Birmingham Mail - Band of Brothers

Firefight with the Taliban

2009-06-25T13:50:09Z

The other vehicle based tasks involve local patrols to the North (past Highway 1, the M6 of Afghanistan) and South visiting compounds, gathering intelligence off the local population. As well as these patrols we provide ground cover for most incoming flights into Bastion.

Because most flights come in at night, we are usually tasked for 12 hours a night to provide over-watch on the flight-path, ensuring that no opportunist enemy forces try and take a pop at one of our Herc's laden with troops.

In the main these patrols are generally not very eventful, more as provision of a deterrent than actually combating enemy ground forces on a day-to-day basis.

As briefed by the RAF Regiment (who have recently been attached to Normandy Company and integrated into our rotations as a 4th platoon), these patrols, although generally quiet, need maximum attention of every soldier as it's "sods law" that the time you switch off is the time that a lucky Taliban opportunist gets the chance to fire of an RPG into the direct flight-path of an incoming C-17.

One such night time TLZ patrol stands out in my mind as being more memorable from the rest.

We had patrolled the local area for a few hours and had just picked a spot by the flight-path on some high ground south of Bastion, ready to sit and observe our arc's.

Whilst observing the terrain through the green glare of our night vision glasses, to the south east, in the notorious Taliban controlled area of Nad-e-Ali we all watched in amazement as a spectacular firefight broke out.

Often before we had seen Illume most probably fired from forward operating bases but on this occasion the sky directly above the horizon was ablaze with tracer fire, darting backwards and forwards in bursts for several hours.

Exchanges of gunfire were met by gasps of awe and shouts of "did you see that" resonating from vehicle to vehicle as we sat back and took in the spectacle of the real life battle unfolding before our eyes, albeit a good few miles in the distance.

Instead of taking our turn in "stagging on" (providing cover while the rest of the team rested) as usual, the whole section stayed awake to watch the display for several hours before it finally subsided as dawn broke.

Although several miles away, the battle reminded us all of how close to the fighting we actually are and our thoughts were with our boys who were down there. Some of the lads in the section were excited.

"Let's get down there and smash em!" someone said, even though it's miles out of our area of operations, but although I myself have a yearning to get down to the green zone and do some of the good infantry stuff, I think that night we were all glad to be taking a rear seat and only observing the show rather that being active participant.

Force protection

2009-06-17T08:13:52Z

The title of our task as Camp Bastion Force Protection Company gives a good combat indicator to the type of duties we would be carrying out.

Charged with protecting the camp and perimeter, patrolling the surrounding areas, providing cover for incoming aircraft, manning the front gate, acting as quick reaction force and accompanying the incident response team aboard a Chinook to various places over Helmand province to collect the wounded, these tasks vary on weekly rotations.

My 8 man section started working first on QRF. Led by Corporal Bird (Birdy) with Lance Corporal Jones (known by all as ginge) as 2ic (second in command) we are made up of soldiers from across 4 Mercian with 1 attachment.

Ginge and I are the only ones in our section from A Coy Fusiliers, Sheldon, whereas Birdy, Privates Savage (Sav), James (Jamo), Wright (Wrighty) all hail from B Coy based in Widness. Private Jowett comes from F Coy, Burton and we have a regular reservist driver Private Philpott, who comes from Kent and is ex-RLC (Royal Logistics Corps).

As the RIP (Relief in Progress) was still underway when we began our tasking, mornings started around 0430hrs in preparation for clearing the ranges and providing cover for the 100's of troops passing through the mandatory range package of the RSOI.

We would pick up a dog handler and sniffer dog then accompany the troops and ensure the ranges were checked for any possible roadside bombs or un-exploded ordanance that may have been left the previous night by any enemy forces under the cover of darkness.

Once all the ranges were cleared we would either be put on standby to be called out to any disturbances / incidents around the camp or re-tasked to provide cover or support to anyone that may need it.

Other tasks we have carried out to date include escorting prisoners off the camp and dropping them outside the front gate, setting up road blocks and escorting engineers outside of camp to survey the area in preparation for the building of a new, high-tech $40 million MEP.

The latter duty was especially interesting for me personally as on 'civie street' I am a surveyor and have carried out the same task on many a building site across the Midlands.

It seemed strange at the time to be doing the task in a war zone, providing top cover for the surveyors in a Snatch Land Rover wearing Osprey body armour, helmet and carrying my minimi fully automatic machine gun in blistering 40 degree heat.

