Happy with the progress in the Green Zone

Private Graham Thurston

Private Graham ‘T’ Thurston is a soldier in 5 Platoon, B Company, the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the ‘Tigers’.  Private Thurston is based in the Nahr-e-Seraj District of Helmand Province as part of the 5 RIFLES Battle Group.

The wheat dilemma

As Eid approaches the locals are finishing harvesting the corn and preparing the fields for the wheat and poppy season.  You can tell what they are planning to grow by the way the soil is banked up in the fields; in rows for poppy and squares for wheat. Most people appear to be planning to grow poppy and are quite upfront about it when you talk to them.  We tell them (and they know) that growing poppy is now illegal in Afghanistan but they get a better price than wheat and are encouraged by the insurgents. It’s our job as a ground holding company and in everyone’s interests that we convince the farmers to change to wheat and that we can help them to secure the area from the insurgents.

B Company 1 PWRR

As we settle in the locals are happy we are here and have helped us find IEDs and point out insurgents to the Afghan National Army who are very good in our location.  As Eid (an Afghan celebration like Christmas) started we received intelligence that the insurgents are going on the offensive, and they were but not in our Area of Operations.  Our AO has been quiet throughout the period of Eid.  This has allowed us to begin mounting deliberate operations and as time goes on we are getting a feeling for the way the locals do things and how they work. 

As a new Company in the area we have to do some modifications to the patrol base like winterising the accommodation and have asked the Royal Engineers to build a new Helicopter Landing Site (HLS) and front gate sangar.  The weather is getting steadily colder and once the rain starts things will get a bit grim.  The new sangar will overwatch the surrounding area and the new HLS.  The old HLS was in a blind spot and at risk from small arms. 

B Company in Nahr-e-Saraj South

Caught in the act of laying an IED

As 5 Platoon, led by Captain Gardiner and Sergeant Gosling, went on a patrol the insurgents opened up.  The platoon managed to push them back from the local village and into an insurgent stronghold just over our boundary and overwatch them through the night. During the contact the platoon located a suspected IED.  The Counter-IED team couldn’t come out so 5 Platoon had to negotiate with a local farmer to take over his compound for the night. 

The following day the Counter-IED team was able to deploy and came down with Sergeant Major Gidalla but as they reached 5 Platoon insurgents were seen digging in another IED on the route they had just used and would need to use to get back out.  Luckily we were able to engage the insurgents from an Apache (Attack Helicopter).  It turned out that we had caught the local insurgent commander in the act of laying an IED.  The C-IED team ended up clearing three IEDs that day before all the troops could finally get back their check points for some hot scoff and a rest.

B Company 1 PWRR, Roads of Nahr-e-Saraj

On the same day on the other side of our AO 4 Platoon went on a partnered patrol with the Afghan National Army (ANA).  They got intelligence of a known IED stash in a compound and we helped the ANA carry out C-IED team needed to be called out.  Sergeant Janes escorted the team down to our location and now the whole Company was on the ground.  The C-IED team carried out a controlled explosion on 6 x IEDs, 4 x pressure plates, 5 x battery packs and a mortar base plate.  This was a good stash to find and that could have made life in our AO really hard for us and the locals.

Strong relationship with the locals

After all that has happened in our AO the locals are even more welcoming and happy with the progress we have made in such a short time.   The fact that a school built by a UK charity in the local area will soon open will only do more to secure the hearts and minds of the locals.  The farmers are even more happy as the corn crop in is and the wheat and poppy seed is doing down.  They are using their local knowledge to help us on patrol by telling us what is going on in the area and if any strangers have been seen in the area.  This all points towards a strong relationship with the locals.

On Remembrance Sunday we went out on a reassurance patrol.  But like every other AO and base in Afghanistan and in the UK we remembered those fallen in battle and those who have lost the ones they love.  The OC went through a short service with us all at 11 am and then it was back to work patrolling and keeping the area safe.  We will remember them.

A tour in the Green Zone from the grass-roots

Private Graham Thurston

Private Graham ‘T’ Thurston is a soldier in 5 Platoon, B Company, the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the ‘Tigers’.  Private Thurston is based in the Nahr-e-Seraj District of Helmand Province as part of the 5 RIFLES Battle Group.

