Captain Grant Winkles of 204 Signal Squadron, working as an advisor to the Afghan National Army at the ANA 3/215 Brigade headquarters in Shorabak for the duration of Operation HERRICK 12, heads to Gereskh to inspect ANA communications there.
Me in Afghanistan
I have been on a trip to Gereshk, in Nahr-e Saraj, to conduct a communications recce for 3rd Kandak’s newly-formed headquarters in Camp Gereshk. Stopping off in Main Operating Base (MOB) Price the night before, it was good to catch up with the Danish Battle Group to see how they were getting on. Sergeant McGillvray Jones was his usual upbeat self and was more than happy to brief me on the issues his team were having and how they were getting round them. He agreed to join me, along with Corporal Jukes on the road move to Camp Gereshk the next day.
After carrying out the pre-deployment checks we used a Danish callsign’s vehicles to conduct the short patrol and were dropped off in Camp Gereshk. Whilst in the camp the ANA communications section were very pleased to see us and were extremely hospitable, offering us chai and sweets while we had a chat. They were delighted to show us how their ops room worked. It didn’t take too long as their setup is a lot simpler than a British one. They seemed pretty competent with their radio operating skills and when quizzed were knowledgeable about the importance of communication security and talking over secure means. Their main communications problem was that they had a broken HF radio which they said was being fixed by the Danish. This is all well and good for a short term fix but they need to use their own repair chain in order to be self-sufficient and I told them to send their broken radios up to 3/215 Brigade in future.
When we got back to Camp Tombstone we were entertained by a comedy tour, where two comedians came to put on a show. I was a bit sceptical at first as, back in the UK, I usually watch comedy with a pint or two and was worried the two funny men would fall flat on their face, but I need not have been. Barry Castagnola and Sean Collins were both hilarious and had the soldiers of 1 SCOTS Brigade Advisor Group in stitches throughout. It was a little strange watching a comedy show whilst in an operational theatre but it was good to unwind for two hours and leave behind the stresses of work.
