A total of 55 deminers from three different entities have completed two recent training courses designed to enhance their abilities to work with dogs in the course of their duties.

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) announced on August 10 that a total of 40 personnel – 19 from CMAC, 10 from Army Special Command and 11 from the Bodyguard Unit – had taken part in its dog handling course.

They were the 21st graduating class of the course, which ran from May 29 to August 10 at CMAC’s Kampong Chhnang province training centre.

The second course began on July 10 and ended on August 11, with 15 attendees, all from CMAC.

The training, which was run by American and Australian instructors, aimed to exchange knowledge and experience in dog patrol techniques, in order to improve the efficiency of CMAC’s mine action work.

During both sessions, participants were involved in practical exercises such as managing dogs mine detection activities at both short and long distance, dealing with unexploded ordnance and patrolling.

During the August 10 closing ceremony at the CMAC training centre, Heng Ratana, CMAC general-director, offered his appreciation to all of the graduates for the hard work they had put into the training.

He encouraged them to put the knowledge they had gained to good use when they returned to their respective units.