NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008 15
● Rolling thunder... Clouds of dust are kicked up by Royal Marine
Vikings of the Armoured Support Company as they roar over the
sandy terrain near Melmand
Pictures: LA(Phot) ‘AJ’ Macleod, 40 Commando
‘‘n’ bootiesn’ booties
The insurgents were driven narcotics industry are in cahoots Despite these thrusts
out of the latter town last year – where we find one, we find the into Taleban country, the
after ferocious fi ghting. Reports other.” fundamentalists are still here,
suggested some fl ed to the village Neither greedy nor needy will somewhere.
of Sapwan Kala, outside Sangin. ever use it again. Gurkha engineers A distressed Afghani appeared
If there was any doubt of attached to 40 Commando levelled at the gates of Bravo Company’s
the link between drugs and the the compounds. headquarters in Sangin.
Taleban, it was dispelled when The destruction of the drugs His two girls had been badly
Bravo Company entered the factory was followed by the wounded by a rocket attack
village during Operation Ghartse second phase of Ghartse Dagger, – an indiscriminate response by
Dagger. an armoured thrust into the town Taleban fi ghters to a patrol by the
Conversations with locals of Melmand, east of Sangin. green berets.
suggested a series of compounds The Royals in their Vikings First to respond to the pleas was
served as a drugs factory. were accompanied by Danes in Mne Will Charters, who carried
They did. They found a set-up their Piranha armoured vehicles, one of the girls to the sick bay.
intended to manufacture heroin safeguarded overhead by an “I’ve seen casualties before, but
on an industrial scale. umbrella of Apache gunships. it’s horrible when children are
The Royals discovered more There was no resistance; the involved,” he said.
than 1½ tons of morphine base Taleban melted away, allowing Medics at Sangin provided
– used to produce heroin – plus the Allies to drive into Malmand emergency aid to stabilise the
sacks of chemicals, presses, ID unopposed. children, while a Chinook fl ew
cards, bank statements (some in “Having dominated the Upper in from Camp Bastion to take
English) and weapons. Sangin Valley for five months, it’s them to the main fi eld hospital in
“I can understand local people become clear that the Taleban are Helmand.
growing poppies because the running out of safe havens,” said There surgeons saved both girls’
economy here is limited and they Maj Cheesman. lives; one, however, lost an arm,
need to make a living and feed “We are now going out further the second remains in a serious
their families,” said Maj Dan than we have before – the principle condition with head wounds.
Cheesman, Offi cer Commanding being that we pick fights on our “What happened to these girls is
Bravo Company. terms rather than waiting for them tragic, but it’s the reality of fi ghting
“The drugs factory was a case to come to us.” against people who don’t care who
of the greedy, not the needy, In fleeing once again, the they attack,” lamented Mne Martin
however. insurgents left behind weapons, McCaffrey, Bravo Company’s ● Maj Jez Stemp RM directs
“Intelligence increasingly drugs and items used to make medic who administered vital aid Viking operations from the turret
indicates that the Taleban and the suicide bomber vests. while waiting for the Chinook. of his armoured vehicle
NEED initial FREE
with the FOB of war
LEGAL ADVICE?
Then contact:
it. To be up close with what UK NHS back in the UK. To re-supply our forward and 3rd-line stocks (in Kandahar
Forces are doing out here is an Issues surrounding medical locations we also use Chinook or the UK) – to sustain UK Forces
impressive and often humbling logistics land on my desk and I am support helicopters and we are and our embedded nations across
experience. It’s reminded me why required to liaise with the Logistic currently introducing a contract southern Afghanistan.
I joined up all those years ago. Support section to ensure the civilian helicopter which has At the higher level, estimates on
– Cdr Craig Mear’ns
smooth management of medical started operating a ‘milk round’ of
fuel and water requirements or the
resupply (we’re all loggies here). the Helmand FOBs.
logistic impact of supporting other A Nationwide network of highly experienced Independent Solicitors
‘
AS Lieutenant Commander
– Lt Cdr Al Murray
’
Finally we have air despatch
nations operating in Helmand,
Medical Operations in the for those ‘impossible to reach’
for example, have in this truly Who advise and represent Service Personnel, Reservists, the
Headquarters I am responsible
‘
AS part of the Logistic locations.
expeditionary and logistically-
for the day-to-day management of Operations cell, I manage This job could not be done in
Civil Service and their Families
fragile part of the world, occupied
medical support to UK operations the priority and movement of isolation as it combines Army
much of our time.
Contact:
in Afghanistan. equipment in order to meet
logistics and RAF movements
At the more immediate end of
In simple terms this means I the operational requirements,
with an RN Offi cer (me!) acting as
the spectrum, during ‘the middle
need to be the ‘jack’ of all medical essentially ensuring there is a bang
the conduit to tie it all together.
watch’ we have been making
0845 601 1260
trades. I work closely to coordinate not a click when the soldier fi res
I also have a secondary
calls on whether to authorise an
the UK medical effort and I am his weapon.
responsibility as the ‘theatre
emergency air drop to sustain
or
the HQ focal point for ensuring The equipment we move ranges
container manager’ and, as you
from large armoured vehicles,
can imagine, we have an awful
NATO regional operations to the
medical support of operations.
lot of containers both here on
north of Kandahar or move high- www.forceslaw.com
I even get to dabble with aviation equipment, ammunition,
medical supplies, engineering
the ground and somewhere
priority equipment forward from
medical planning every now and
between Felixstowe, Karachi and
Kandahar to Bastion. for a Local Lawyer who
again, working closely with the stores and material to the more
UK Joint Force Medical Group unexpected requirements such
Helmand.
Neither circumstance, I hasten
in Bastion which is responsible for as air-conditioned dog kennels.
’
– Lt Rachael Cunnell
to add, was a product of bad
logistical planning but a response
SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE
delivering enhanced medical care We move equipment using
‘
There is no doubt that the
to the pace of change on operations
COURTS MARTIAL • DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES • EMPLOYMENT
in the recently-opened hospital local national trucks (known as
Logistic Support Branch
and the hostile environment.
and REINSTATEMENT of RESERVE FORCES PERSONNEL • SERVICE
that replaced the previous tented ‘jinglies’), by C130 Hercules
(termed J4) is the heart beat of any
Daily engagement with the other
one. between Kandahar, Bastion and
INVESTIGATIONS • CRIME • HOUSE or BUSINESS PURCHASE
logistics HQ and I have the role Services, coalition nations and
As you can imagine it is Kabul and by ‘combat logistics
or SALE including LSAP’s • DIVORCE CHILDREN PENSIONS and
of co-ordinating the outputs of organisations to deliver logistic
extremely busy providing patrols’ across Kandahar and effect is always interesting, hugely
TERMINAL GRANTS • ACCIDENTS and COMPENSATION • ARMED
the various combat supplies desk
healthcare to at least the same Helmand to all the major Forward offi cers as they make best use of 1st rewarding and even fun.
FORCES COMPENSATION SCHEME PREVIEW • WILLS or
standard, if not better than the Operating Bases (FOBs). (front line), 2nd (Camp Bastion) – Lt Cdr Charles Evans
’
DEATH of a RELATIVE
0014-015_NN_Apr.indd 214-015_NN_Apr.indd 2 117/3/08 12:29:357/3/08 12:29:35
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