NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2008 15
logs of war
nurses brought in from various locations DROPS are hydraulic-lifting vehicles picked up some extra skills for the day when we leave looking to raise morale out there where we can by
in order to train and form a unit. used for shifting large loads in rough the Service. performing.”
To these medics, musicians, and terrain. They can also recover vehicles “I’m looking forward to a life-changing experience. Indeed their instruments are already en route
matelots, soldiering does not necessarily from deep sand and ditches and can be I want to take in what’s going on in the world, to (although a keyboard is going east in place of a
come naturally – and that’s meant some loaded and offl oaded independently, experience new cultures.” piano...).
gruelling training. without the need for forklifts or cranes For the engineer, there’s little difference between The musicians are part of the eclectic mix (there’s
“We need to go right down to brass to do all the lifting and shifting. exercises and the real thing – vehicles break down, that word again) being taught to drive by CLR
tacks – how do you put your webbing More than two dozen matelots – vehicles need maintaining. regulars such as Sgt Terry Bettoney.
together? How do you maintain your rifl e engineers to be precise – will be deploying Except in Helmand, the wear and tear goes “I had my reservations,” he admits, “but I’ve been
in the desert and react to enemy contact?” wwith the DROPS troop to Helmand. through the roof. pleasantly surprised.
explains Lt Col Steve Crouden, CLR’s Conditions in Afghanistan will be a “Everything in Helmand requires moving by road “It’s been quite an experience – and for some of
second-in-command. challenge to the drivers. or air. As you can guess, our guys are busy,” says Lt the volunteers quite an eye-opener.
For those arriving at the regiment – Much of the driving is done by night Couldridge. “It’s not just about driving, it’s about knowing
and this includes some Royals from other for safety reasons. “It’s hot, sandy, dusty. The terrain is harsh on the the vehicle, maintaining it. There’s first aid to learn,
parts of the Corps – there is, according to o There are no metalled roads, and taking suspension and sand and oil mixed together create a communications, how to deal with the IED threat.
Lt Col Crouden, still some of the old prejudice di hheavy vehicles in convoy up steep ridges where corrosive substance.
“I have no doubt that we’re 100 per cent
about being ‘in the rear with the gear’. the sand is deep requires nerves of steel. “The vehicles get a pounding – they’re out there
prepared and that everyone will pull
“There’s been a stigma associated with logistics. Training on the dunes near Braunton, the DROPS all the time.”
together.”
Commandos who volunteer don’t have that prejudice, lorry leading the column attempted to climb a steep For CPO Richard Carey, this will be his second
particularly now that our business is so much more hill four times until, with wheels spinning and sand time in Afghanistan – but it’s still a welcome change
Everyone pulling together is something you’ll hear
focused, but in the wider audience of 3 Commando fl ying, the driver gave up and backed down the slope. from life at sea.
time and again chatting to the men and women of
Brigade we’re still up against it,” he says. “This is realistic “It’s a lot different
the CLR.
“Our business is more dangerous now because training, because it’s from a stoker’s
“There’s some good banter between the matelots
there is no straightforward line in the sand where the the sort of thing which
We’re not scared of the Taleban in a fight.
watchkeeping role, but
and bootnecks – the matelots are good lads, the
enemy are. They move amongst you all the time, so happens all the time.
– Mne Roland Hawksworth
the marine engineering
booties are good lads,” says LD John Carroll – a
the guys who formerly would have been in the rear The only solution is turn skills are transferable,”
Royal Marine who completed tours of duty in Iraq,
echelons are now operating among enemy territory round and fi nd another he says.
Bosnia and Kosovo before becoming an RN diver.
and they are required to have the same skills as the route,” says Maj Marcus Taylor, OC of the Landing “The principle is the same – if something breaks
His ultimate boss, Col Maynard, agrees.
guys in the front line.” Force Support Party. down in a ship it needs fi xing, and it’s the same in
“I pay tribute to RN ratings’ professionalism
Logistics, says CLR’s Capt John Ford, are “This is what it’s like out there – up to a point. But the desert.”
and dedication. They’ve taken on the ethos of the
“something people take for granted”. now imagine doing all this at night, in pitch-darkness, Nevertheless, it’s a tricky job in a difficult
commando spirit in terms of supporting the battle
He adds: “People need feeding, people need possibly with insurgents around, without any lights.” environment; changing an engine on a WMIK Land
groups in these forward locations and they’ve taken it
equipment – the troops and the locals. Delivering it Before any CLP leaves camp, every vehicle receives Rover, for example, takes a four-strong team the best
on wholeheartedly.”
safely gives you a huge sense of achievement. an inspection from the Engineer Support Squadron part of five hours.
No-one on Salisbury Plain underestimated the
“What was once ‘in the rear with the gear’ is now – the last thing you want is a breakdown in bandit “Not all the lads here are volunteers – it’s not
difficult nature of the task to come – Helmand is, says
something which punches for effect.” country. Prevention is better than cure... possible, because we have to marry the commitment
Col Maynard, “one of the most hostile environments
The Mission Rehearsal Exercise on Salisbury Plain The squadron’s vehicle mechanics and technicians to the ships’ programmes,” says CPO Carey. “But
in the world.”
has formed just one slice of the Helmand training – aka spanner rankers (hopefully we heard them even the lads who didn’t volunteer have warmed to
No-one on Salisbury Plain failed to mention how
‘pie’. correctly...) – typify the eclectic nature of the regiment it.”
comprehensive the training package had been, be it
The regiment’s home at Chivenor on the north (“infectious inclusivity” Col Maynard calls it). The 18 ‘Bandies’, as the rest of the RN likes to call
in Wiltshire, in Devon, at the School of Transport in
Devon coast may seem a long way from the austere There are marines. There are pongoes (from them, are volunteers to a man (and woman).
Leconfield.
landscape of Afghanistan, but the local terrain has REME). There are matelots. “We’ve had to learn about off-roading, engines,
“We’ve done everything we need to for this
some useful features in common. ET(ME) Aaron Farrington is one of the latter. driving. We’re well prepared for it – and it’s something
deployment,” LD Carroll says succinctly.
The high sand-dunes near Braunton, a mile or so After three years at sea, he’s now fixing Land Rovers I wanted to do. It’s something I can look back on later
And now comes the acid test.
from camp are surprisingly similar to the sandy tracks and the like. in life,” said Musn Ellie Wilson, normally an oboist
● The formation formerly known as a convoy
in much of Afghanistan, and provide a suitable area “Working with the marines is great – they’re a very with the RM Band Plymouth.
pauses on Salisbury Plain... A Combat Logistic
to test the regiment’s DROPS – Demountable (Is that professional bunch,” he enthuses. Her colleague Musn Andy Hall, a pianist and
Patrol practises self-defence during a break in the
a word? – Ed) Rack Offl oad and Pickup System – “We know the basics of engineering, of course. clarinet player, adds: “It’s been a while since the
Mission Reheasal Exercise
trucks and their drivers. The Royals know these vehicles and it means we’ve Band was seen doing the ‘green’ side of the job. We’re Picture: LA(Phot) Pete Smith, FRPU East
0014-015_NN_Sept.indd 214-015_NN_Sept.indd 2 220/8/08 11:53:450/8/08 11:53:45
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