Next - a firefight with the Taliban

Army living conditions

2009-06-15T12:12:02Z

As Normandy Company prepared to move its men and personal equipment from Bastion's transit accommodation to the new company lines, anticipation was rife amongst the troops as to the condition of our new living quarters.

Basic canvas 8 men tents with 'roll a trac' plastic flooring, 3 pin power outlets and noisy air conditioning (a godsend when it works) were the extent of our facilities. A fridge that was in our room, brought previously by the departing 4 Rifles, was quickly snapped up by our section for $100 US along with various other bits of personal kit that was exchanged for a few dollars.

Over the next couple of days everyone set about making their bed-spaces' their own by erecting mosquito nets, draping ponchos, sheets or flags (Villa & Blues flags in one room make for some interesting banter!) between sections and knocking up makeshift tables out of scavenged bits of pallets and timber that could be found around the camp. After hanging up our fabric stacking shelves we were able to finally unpack all our kit, equipment and clothing and for the first time it actually felt like we had arrived when we could finally organize our belongings in preparation for the next 6 months.

next - Patrolling Helmand's dangerous road network

Diving for cover

2009-05-16T17:11:10Z

Another day practising routine fire and manoeuvre on the range had everyone diving for cover as a huge explosive BOOM! was heard which was not part of the exercise. The range safety staff and practising troops were shocked as many assumed it was enemy incoming fire. As some dived for cover under the cam net (what hard cover it would have offered is anyone's guess?), and amongst cries of CONTACT, a smoke plume arose to the east of the range roughly 300 metres away. What was it? A mortar, another rocket attack, would there be Taliban coming over the tops of the ranges firing AK47's and RPG's from the hip? No. The next cries were 'Deresh' by our Sentry (Stop in Pashtu) and then cries of pain from a young Afghan boy. It turned out in the end that one of the local Afghani boys that frequent the area by the ranges, waiting for us to finish, then scavenging any uncollected brass (empty expended ammunition cartridges) had picked up a UXO (unexploded ordanance) and had been 'throwing' it around when it exploded injuring him slightly. Once the boy had been stopped and searched to ensure he wasn't a suicide bomber gone wrong, he was brought in to our first aid point and then taken back to Camp Bastion's hospital for treatment.

Completion of our in RSOI package was almost upon us and we were briefed that our platoon would be the first to move into our new home for the next 6 months 'our company lines' that evening. After packing our black grips and bergens again we headed for our new home and prepared to shadow 6 RIFLES on patrol in order to get an insight of what we would be doing for the next 6 months.

NEXT... On Task

Theatre acclimatisation

2009-05-04T11:03:57Z

Day 1 and the start of the RSOI (Reception Staging Onward Integration) package that is mandatory for all British troops arriving in theatre. "Death by Powerpoint" was the order of the day and it covered everything from enemy activity & tactics, briefs on our equipment, weapons and vehicles etc. to personal health & hygiene and STD prevention.

The evening was the first chance we had to check the internet for emails and facebook updates etc... (as almost everyone now uses the site to stay in contact with one another) and phone home using the 30 minutes per week of allocated call time. After speaking to Steph and briefly to the folks we made a b-line for the naffi and had a coke outside whilst taking in the surroundings.

You can acknowledge immediately that Bastion has been a British affair from day 1 and the similarities with the Americanised boardwalk of Kandahar Air Force Base cease at the Pizza Hut adjacent to the Naffi. The cookhouses are also very British however the 'scoff' (food) is a great deal better than the standard UK equivalent. The one thing that is instantly recognisable is the fact that the place is huge and is just going to keep getting bigger. With Bastion 1 almost pushed to capacity, Bastion 2 almost complete, Bastion 3 under construction and Camp Tombstone (for Afghan National Army troops) adjacent, our tasking as the force protection company will no doubt cover an immense area of operations.

Mothering Sunday was spent zeroing personal weapons on the ranges just outside of the wire. It was the first time everyone started to appreciate the terrain and environment as being stuck out in the middle of the desert with its hot, dry, sandy and dusty conditions bearing down is hard enough (even in late March) carrying no equipment at all not to mention hauling body armour, webbing, daysack (backpack containing supplies, ammunition and a minimum of 4 litres of water) your helmet and rifle around as well.

Arriving in Camp Bastion

2009-04-29T12:07:40Z

Under the cover of darkness we boarded the rear ramp of the C130 "Hercules" from Kandahar Air Field to Camp Bastion Afghanistan. The rest of the company had already left on an earlier flight that evening and were settling into the Bastion transit accommodation.

