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NDJ-E01-S2

The Journal Thursday August 4, 2011 29

Chivenor troops in Afghanistan

Victory is close, but we must maintain focus

By STEPH COCKROFT
scockroft@c-dm.co.uk

A CHIVENOR commander says victory is imminent in an area of Afghanistan previously dominated by insurgents. Lieutenant Joe Robinson, troop commander of Condor Troop, part of 24 Commando Engineer Regiment, claims mission success has almost been achieved in Nad-e Ali South, the largest area of operation in Helmand province. It is the area in which the 30-strong Condor Troop is responsible for all the engineering, which includes building roads, bridges and new bases. But the 26-year-old Army officer, who grew up in Barnstaple and went to West Buckland School, said anything could change in this environment and the troops must remain focussed. He said: The story in Nad-e Ali South is that we are close to victory . We have just got a few runs to make in

the last over. That is not to say there arent threats, we just have to maintain our focus. Lieutenant Robinson, who lives at Chivenor, is serving in Afghanistan for the first time and said he was surprised at how much hope there seemed to be in the country . He said: Mission success in Afghanistan I never thought we would say it but we are really close in this area. Being a part of that is something I will remember for the rest of my life. We have hit the insurgents below the water line and they are finding it hard to do a regain. Lieutenant Robinsons role involves everything from managing multi-million pound building projects, to carrying out recces along routes where there could be improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He said: It is hugely rewarding to be part of the transition. We are holding off the fighting season down here. That is a great deal owed to my

blokes and the impact theyve made by developing built protection into an area. As soon as there is a permanent marker, the intimidation from the insurgents goes away . Lieutenant Robinson compared the area now with February 2010, when Operation Moshtarak, which pushed south from Forward Operating Base Shawqat, claimed the life of scores of ISAF and Afghan troops. He said: All the way down it was very kinetic with lots of insurgents, a hostile population and checkpoints set up hastily . Two years on and we can patrol out of the back gate here (FOB Shawqat) in our berets. We can talk to people going about on their motorbikes. The change is so easy to recognise. Lieutenant Robinson said the most significant change in the area was the introduction of the Afghan Local Police, locals who have volunteered to look after communities instead of being ruled by the Taliban.

The engineers have been busy building checkpoints from which the police can work, a covert operation which must be completed with the utmost discretion. But there are still areas of Nad-e Ali South, where the battlegroup is 45 Commando, which need to be penetrated, mainly in the deep south of the area, which borders with the US Marine Corps area of operation. He said: There are always going to be areas where the enemy have a regroup after retracting. At the moment, we cant patrol into that area because we dont have enough manpower. But there are plans to push forward into that area to create a local police presence. Lieutenant Robinson also warned they could not become complacent. He said there had been shots fired two days earlier 500m away from FOB Shawqat, where Condor Troop is based. He said: Its changing. You cannot lose your concentration for a second. That is why it is so complex.

I LIEUTENANT JOE ROBINSON: troop commander of Condor Troop, 24 Commando Engineer Regiment.

Loved ones in UK can find it tough

Engineers keep things going round the clock

By STEPH COCKROFT
scockroft@c-dm.co.uk

One big push to the end

I TRAINING: WO2 Clive Robertson on the ranges at Camp Bastion. THE soldier in charge of training Chivenor sappers says life is harder for those left behind in the UK while loved ones are on deployment. Warrant Officer Class Two Clive Robertson, who is part of 54 Commando, ensures the soldiers from 24 Commando are up to scratch in all their weaponry skills. The training is particularly pertinent when troops return from their two-week break at home, or as focus starts decreasing as the end-of-tour date looms. He said: Some people have not been out to theatre before so we need to keep them on the ball. We need to keep them refreshed. It is training them for all possibilities because some guys do get contact. We hope they do not get contact, but if they do, theyll be experts. We are constantly pushing them to the limit. WO2 Robertson is married to Michelle Robertson, from Roundswell, a former Pilton Community College student, who now works at Torridge Training Services. He said: No one wants to leave the family behind and it doesnt get any easier. But I think it is harder for them as suddenly theres a big gap in their normal life. They are the ones who have to plod on.