Deploying from Germany

One minute past midnight and I’m waiting for the bus. Cold and nervous, my colleagues will not admit it, but everyone is anxious.  We just want to get out there and do the job.  We have trained for so long.  On the way to Hannover and the anxiety has eased and spirits are high.  When we got there it was colder.  We had to wait for the aircraft to get the green light.  An air traffic dispute in Greece did not help!  On the way to Dubai, seven hours of rest and banter to ease the tension.  When we got there the heat and humidity hit home that this is what we are going to. Waiting for the RAF to get us onboard a C130 to take us to Camp Bastion, a flight that takes us into the camp and the theatre of operations. 

Arriving in Afghanistan

The first day of RSOI [Reception, Staging and Onward Integration] was death by PowerPoint and the info on the Province, the people and the insurgency compressed into one day.  This is followed by six days including a day of heavy weapons including GMG (Grenade Machine Gun) and a demonstration of a Claymore (command detonated directional explosive device) which was great as few of us have seen it being fired.  After we had all completed our individual shoots on GMG (Grenade Machine Gun) HMG, (Heavy Machine Gun), UGL (Under-Slung Grenade Launcher) and Sharpshooter Rifle we went onto the FOB (Forward Operating Base) Shoot.

This was the first time we fired individual weapons from the sangars and compound walls. The drills and skills we had learned in the past year of training were all put to good use and it was something that went down well with everyone.  On day three we had Counter IED (Improvised Explosive Device) training with more equipment and new drills fresh from the frontline put straight into practice on the training area at Bastion. 

Pte Graham Thurston with the ‘scrapyard confetti’ found in the IED

Getting to the Green Zone

Once RSOI was complete there was a little down time waiting for a chopper.  Then the bad news. One was shot at and grounded so the waiting game began.  Four days later and after some of my colleagues had finished a course, we got the green light and at Little Heathrow (Camp Bastion Helicopter Airport) we departed the safety of Bastion to go to the Green Zone (irrigated farmland along the River Helmand contrasts sharply with the surrounding desert and is known as the Green Zone). 

It is dark and the chopper is high then it drops, skimming the trees and then we are there at the HLS (Helicopter Landing Site) of Patrol Base (PB) Jeker.  Waiting for us was Cpl Si Gearing and Sgt Janes on quad bikes so we could put our kit on.  The Patrol Base is small but there is a lot here and fresh food is keeping morale high.  In Jeker there’s a bit to do and the bed spaces are small but if your admin is good there will be no problems.

First Patrol

My first patrol was to PB Midanbazi where 4 Platoon, B Company was set up 2 Km away from Jeker.  It does not seem too bad but going in and out of irrigation ditches it took one and half hours to get there.  When we got there, 4 Platoon’s spirits were high even though Sgt Caines’ multiple had just had a grenade chucked over a wall at them.  It missed but it shows the risk we are taking. 

Our AO (Area of Operations) is small and there is little fighting but ‘shoot and scoots’ are a big threat.  With just a few roads and none to Midanbazi, most patrols are on foot with vehicles only used for resupplying (Check Point) Parachut, where 5 Platoon are based, and for long distance patrols out of the AO.

‘scrapyard confetti’

IED Find

On just my 4th patrol and 2nd resupply to Parachut I was acting as lead Vallon (metal detector) man.  As I was going through a small village at a narrow point between two compounds I picked up a reading.  When I lay down to confirm I uncovered a plastic bag.  Plastic bags are used to waterproof IEDs and cover components.  This makes it easy to find once a reading is picked up.

 After some time the C-IED [Counter-Improvised Explosive Device] team came down and then my thoughts went to my friend from 6 Platoon in a different AO who unfortunately was injured in an IED explosion just the day before.  Our hearts and wishes are with him and family as he recovers back home.  Lucky the one I found was not connected and after the C-IED team disposed of it we discovered it was an anti-personnel IED filled with nuts and bolts.  The banter is high here now and I won a cup of tea from my Company Sergeant Major for finding the IED. Nice to know that from the top to the bottom all of us get involved!