Donning body armour, wearing our helmets and ear plugs in order to drone out the roar from the four massive engines, we prepared for the short flight over Helmand Province.

The tactical advantages of flying at night are invaluable to our forces as the risk of surface to air attacks by the Taliban is severely compromised with the reduced visibility. It's unthinkable what damage to our morale and boost to Taliban propaganda the downing of a British flight would cause.

Stepping off the rear of the flight-line onto the tarmac of Bastion's runway, we were quickly ferried by bus to the transit accommodation where the rest of Normandy Company, 4 MERCIAN were already sleeping.

Quickly settling on a bunk in the overcrowded hanger full with approximately 100 male and 50 female beds, only separated by a thin screen down the centre, it was apparent we were going to be living on top of each other for the next few days; literally! The gonk (sleeping) bag was quickly deployed and the iPod earphones went in to drown out constant crescendo of snorers in the room and it started to dawn on us that we had now arrived at our final staging post in Afghanistan.

Reacting to a rocket attack

2009-03-31T10:03:57Z

We spent 24 hours in KAF prior to our final flight.

Then after a few hours of much needed kip, we were eating lunch in the camp's British cookhouse.
Walking around KAF is somewhat mesmerizing as you take in the multinational diversity of the base.
Americans, Canadians, Aussies, Estonians, French, the Dutch, the list goes on, Kandahar is certainly a large and busy base, buzzing with coalition forces.

Evening meal in the American cookhouse was one of the best Army meals I have had then after a short walk browsing the boardwalk (an assortment of American built amenities for troops on "down-time", Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, a barbers and various other outlets & facilities) we headed back to the transit accommodation to get ready for our flight.

I got showered and started to walk back when suddenly I heard a whistling sound followed by a loud explosion (which was far too close for comfort) and then the sound of the camps IDF (indirect fire) alarm signalling that the base had been hit by either a rocket or mortar attack.

I ran back to our accommodation in my flip flops and combat trousers (fortunately I wasn't in just a towel!) to find the guys all lying on the floor in their body armour and helmets and I proceeded to quickly follow suit.

After a short "soak" period the commotion cleared and the "all clear" alarm sounded. Later we heard the unfortunate casualties were 6 Pilipino contractors, 1 of which died in the attack.
The good news is that an Apache Attack Helicopter was in the air within seconds after the strike and dealt with the insurgents, however for me and some of the guys it definitely brought home the realities of the theatre in which we had been asked to serve.

After that people got ready and we left to board the "Herc" for our connecting flight to the main staging centre and base for British troops on the ground in Afghanistan; Camp Bastion, Helmand Province.

NEXT... Arriving at Bastion

Arriving in Afghanistan

2009-03-30T08:43:51Z

Finally the day had arrived - we were going to Afghanistan. A culmination of 9 weeks training started at the dawn of the new year and finished just before we were due to fly.

Both physically and mentally demanding, as an infantry company tasked with securing Camp Bastion and the surrounding area, we needed to be trained and proficient in the most basic of infantry and soldiering skills and our training package delivered this.

As well as being trained in a variety weapons systems available to the modern British Army (GPMG, Minimi, 50 cal.) members of the company were also trained to drive various vehicles (WIMIK, Snatch, Vector) which we will be using on operations.
Add to this a week of mandatory "All Ranks Briefings" in Dover and the mandatory 2 weeks at RTMC (Reserves training and Mobilization Centre) in Nottingham, a week-long team medic cadre, live firing exercises and a final confirmation exercise to ensure all the training and knowledge gleaned had been retained, you may appreciate we have been quite busy.

After a final weekend spent in between my girlfriends and parents houses, I waved goodbye to Steph and left for Swynnerton Training area for the final time to regroup with the rest of Normandy Company, 4 Mercian in preparation for the journey to RAF Brize Norton and ultimately Afghanistan.

Its hard saying goodbye to loved ones as anyone who is or has served in the forces will know and all my fellow fusiliers from Barrows Lane, Sheldon share the same dilemma however it is even worse for some as some will be leaving families of their own. Ade Booker, Dale Burgess, Chris Burden, Matt Ruff, John "Big Mitch" Mitchell and Tom "Ozzy" Osbourne all have children at home and the 6 month separation will no doubt be just as hard if not harder for them.

