News from A Coy, 1 Rifles in afghanistan 20 May 11. A Company’s week has been dominated by our first big Company operation, a helicopter assault deep into insurgent territory in the North of our Area of Operations. 60 Riflemen from the Company took part in the operation, moving back to Camp Bastion for rehearsals the night before and deploying by helicopter early in the morning. The initial landing went without any major problems, although Lance Corporal Ingram will probably never forget getting bogged down in waistdeep mud the moment he stepped off the tailgate of the Chinook helicopter and having to be dragged out by the OC! The first task of the day was to search a series of compounds in conjunction with a Royal Engineers Counter-I ED team, which was achieved in typical A Company style – quickly and efficiently. By this time, the insurgents were well aware of our presence and the Riflemen on sentry quickly spotted the scouts they had sent out to locate and keep an eye on our movements. After searching and clearing the compounds we were interested in, patrols began to go out to visit some of the surrounding villages, and at this point the insurgents began to make their intentions known with a direct attack onto our defensive positions. This set the tone for the rest of the day, with a running battle between the Company and insurgents
lasting from early morning until after dark. Despite the difficulty of identifying where the enemy were shooting from because of the lush foliage covering the Green Zone during the summer months, the Riflemen of A Company acquitted themselves superbly, and working in conjunction with mortars, Apache attack helicopters and Fast Air Jets, they were able to destroy several of the insurgent positions. The Company’s marksmen, earned their money for the day by constantly spotting and targeting the enemy from their rooftop positions, but sadly one of our number, LCpl Cain, was struck by a stray insurgent bullet while he was trying to locate an enemy sharpshooter. The men around him immediately gave him first aid and an emergency medical helicopter was called in, and he was in the Camp Bastion hospital within the hour. Fortunately, the injury he received was a minor flesh wound, and we fully expect him to be back in action in no time at all . After a long and exceptionally hot day’s fighting, the Company “dug in” for the night, and waited for the helicopters home. Unfortunately, the insurgents had tried to block the way out by opening sluice gates to flood the fields, so the “tab” out to the helicopter landing site was a long, wet slog up an irrigation ditch at 0300 hours. LCpl Ingram, not the tallest man in the Company, again had all sorts of fun as the water came up to his chin!
But having got safely to the extraction point our Air Controller, Cpl Admans, quickly called in the helicopters to extract the Company back to PB4 for bottles of chilled water, bacon sandwiches and some wellearned sleep in the knowledge that the Riflemen had done an excellent job in some of the toughest and most trying of circumstances. The OC commented: “A great day in Helmand!”
“........our Air Controller, Cpl Admans, quickly called in the helicopters to extract the Company back to PB4 for bottles of chilled water, bacon sandwiches and some well-earned sleep..”
Rifleman Viener Gaston, 2 Platoon, writes “I’m Rifleman Viener Gaston, and I am the point (or lead) man in my Multiple – which I love! This is my first tour of Afghanistan, and for most of the boys it is, but it’s nothing like what I pictured it to be. We have been in to some of the villages and the locals were very friendly, which made me feel good about myself because I feel like I am doing something to help the people here. The kit we are given is among the best, and is great for troops on the ground here in Afghanistan, so I feel safe and secure stepping outside the front gate of the Patrol Base. The sun and heat here plays a big role when we go out on patrols but some of us just aren’t used to working in these temperatures yet!
Lt Col James de Labilliere DSO MBE delivers a briefing to the Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards GCB, CBE, DSO on the 18th May 2011.
Handover Ceremony fom the Paras
The PB gives you some feeling of being at home. Some of us do get homesick sometimes, but we have a good gym and a great welfare tent, which helps In theatre training before deployus a lot, and so far I am really ment to patrol bases gets the audienjoying my first tour of Af- ence’s undivided attention. ghanistan.”
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