The Afghan experience

Lt Matt Galante at Paind Kalay police station with Husky vehicle in background

Lt Matt Galante is an officer in The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.  He commands a Police Advisory Team (PAT) in Southern Nahr-e-Saraj district, Helmand province. This is Matt’s second tour of Afghanistan.

 

Oblivious to unique situations 

This may be a ridiculous statement, but sometimes it can be very easy to completely overlook the fact you are actually inAfghanistan. I’ve often wondered why this is, why soldiers seem oblivious to some of the unique situations we find ourselves in. How can an operational tour just feel like another day at the office and not some big adventure? The only explanation I can offer is that, when your entire working life leads up to six months in Afghanistan, all the training and preparation dulls you to the reality of actually being out here – the exceptional becomes pretty mundane, and all of a sudden you find yourself completely nonplussed about sharing your bedspace with rats and being occasionally woken by gunfire.

Sometimes, however, you are faced with those unmistakable moments that remind you this is actuallyAfghanistanand not just another exercise on Salisbury Plain. Take for example today, where I found myself sat in a traffic jam of camels – all completely oblivious to my tight schedule, and all wearing that smug grin that camels always seem to have.

Another sight that never becomes tiring for me is the Afghan tendency to wring every last inch of useable space out of every mode of transport they own. A two-seater motorbike? Definitely capable of seating four. Battered old saloon car? Why wouldn’t you fit four adults in the front seats and two donkeys in the back? (I never did work out how the driver changed gears…) An average-sized tractor trailer? Best fill it with 25ft of wheat, and put your son on top of it all to weigh it down. These are the little sights that separate my tour from all the training leading up to this point, and they never fail to make me smile.

Goods piled high on the roads of Nahr-e-Saraj

The realisation that ‘actually, this is a little bit fun’ can strike at some odd times. Any soldier who has lived or worked in the Green Zone will attest to the fact that half of every foot patrol is spent climbing in and out of flooded irrigation ditches. Normally, wading through waist-high, dubious-smelling water with seven stone of kit on your back can only be described as horrific, but once the first man starts laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation the giggles become pretty difficult to contain. I have often wondered what the local farmers think of the numerous groups of half-laughing, half-broken men slogging through their irrigation ditches every day, but am usually too exhausted to ask.

Lt Matt Galante patrolling through an irrigation ditch

On a slightly less horrific note, one of the more pleasant experiences – and one that sums up the whole ‘Afghan experience’ for me – is the shura, or meeting. In my line of work, impromptu informal shuras tend to be a daily occurrence as my team and I patrol from police checkpoint to checkpoint, visiting the patrolmen and discussing key issues with the commanders at each location. I am pretty certain that foreigners arriving unannounced (and soaked in foul-smelling water) at our place of work back in theUK would be given a frosty reception at best, but the welcome we receive at each checkpoint is quite the opposite.

Donkey and cart

Pashtunwali, the code of conduct for the Pashtun people who make up the majority of Helmand Province, calls for all strangers seeking refuge to be treated impeccably. I can confirm that this is the case: my team and I usually arrive at a checkpoint to hugs and handshakes, before being ushered to take a seat on the Afghan equivalent of our sofa – the trusty rug. Before long the Chai appears (green tea in small glass cups), along with the obligatory boiled sweets, which are usually politely declined on the basis that they are covered in swarms of enormous wasps. The patrolmen are incredibly slim – as are all Afghans – and have a habit of crouching rather than sitting, which is difficult to mimic even without 20kg of body armour. Every effort is made to feed guests, and no request is declined. Goodbyes are an equally drawn-out process, and the whole experience gives a real insight into the Afghan culture – which, I have to say, is very enjoyable.

Yes there is hardship in being on an operational tour, and yes we all miss our family and friends – but each day brings unique experiences that we are unlikely to forget in a hurry. And the Afghan weather is far nicer than on Salisbury Plain, which is always a bonus.

The local people were more than happy to take part in the community project

Major Simon Doyle - OC C Coy 1 PWRR

Major Simon Doyle is the Officer Commanding C Company of 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the Tigers.  Simon has responsibility for Area of Operations Centre-South, as a part of Combined Force Nad e-Ali, headed by 3 SCOTS.