The Tri-star from Brize Norton like many military flights was inevitably delayed, we were told due to problems with the hydraulics.
Albeit behind schedule we took off and less than 7 hours later were donning body armour and helmets for our descent into Kandahar Air Field, in Afghanistan, ready for our connecting flight to Camp Bastion

NEXT - Drama in Afghanistan

Afghanistan and the inevitable Bastion quick step

2009-03-24T08:50:26Z

One reason that I feel that I may be able to contribute something meaningful to the tour is, as I have already mentioned, because I have already done one.

Admittedly Afghanistan in 2009 is a completely different situation to Iraq in early 2003 I know that some things will probably be the same.

I know, for example that the heat will drive me mad for a couple of days before I quickly become used to it. Ditto, sand, dust, flies and lack of beer. I have resigned myself to (at least) one serious bout of diarrhoea and vomiting (apparently known as the Bastion Quick-Step) as I remember from Iraq that no amount of sanitation, clean living, Imodium or prayer can stop it if it wants you. I know also that I will miss my friends and family terribly.

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I am also aware that working in a hospital, I am unlikely to avoid witnessing things that we English tend to describe as 'disturbing'. In Iraq I imagined the very worst thing I could see in terms of heartbreaking tragedy and hoped that real life would not live up to it.

Sadly it did - frequently! I would imagine that Afghanistan will be the same. However, with every great tragedy some good comes and I will also get to see my clinical colleagues in action with their 'game faces' on.

This can be a mesmerising and wonderful thing to behold as skilled, talented and committed people deal with things that we 'non-medics' find hard to fathom and even harder to cope with.

I know that the people who come through the hospital doors will get the very best of care and experience tells me that this makes every awful moment significantly easier to bear.

Getting prepared for life on the front line

2009-03-22T08:50:26Z

Life before deployment is one long list. It seems in fact that the list gets longer as the time that we actually bid an iconic and teary farewell to our loved ones at train stations draws near.

Sitting in my flat last night I became aware that there was virtually no part of my life that did not require some manner of pre deployment preparation. This is made just a little worse by the fact that I am not just reminded of this by notes scrawled on the 'Gemma Atkinson' calendar I have in my kitchen but by everything I look at during my waking hours.

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In an effort to become more organised I decided to make a list of things I needed to do. This list then divided into a number of 'sub-lists' which then stretched out like the family tree of some prolific and highly potent lover.

I have to make sure my bills are taken care of, my flat is secure, my plants are watered, my electrical appliances are unplugged. I must decide whether to keep my car, sell it or just abandon it in a lay-by. Once that is decided I must make sure my medical details and all other documentation that I will need while I am away is found, handy and up to date. I must also spend the rest of my waking hours ensuring that my civilian job has been handed over correctly, professionally and any disasters that may be coming up are avoided (or at least delayed until after I have gone). This is of course, before I actually pack or do anything like saying my final goodbyes.

With time short and so much still to do my ability to 'multi-task' has become finely tuned. Thus is was that I spent my lunch hour at my desk writing the letter to my parents which they will only read if I'm killed. I couldn't find any plain paper to go in the printer and so my heartfelt messages of love will have to be on company headed notepaper. I hope they find it of some comfort.

Fusilier Tony Green - an introduction!

2009-03-17T12:03:11Z

I'm 34 years old and I am a soldier in the Territorial Army. In my civilian life I have been a civil servant for 6 years. Before that I have done just about any job you care to think of from child care to Private Investigation (yes really).

The cause of this chaotic and baffling career history is quite simple: I didn't join the forces when I should have!

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Why I didn't has many reasons; being too settled with my home life, dreams of great riches in a less demanding job or that whichever girl I was madly in love with at the time wouldn't allow it. If I'm honest I was probably also reluctant to work long hours, be given long postings overseas or in particular - to put myself in any kind of physical danger. By joining the TA in my mid twenties I thought that I could enjoy the best of both worlds.

As a result of this the irony was not lost on me when I spent my 29th birthday cowering from Scud missiles in a trench thousands of miles away from home in 2003 (after just having worked for twenty hours straight!). I was serving with a TA medical unit and I had found myself suddenly in the middle of a real-life shooting war!

So, an appreciation of irony aside why am I about to go again?

The other day I was watching a war film and at one point an officer was considering why his men had volunteered for service. He noted that to some it was to be part of a great adventure, others volunteered because they were ashamed at not to and finally there were those who had done so because it was the 'right thing to do'.

My own reasons are a mixture of all the above with one extra element: Becoming a territorial was probably the best thing I have ever done. As a result when the question regarding operational service is asked my answer will always be 'yes'. That is the commitment, that is the duty and I am proud to be a part of it.

