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Afghanistan 7


dedicated packing areas and air-conditioned portacabin offices. Aside from the fact that everything is covered in a layer of powder fine orangey brown dust, that some of the sorting areas are in fact just large tents and that there is a great big red tin box the size of a loaded pallet with a pipe sticking out of it and a sign emblazoned on the front saying ‘Amnesty Ammunition’, you could be in any ordered freight forwarding operation in the UK. But this compound along with REME’s splendidly


fitted-out custom-made mechanical workshops is all part of an £11 million investment into the reverse supply chain infrastructure and machinery which will make this redeployment one of the most successful in British Military history – no detail, it seems, is too small. Everything is geared towards getting men, materiel


and machinery home in good order as fast as possible and with value for money for the British taxpayer in mind. The foresight to plan ahead stretched not just to the


physical infrastructure required for redeployment but also the need to have a dedicated squadron to co- ordinate it. So was born the Reverse Support Chain Squadron. The RSC’s job, as well as to clear all materiel and


equipment deemed surplus to requirements in theatre, is to ensure that it is collated and packed correctly and to help the Units (a group of soldiers) to achieve this properly. This is stage one of a three stage redeployment process. The second stage is moving all the equipment and vehicles out of Afghanistan to their next destination. And the last stage is what happens to it all when it arrives at the strategic base, its final destination. Everything gets cleared through the RSC and until a


Unit is issued with a Clear Received Voucher (RV) stating that correct equipment and materiel has been handed in good order with POGO documents completed, where appropriate, then they cannot leave Afghanistan. Such is the incentive and the accountability that the system instils for handing in everything in good order with all POGO forms completed that as yet no Unit has failed. “To that end,” says Major Anderson, “individual


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members of the RSC were trained up to do the job before deploying.” Indeed five months prior to deployment RSC


Operations Officer Captain Mark Catherwood came out to Camp Bastion to do a recce to identify what additional training the squadron might need; this included Rough Terrain Container Handler (RTCH) and container handling training as well as courses such as ISO stuffing, banding and strapping training, and Dangerous Goods courses. He arranged a rehearsal of concept drill and walked


and talked the process over with the squadron. “It is important that we know why we are here and what we are doing; we have to hit the ground running,” he says. With this knowledge and expertise, members of the


Major Lucy Anderson.


RSC have been able to seamlessly take over from their predecessors and have even been sent to the FOBs to help the Units pack up kit and equipment prior to it being delivered back to Camp Bastion. “In previous operations it has tended just to be


chucked into an ISO container. As the Units were outgoing, no one knew or cared as it was not their problem – a combat unit’s knowledge of logistics is minimal we are specialists in that, therefore, it makes sense for us to help and advise where we can,” says Major Anderson. Lance Corporal Simon Dunn, a reservist who back in


the UK is in the building trade, has been overseeing the sorting and packaging of all the lithium and alkaline batteries which are considered Attractive to Criminal and Terrorist Organisations (ACTO). Even seemingly dud batteries have enough charge to set off an IED. As there is no way of disposing of them in Afghanistan, each and every battery has to be sorted by hand, packed and brought back for disposal in the UK. “I like the complexity of the job,” says Lance


Corporal Dunn, “lithium batteries cannot be mixed and have to be disposed of through the right channels. There are a wide variety of battery types and different ways to package them in the correct way.” So far the Lance Corporal Dunn has overseen the


sorting and packing of 11 ISO containers of lithium batteries and 50 pallets of alkaline batteries – equivalent to four ISO containers. It’s a massive task but Lance Corporal Dunn is


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