 

The company are now over two months into Operation Herrick 15 and getting fully to grips with life here in Nad-e Ali District with plenty going on across the AO in the last few weeks. We have said goodbye to the last of the Op Herrick 14 contingent when our Intelligence Corps JNCO flew home to his family and we have welcomed in LCpl K-K and Capt Beechey to the Company to bring us fully up to strength. As well as routine joint patrolling to ensure security for the local population we have experienced the richness of the annual Eid al Udha celebrations.

Magnificently groomed beards!

Eid ul-Adha celebrates the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. It is the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar and is traditionally a time of year that locals spend with their family. Eid finished on the 9th of November this year, however we chose to hold a feast here in PB Samsor slightly later as most of the Wakils (local elders and dignitaries) were committed over the Eid period celebrating with their family. The meal was a warm, friendly affair which we judge to have been a great success at bringing the key leaders together whilst publically demonstrating ISAF and ANSF unity and cooperation. The Wakils all turned up in good spirits including Haji Barakzai who is the District Community Council Chairman for Nad-e-Ali District and several other notable tribal elders from our area, all resplendent in Dish-Dashes, Turbans and magnificently groomed beards! The new ANCOP (Afghan National Civil Order police) commander was also able to attend and the event served as a good opportunity for him to meet the local elders and build relationships.

Mosque-painting project in Nad –e-Ali with the Afghan National Civil Order Police

The Eid meal was cooked by the ANA (Afghan National Army) Tolay based at PB SAMSOR and was an example of a traditional Afghan feast of rice, lamb, chicken and spices washed down with the well-known traditional drink of Pepsi!  During the meal Haji Barakzai had the opportunity to address his Wakils and the elders and we were able to thank all the elders for their hard work and the sacrifice of the Afghan community over the past few years as they have supported the establishment of security despite the risks from the insurgency. We emphasised that the security now seen in southern Nad-e-Ali is in no small part down to the hard work and attitude of all the elders and their community.

Through them and with the help of ISAF and ANSF the area now has schools, shops and a small amount of industry. It stands out as a success story in Helmand province and will hopefully transition to Afghan lead in the near future. 

Mosque-painting project

As well as the Eid feast the company have also been involved with the ANCOP and the community repainting a Mosque in the village of Haji Noor Mahmad Nigeran Kalay. The day was a success from the start with ANCOP actively taking the lead and Cpl Baldwin and his men in the background providing security. The local people were more than happy to take part in the community project which is the first of its kind in C Company’s AO. The success of the day was largely down to the commitment of the ANSF and the local’s willingness to participate.

This is a sign of how far Nad-e-Ali has come in a short period of time. Only eight months ago the area was contested space with ISAF actively clearing the area and engaging enemy forces in regular gunfights. Now, locals are taking responsibility for their own development and actively engaging with ANSF. The day finished with ANCOP handing out Eid gifts to the poorer local nationals including warm clothing and boots for the children and packs of soap, toothpaste and other products to the families. This again helps to paint ANSF in a positive light and was very well received by locals in the area.

Mosque-painting project in Nad –e-Ali with the Afghan National Civil Order Police

Everyone at home will be happy that R&R has started in earnest with the first of our soldiers now enjoying well deserved time at home with their families. We are also expecting to hear good news from LBdr Pitcher and Pte Allen who are at home and due to become Fathers at any moment! Whilst staying on the subject of children we have received a number of parcels from schools containing kind, handwritten messages to the troops. These letters and cards have been distributed to the soldiers in the company who should be writing thank you letters soon!

Lt Jamie Frampton with local nationals in Nad-e-Ali

Earl Grey for the OC

It keeps getting a little colder every night at the moment although we are still enjoying warm days with sunny afternoons for last-minute sunbathing or gratuitous top-off moments if you are LCpl Twyford or Pte Rickson. We had one scare recently when there was rain overnight but so far our efforts at winterising the camps seem to be paying off. The amount of tea being consumed is climbing exponentially as the temperature drops though so please keep sending the tea-bags through – Earl Grey for the OC, Extra-Extra Strong for Capt Syfret and effeminate Peppermint for 2Lt Laybourne….!