I also need to pay off a credit card bill and the money I save while I'm out there will certainly help!

Fusilier Paul Dorrell - an introduction!

2009-03-17T12:03:11Z

Born in Solihull hospital on 25th May 1981, to proud parents Robert & Victoria, we lived in Kings Heath briefly before moving to Knowle, Solihull when I was 4 and lived out the majority of my childhood and teenage years.

The eldest of two, my younger brother Richard and I both enjoyed playing in the leafy surroundings, doing what most normal kids do riding bikes, playing hide and seek but more than anything we enjoyed target practise and shooting air rifles and BB guns the most (sometimes at each other!).

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Probably influenced by my father who was a keen shotgun enthusiast and ex-volunteer himself (serving with 131 Parachute Engineers - now 301 Royal Marine Commando Engineers) his unit shared (and continues to share) the same TA centre I attend in Barrows Lane, Sheldon.

He was in the TA for approximately 5 years mid 60's and travelled to various places, most notably to Aden in the Yemen, 1965 as one of the first TA soldiers to be deployed in a war zone since WWII.

Growing up listening to tales from my dad, my grandfather who served as a dispatch rider in WWII, (riding a motorbike up and down the supply lines of Europe) and further hearing about the tale of probably my most famous relative George Thomas Dorrell VC, MBE who served in both major wars of the 20th century I always knew I wanted to be a part of the army.

As soon as I could I joined the CCF (combined cadet force) at Solihull School and got my first taste of soldiering.

After college, university beckoned and I immediately joined the EMU OTC (East Midlands Universities Officer Training Corps) with aspirations to join the regular army on completion however my time at Nottingham Trent University wasn't fulfilled as after the 1st year I realised the course wasn't for me and wanted to get some practical experience whilst learning.

Soon after I was lucky in landing an apprentiship with Shaylor Construction (who have my job on hold while I serve in Afghanistan), a Birmingham based regional contractor, as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor going to University on a part-time basis.

I personally found this route to gaining my degree better for me than the full-time study option as I gained practical knowledge being based on construction sites with experienced professionals, doing day-in what I was learning about in the university classroom. I also have no student debts now and have had a job before, during and after university and would recommend this to anyone.

About 2½ years ago, once I knew I was stable in my career and home-life, I had the urge once again to work "in green" and decided to seek out my local TA unit. I turned up at the recruiting office in Sheldon and 6 months later I had completed the 9 training weekends and the 2 weeks basic training at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick and together with my friend Rob Gifford (who's also deploying with us shortly) we were the newest Fusiliers in the company.

Since then I've enjoyed many training weekends with the TA, up and down the country, doing a variety of activities an infantryman should be skilled in.

Shooting, FIBUA (fighting in built up areas) and navigation weekends are all good fun as well as some which do away with the army side of life, doing adventurous training, climbing, mountaineering, cycling and canoeing, but they all share the common goal of fitness.

The best thing about all of this, is that every weekend I have been on I've enjoyed and been paid to do so!

As far as the next 6 months goes and the impending deployment to Afghanistan as part of Normandy Company, 4 Mercian, I am excited and eager to get out there.

As with many of the men (and women) of the company, we have now completed our pre-deployment leave and the majority of our training. I believe it's now a sense of wanting to get out there to "do the job we have trained for" so much that we wish the date would come sooner rather than later.

That's not to say we don't enjoy our time with our friends and families (we all cherish the time dearly) but for me it feels that every day is making it harder for them as the date for our departure looms ever closer the worry becomes ever more increasing.

For me, my parents and my girlfriend Stephanie will feel it the most while I'm out there as they (like everyone else's family no doubt) will be constantly waiting for the reassuring letters, emails or phone calls to put their minds at rest that we are all safe and out of harms way.

As for the role when we get out there we are tasked as Force Protection of Camp Bastion and should be dealing with any direct threats in and around the main base for British Forces in Afghanistan.

Responsible for the QRF (Quick Reaction Force), the IRT (Immediate Response Team), working as security for the MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) evacuating casualties from all over Helmand Province via Chinook helicopter, together with a number of other duties, to say we should be busy during our tour may be an understatement!

I will endeavour and send weekly progress reports to keep you informed on our situation however the operational circumstances at the time will dictate the regularity of the blogs.
All that's left to do is to sign off now and to say I will report back when we arrive in theatre which should be in a couple of weeks and let you know how we're all doing.

Thanks