8 NAVY NEWS, JULY 2010


Customs exercise patrolling Royals


SOME Naval Service personnel currently deployed to Afghanistan have been maintaining blogs, available through the Jackspeak section of the RN website (www. royalnavy.mod.uk). One is 23-year-old Rob Milner,


a green beret for four years, serving with 40 Cdo and a member of the Fire Support Group. Having learned Pashtu before he deployed, Rob also knows something of the local customs, so when he is invited in for a cup of chai at a police checkpoint he can advise colleagues on etiquette. On occasions, while having chai the policemen offer bread to take back to base, and sometimes even bring out little bowls of meat. “They also have this goat’s milk


drink, which has a very peculiar taste and I would rather not drink it, but I would not be so rude as to reject their generous hospitality,” said Rob. “If you’re offered something it’s part of the culture,


part of


Pashtunwali, to accept it graciously even if you don’t eat/drink it. “However, when a bowl is passed round you are obliged to take a sip at least and pass it on.” At one police station Royals


were invited to dinner, and were sitting on rugs in a large circle with the food in the centre. “One of the policemen had a big bowl of the cheesy goat’s milk,” continued Rob.


“He took a big gulp of it before


offering it to me. I sipped it and passed it to one of my lads sitting next to me. “He tried to refuse it but I very quickly explained that he had to take it, and that he would be insulting our hosts if he did not. “Thankfully he took the bowl and sipped it, desperately trying to hide the grimace on his face as he did so.” Avoiding such cultural faux pas


is important, said Rob, as the locals are generally friendly and relaxed. Such social gatherings also


provide Rob with information and gossip about activities in the area. Rob’s contact with the locals is not always so pleasurable – in recent weeks he has acted as interpreter for a ten-year-old boy injured by shrapnel who turned up at the base with his father. He also helped with an Afghan policeman badly injured by shrapnel when Rob’s patrol was caught by a roadside bomb. Rob kept talking to him in


Pashtu, joking at times, in a bid to lower his heart rate. Back at FOB Jackson he was


given first aid and Rob handed over to an interpreter before the injured man was flown to hospital in Camp Bastion “where he received the same treatment as we would have received. He is, after all, part of our team.”


D-Day? More like Grou


JUNE 6 1944 is a date seared into the annals of mankind.


With one massive assault, the Allies dealt the Axis dictatorships a mortal blow and set about ensuring the freedom


of Europe and beyond. Royal Marines were, as usual, within the enemy’s sights at the Normandy Landings. Almost 70 years on and Royal


Marines are still in the enemy’s sights.


But June 6 2010 is in almost


every other aspect unremarkable for the Royals in Helmand province,


Afghanistan – it’s Groundhog Day.


As in the 1993 film, every day seems eerily similar to the last. So what might a typical day


bring? Take, for example, the green berets of 8 Troop, C Squadron, 40 Commando.


The men of 8 Troop occupy a small patrol base 600 metres south of the heart of Sangin – the hub of 40 Cdo’s operations in the region, and once a Taleban stronghold.


June 6 2010 began early with


l Cpl Tony Galacki, with Sharpshooter rifle, and Mne Ross Williamson, with General Purpose Machine Gun, patrolling Sangin on the 66th anniversary of D-Day


Picture: Cpl Barry Lloyd, RLC


the British working with Afghan security forces to set up a checkpoint in the village next to the patrol base. Once that was accomplished, a re-supply patrol was sent to the principal base in Sangin, Forward Operating Base (FOB) Jackson, to fetch supplies and water. While the commandos were out on patrol, their outpost came under attack – a wheelbarrow


l ANP (Afghan National Police) and the ANA (Afghan National Army) visit FOB Jackson


packed with explosives was driven into the patrol base’s outer walls. Meanwhile, the re-supply patrol came under small arms fire from insurgents as they returned to the outlying base. The returning Royals found the


outer wall of the patrol base had been breached, so they worked with Afghan troops to rebuild the defences. Job finished, there was no time to admire their handiwork – the base came under sustained and accurate enemy fire from the south, so the commandos hit back. “We received accurate fire and rounds were landing inside the sangars and close to the guys, so we stood the lads to, put them in the sangars and up on the roofs and observed likely firing points,” said 40 Cdo’s Lt Doug Spencer. “We spotted two insurgents with


weapons that were shooting at the base, so we engaged them in line with our rules of engagement.”


It was dusk on June 6 before


the skirmishing relented and the commandos had time to reflect on events 66 years before, inspired by the words of a poem written by John Henry Beale, who fought in Normandy with 41 Commando. “On this day 66 years ago, Royal


Marines put the troops ashore, facing unbelievable conditions,” said Lt Spencer. “It’s on days like this when


you remember that even though conditions here are fairly austere, we’re being contacted by insurgents on a daily basis, people before us have had it far harder.” L/Cpl Joe Leborgne added: “The Corps’ reputation is built on events since 1664 – that’s why we’re so proud to be who we are. “It’s important to remember


events like D-Day out of respect for the men that have served before and the men that will serve after us.” Of course, not every patrol and activity is met with insurgents’ gunfire.


Routine ‘ground domination’


patrols to provide security for local people are conducted every day in Afghanistan. The patrols are (hopefully) dull and uneventful, but they are also critical to the overall success of the mission.


A typical patrol might leave


FOB Jackson and head to the outskirts of the district centre. Once there, the Marines might


patrol the compounds using the narrow network of alleyways. They proactively interact and engage with the locals, getting to know them and gaining a better understanding of the area and the needs of the people. This friendly approach helps to identify any issues that the locals have; issues that ISAF or the stability and reconstruction teams will point out to the District Governor so that they can be resolved. From here the patrol might move on through the adjacent fields and countryside, heading towards the Southern Checkpoint. Sgt Sully O’Sullivan, 34, the


l A member of a Police Mentoring Troop patrol from FOB Jackson, Sangin, with one of the small wind- up powered radios which are being given out to locals as gifts


Troop Sgt who led just such a patrol, said: “Since the harvest has finished, moving through the fields is preferable to moving through


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