness; landscape © Asaf Eliason/Shutterstock.com; camouflage pattern © italianphoto/Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Astred Hicks, designcherry
Ebook Production by Midland Typesetters Australia
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