THE role of the Chivenor engineers in Afghanistan is much broader than that of a typical engineer in the UK. With each soldier having their own trade or skill, the eclectic bunch from 24 Commando Engineer Regiment cover everything from route clearance, to mechanics, to welders, as well as those who organise and ferry all the equipment from place-to-place. While many of the regiment are spread around Helmand province in the forward bases, there is a hardcore of engineers left back at Camp Bastion, to keep operations running smoothly . The Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME), part of 24 Commando, look after the fleet of 260 vehicles for the engineer task group. At REMEs base in Bastion, there are 6,000 bits of kit waiting to be called into use. Warrant Officer First Class Mark Gilbert said the job had become tougher since the vehicles had become armoured and equipped with electrical devices and air conditioning. He said: As more things are added to the vehicle, there is more for us to do and maintain. Without these vehicles being in top-notch condition, the bridges, roads and bases wont get built. We are a pool of manpower and work

I SAPPER: Tom Matthews. very hard. You never know what is going to be needed, where and when. No two hours are the same. Chivenors Corporal Dan Patrickson was back at Bastion after being embedded with troops at Forward Operating Base Shahzad. He said: The kit is being run into the ground because it is being used so much, so I was there as the first point of contact, providing intimate support to the squad-

ron. How well looked after the vehicles are depends a lot on the experience of the operator. Engineers are also working in Bastion in an onsite workshop, which makes everything from ballistic glass frames to noticeboards. The workshop has been set up this year for the first time and has been inundated with work. It mainly carries out urgent projects which would take too long to arrive from the UK. Sapper Tom Matthews, who is a welder at the workshop, lives at Chivenor with his wife, Jenna, and son, Tommy, who is nearly two. The 22-year-old said the work they do ensured there was no limbo period for those on the ground, while awaiting an essential item. He said he had also been making whatever was the craze at the bases at that time. He said: If stuff needs to get out onto the ground, we can do it a lot better and quicker, because of the facilities we have here. Part of 24 Commando is also the resources troop, which is responsible for about 1,500 shipping containers full of essential engineering material. It is their role to ensure it is sent forward to the bases, or sent back to the UK if it is no longer needed.

I SAPPER: Dean Lockey. A SAPPER serving with Chivenors engineer regiment says Afghanistan is totally different to what he expected. Sapper Dean Lockey, 25, from Newcastle, said he had only come under contact once this tour, while embedded with a Combat Logistic Patrol. He said he feels safer than he ever thought he would. He said: I missed the last tour and I hear its completely different from then. It seems much safer and we have been so looked after with all the kit weve been given. Sapper Lockey, part of 54 Commando, is finding it hard away from his family, fiance and his 21-month-old son. He said: I miss my family and I miss my own space. Obviously , you get sick of the lads too. You wake up, go to sleep, work and eat, all with the same people, for six months straight. But youve just got to get on with it. Its one big push now until the end.

An injured child puts your life in perspective

A FIRST-TIME soldier says life in Afghanistan has given him perspective on his own life. Corporal Rick Hornsey said he had been moved by scenes he had seen while serving in Helmand province, including witnessing a nine-year-old local boy being treated after losing three limbs after stepping on a mine. He said: It was horrible and it puts your own life into perspective, as well as what youre doing out here. I do not kid myself that its a regular occurrence, but it happens enough. If something like that happened in the UK, everyone would be in uproar. But it is a completely different world out here. One minute you see a kid using a mobile phone but the next minute theyre washing in a stream. He said he had found it hard to face children who beg for items from the soldiers as they drive from base-to-base. They try and get stuff off the vehicles, which we know they cant do, but we feel sorry for them, he said. They have never seen anything like it and they have nothing. Just a little bit of our food is a weeks worth of food for them. When they are begging, it pulls on your heartstrings. Lance Corporal Hornsey, part of 54 Commando, missed out on the last Chivenor tour of Afghanistan and was desperate to deploy . But he said the first four months had been different to his expectations. He said: Weve had a varied time and its been non-stop. But, from speaking to the lads who have been out before, it has been a much quieter tour. Last time, my mates came back with all these stories but it is nothing like they described. There is much less one-onone contact. I honestly dont think well have chance of contact in this tour. The nature of the conflict has changed. With us being on the road, we are obviously at high risk for being struck by explosives, but we seem to be finding most of them. It seems to be a sign we are getting on top of it. I LANCE CORPORAL: Rick Hornsey.