Sun setting over C Company’s vehicles in Nad-e-Ali

We recently found ourselves in the unusual position of supplying treats and goodies to our American allies over here from the US Marine Corps. Usually the US have all of the niceties of life and seem to support us wherever we go in the world, however our neighbours here are in an austere environment so we have been giving them lots of our rations, treats, magazines and drinks for which they are very grateful. You may find that a lot of the Company have USMC souvenirs as a result when we get home!

Simon Doyle

Life in Paind Kalay police station

Lt Matt Galante is an officer in The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.  He commands a Police Advisory Team (PAT) in Southern Nahr-e-Saraj district, Helmand province. This is Matt’s second tour of Afghanistan.

Lt Matt Galante at Paind Kalay police station with Husky vehicle in background

Cheeky kids

I thought I would use blog number two as a chance to explain where I am currently living and what my day to day routine is – needless to say it’s a pretty big shift from my university days in Leeds or my current ‘home’ in Paderborn, Germany.

My team of 16 are based in the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) station in Paind Kalay, a village in the centre of Nahr-e-Saraj district, Helmand province. The ‘Kalay’ (Pashtun for ‘village’) is sandwiched between the river Helmand and the Nahr-e-Bugra canal, with an open desert to the North that provides a home for nomadic tribes – and an enormous amount of camels.

Paind Kalay is a maze of mud compounds, hardened by years of blazing sun, and is mostly inhabited by cheeky kids and old farmers with prune-like skin and about ten teeth between the whole community. The farmers tend to their crops in irrigated fields to our South, which makes up the now-infamous Green Zone: a jungle of dense trees and head-high cornfields which make movement an exhausting prospect. The insurgents know that our surveillance systems can’t pick up a lone gunman or IED-layer in the middle of a 10-foot high maize field, so this is where we tend to find the majority of our trouble.

Police advisory team playing football with AUP inside Paind Kalay Police station

Moz Waz

The police station itself is relative luxury in comparison to most of the Kalay. It is one of only two concrete buildings in about 20 square KM, and in typical squaddie resourcefulness it now boasts a well-stocked gym, a temperamental Afghan generator which powers a fridge, a gas stove and a dart board! My team live on one side of the compound, and on the other lives our colleagues for the tour: the AUP.

Mohammed Wali with local man at Paind Kalay police station

Paind Kalay police station is the headquarters for the AUP in our area, and is headed up by the charismatic and highly regarded Lieutenant Mohammad Wali. “Moz Waz” (as he is affectionately known) is somewhat of a local celebrity due to his work in creating a secure environment free from corruption and Taliban influence.

He is only in his late twenties but holds considerable sway among the local Elders and Mullahs, who all respect the good work he has done. Moz Waz is an affable chap, sometimes a little shy and bemused by all the interest in his work, and he has an amusingly short attention span, but he is a fantastic ambassador for the AUP in the area and will do anything for the men under his command.

Patrolling in Paind Kalay

The men in question are some 100 patrolmen from the local area, working and living in 11 checkpoints across a 10km stretch. These checkpoints vary in size, location and construction, but all are the ‘front line’ in the battle for security in Nahr-e-Saraj – a battle they are fortunately winning. The AUP in these checkpoints are largely a great bunch, all extremely welcoming of the British and united in their battle for what they see as their own homes and villages. There are some real characters in these checkpoints, and very few visits to these locations pass without plenty of ‘Chai’ (Afghan tea) and laughter.

Genuinely impressed

So where do me and my team fit in? Well, our task as part of the Police Mentoring Advisory Group – or PMAG – is to act as the first line of ISAF support for these checkpoints. We visit each location to teach policing and soldiering skills, help solve any issues they may have, and join them on joint patrols around their Kalays. Our tour is still in its infancy, but I have been genuinely impressed with some of the AUP we have worked with so far – not least because of the amount of brews and food they seem to be throwing my way when we visit! There are few better feelings than getting to a checkpoint after a long patrol with heavy kit to have a pot of Chai waiting for you. Well, a beer would be nicer but that will have to wait until post-tour leave.

I’ll try to talk about some of our patrols and the characters we meet in my next update – in the meantime I’ve got some sleep to catch up on…

Patrols, progress, volleyball and Halloween treats

Major Simon Doyle is the Officer Commanding C Company of 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the Tigers.  Simon has responsibility for Area of Operations Centre-South, as a part of Combined Force Nad e-Ali, headed by 3 SCOTS.

Major Simon Doyle - OC C Coy 1 PWRR

 

November is on us already – time is passing very quickly for the company here in Helmand with everyone keeping busy and focussed on the job at hand. In the last 2 weeks alone we have closed our first checkpoint, had fun developing our relationship with the ANA and conducted our first large aviation operation into the desert.

More than capable

There are many reports in the media that Nad-e-Ali District will transfer to GIRoA lead security at the beginning of 2012 – this is excellent news and a reflection of the progress being made by the Afghan Army and Police as well as the stable security environment across much of the District. As a result of this stability we have been able to identify areas where the Afghan Army are more than capable of taking the lead for protecting their people. In these areas we are able to either close checkpoints or transfer them across to the Army or Police.

We have seen this process at first hand through the closure of Checkpoint Azadi in the centre of our company area of operations. This checkpoint was originally home to Sgt Turagavou and his multiple of men (a multiple is a grouping of 13-14 men commanded by a Sergeant or Lieutenant) as well as a section of Mortars from 3 SCOTS. In order to close the checkpoint the men have had to clean, account for and box-up every item of serial-numbered kit issued and collapse all accommodation and facilities until they were living out of just their webbing and rucksacks.

Cpl Cooper and 2Lt Thornton discuss their next move.

A few days of relative austerity followed, whilst shipping containers holding their equipment were removed by a fleet of trucks and the check point was collapsed around them. When just four bare walls of Hesco remained the soldiers withdrew to another check point and Afghan contractors arrived to strip-out the Hesco using wire-cutters and shovels; rather them than us! All in all this process provided a visible signal to the local population that ISAF’s presence across the area is reducing and that their long term trust and confidence must be invested in the ANSF who continue to patrol the area.

Volleyball

Whilst the closure of Checkpoint Azadi was progressing other elements of the company have been involved in training the Afghan National Army (ANA) at Patrol Base (PB) Samsor. We share this PB with 45 ANA soldiers commanded by Captain Najibullah, a very likeable Afghan Officer with a professional attitude and a wicked sense of humour. Whilst our advisors (Captain Billy Russell and Staff Sergeant Jones of the QDG) take the lead with the ANA, daily partnering sees most of the company interact with them on some level. This week there has been a surge of training, particularly map-reading training and Vallon training to detect IEDs. The ANA are very keen to learn new skills and practise their use with ISAF, so they make good students.

As well as training the ANA also challenged the company to volleyball, a very popular game in Afghanistan. The first inaugural ISAF vs ANA volleyball competition took place on 27 October at PB Samsor with the ANA fielding a strong team including their Mullah (religious teacher) in full white dish-dash and several players wearing only sandals. The ISAF team included Privates Lake and Finch, Lance Corporal Jallow and the star player Private Cokanalagi. It was a close game, with many multi-shot rallies of the ball and some impressive ’Top-Gun’ moments from ISAF soldiers sporting dog-tags. However the ANA were the eventual winners, receiving a bag of fresh pomegranates for their efforts. There will be a re-match in the near future to see if the Company can reclaim the title of PB Samsor volleyball champions once the ANA have completed their Eid celebrations in the second week of November.

Halloween

Maj Doyle (right) waits for the helicopter to lift off after the Western Dashte drop off during Op Tora Ghar 9.

Of note, during the last two weeks we have broken our record for mail delivery – one helicopter arrived at a very unsociable hour in the early morning delivering over 250Kg of mail and parcels from home, all of it very much welcomed by the Company! As a result of this influx of mail we had a very festive Halloween in PB Samsor and the checkpoints; thank you to all of the friends and family who sent treats, table decorations, masks and especially the dismembered rubber hand which now doubles up as a prop for medical training! On the subject of mail, we have been told out here that the last safe day for posting Christmas parcels to Op Herrick is 2 December, so please bear that in mind if you are sending your soldier Christmas gifts!

It is of course not all sport and training and fun over here as was brought into focus when the company conducted an aviation insertion and patrol operation into the Western Dashte, the desert bordering the west of our area of operations. For this operation half of the company came together at PB Samsor for orders and rehearsals before boarding two Chinook helicopters as dawn broke across Helmand Province.

Disenfranchised population

The Chinooks took the Company Group for a ‘joy-ride’ through the cold morning sky before landing at our chosen spot in the desert just as the local national population were waking and beginning the routine of their day. Over the next 5 or 6 hours the company patrolled on foot back towards PB Samsor taking the opportunity to talk to the nomadic people that live in the desert and the disenfranchised population that effectively ‘squat’ in the desert in illegally constructed compounds. The open, gravelly desert that we moved through was in open contrast to the normally cultivated fields of the green zone that the company are used to.

LCpl Jallow and 2Lt Laybourne cross a river during Op Tora Ghar 9.

The people however appeared identical to those we have become familiar with in the green zone – generally good honest people focussed on scraping a livelihood from their fields and giving the best opportunity for their children. Shoulders and legs were beginning to tire by midday as we crossed through the water of the Nahr-e-Bugra Canal however the cooling effect of the water was incredibly welcome and invigorated the patrols for the remaining time before the return to the welcome sight of PB Samsor. There will be many more of these sorts of operations in the coming months to demonstrate ISAF and ANSF security to all of the people across the District.

Simon Doyle
OC C Company

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Returning to Afghanistan

Lt Matt Galante

Lt Matt Galante is an officer in 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.  He commands a Police Advisory Team (PAT) in Southern Nahr-e-Saraj district Helmand province.

Returning to Afghanistan has been the focus of my life for the past five years.

I realise that, for most people, Helmand Province is hardly the holiday venue of choice, but since I first came here in 2006 I have been desperate to return. I was a Territorial Army soldier back in those days, juggling my work commitments with a degree at Leeds University (with somewhat questionable results at times). Having finally graduated, and on realising that I am more at home in a wet Welsh field than a cozy dry office, I joined the army ‘full-time’ to endure the joys of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I emerged 44 weeks later as an officer in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, and swiftly found myself preparing to head back to the country that captured my imagination some five years ago.

Beast of Bastion

On arrival at Camp Bastion in late September, I was astounded at how much can change in a relatively short time span – and how much can stay the same. The fine dust that coats your nostrils and destroys your electrical goods had unfortunately remained, as had the oppressive heat. But the beast that is Bastion had grown to unimaginable proportions, with fast food chains and air-conditioned shops aplenty. Despite the relative comfort I quickly became restless to deploy forward, and within a week found myself on a daringly low and fast Chinook ride to my new home of Nahr-e-Saraj, nestled along the banks of the river Helmand.

Lt Matt Galante talking to children in Paind Kalay

I was finally back to the landscape that had so captured my imagination five years ago, and was pleasantly surprised at what greeted me. Thankfully, the landscape remained unchanged: characteristic mud compounds thoughtfully decorated with items from the land, unnaturally blue streams meandering through irrigated fields crammed with six-foot maize, and the ever-present river Helmand cutting jagged rocky cliffs into the desert landscape. The cliffs are a beautiful foreground to an impressive sunrise, which is accompanied by the haunting sounds of morning prayers dancing through the still morning air. I instantly felt privileged to be back here.

Cheeky smiles

What was more of a surprise was what had actually changed since my last visit. To place the following observations into perspective, let me remind you of the scenes in Sangin five years ago: in all my time, I only saw one civilian family – fleeing their home village in terror. Everybody else – every single soul – was hostile towards me. Every moment on patrol was a fraught affair, as we moved through a landscape all but destroyed by months of fighting.

Yet here I was on my opening patrol of 2011 utterly gobsmacked: by the pristine tarmac under my feet, the sheer number of children running around me with cheeky smiles asking for a ‘Kalam’ (pen), the farmers waving and laughing as my team stumble across an adjacent ploughed field like Bambi after eight pints… This change is incredible, and after five weeks of patrolling I am still delighted to see the progress made. Even if it means that I have to contend with screaming kids every time I go static on patrol.

Lt Matt Galante on patrol in Paind Kalay with Afghan Uniformed Police

My job on this tour is as a multiple commander with the Police Mentoring  and Advisory Group, 1 PWRR. Essentially this means that I am in command of 16 soldiers whose key task is to mentor and assist the Afghan National Police in their efforts to bring security to Nahr-e-Saraj and the wider Helmand region. I will go into a little more detail as to our daily routine and the more memorable characters we meet (of which there are many!) in a later blog, but in the meantime it’s about time I signed off as I’m on patrol in an hour…

I look forward to keeping you updated!

Follow 1 PWWR on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/1PWRR

The children are full of the same energy and vitality as those many of us have left behind

Major Simon Doyle is the Officer Commanding C Company of 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the Tigers.  Simon has responsibility for Area of Operations Centre-South, as a part of Combined Force Nad e-Ali, headed by 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS).

Major Simon Doyle – OC C Coy 1 PWRR

Ganja jungle

The company has now completed one month in charge of AO Centre South of Nad e-Ali District and it is fair to say that we are now well settled into living and working in Afghanistan. The boys have made the checkpoints into comfortable areas to live, decked out with flags and banners from home, pictures of their loved ones and all manner of improvised furniture made from the ubiquitous Hesco cages.

Our days are filled with patrols and guard duties as well as the more mundane camp tasks such as preparing meals, accounting for stores and trying to winterise the camps before the bad weather sets in. Fortunately we have had no rain here yet to speak of and the days remain bright and warm with few clouds in sight; this of course means that it does get very cold very quickly as soon as the sun sets and it is getting harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning!

When the boys head out on patrol they are often accompanied by members of the Afghan National Army or the Police who will lead on engagements with the local people. Of course every time we go out on patrol there are always a large number of children who surround us with cries of ‘Chocolate?’ or ‘Pen?’… Wherever possible the children receive boiled sweets or nuts left over from our ration packs or even toys and gifts sent out by families and friends from home. The children are full of the same energy and vitality as those many of us have left behind, and seeing a smile appear on their faces during a patrol allows us to feel closer to our own children – until your pens disappear from the front of your Osprey body armour after the kids have pulled an Artful Dodger’-like pickpocket routine on you! As well as children there are many other things that can lighten the mood on a long hot patrol, for example turning around the corner of a long wall and being confronted by a football pitch sized marijuana field.  This has happened on a number of occasions, with many photos being taken by the soldiers as they pass through this ganja jungle. Needless to say there will be strict kit inspections before we leave theatre…

Lt Jamie Frampton engaging with the local population in Nad e-Ali

PG Tips

Morale is regularly boosted over here whenever the mail arrives – this is usually delivered by Helicopter to PB SAMSOR and then moved forward by vehicles to the other checkpoints. As the helicopter lands the doors open and we wait to see how many mail bags are ready to be bundled out – often there are over 15 bags of parcels and letters full of messages and gifts from home. Everything is gratefully received over here with magazines and books passed around after being read and dusty guard rooms made cosier by children’s paintings and boxes of PG Tips! As well as the mail there is the weekly telephone call to look forward to – 30 minutes on the satellite phone is never enough to say everything you want but the phones are always in demand with a queue for the one or two handsets guaranteed every night. As they are satellite phones they only work outside in view of the sky – this was not a problem when we arrived but now a full 30 minute conversation leaves you very chilled, with Christmas phone calls promising to be a bit of a winter survival test!

Lives improving steadily

The other guaranteed way to boost morale here is to have a search dog arrive at the CP for a day or two, ostensibly here to find IEDs or bullets. Almost every soldier here enjoys petting the playful Cocker Spaniels and Labradors, or playing fetch with them once an operation is complete. Everyone is in good spirits at the moment, lucky to be in a quiet area of Afghanistan, where we can really engage with the locals and see their lives improving steadily as a result of the security we are supporting.

It is only two weeks to go now until the first of our R&R flights heads home so you can be rest assured that we are all looking forward to seeing our loved ones again, and are eternally grateful for the wonderful support you have given us so far.

Soldiers of C Company engaging with the local population in Nad e-Ali.