20120622-Scarab Telegraph Facebook Edition 4-U

7/31/2019 20120622-Scarab Telegraph Facebook Edition 4-U

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Inside this issue:

COs welcome 1

38 Hq & Sp Sqn 3

8 AES 9

30 AES 15

33 AES 20

Beetle Juice 24

Issue 3Page 1

Commanding Oficers Foreword(Lt Col Ridge)

Over half way.

Can we really

have done over

3 months al-

ready? Thetime seems to

have raced

away but,

when you look

back at the En-

gineer Groups

achievements,

you realise we

must have

been out here a

while. The highlights so far must be the two bridges we have built. The irst was

days after arrival, the second has only just been completed by 30 Squadron. These

are genuine legacy projects. They link communities and allow trade and security

to lourish. We should all be tremendously proud of what we will leave behind.

We have also just inished supporting our third major Afghan security operation.

These too are signiicant achievements. The Afghans had some help during plan-

ning, and limited support during the operations, but they, not we, did the lions

share of the work. This would have been unthinkable even 18 months ago. The

whole campaign feels much more Afghan than ISAF led and this is exactly as itshould be.

The Engineer Group has been instrumental in this transformation. The Advisors to

the Afghan Army Engineers continue to build their skills. They can now build ba-

ses, elevated observation towers and bridges. They plan and order the stores for

their tasks, and are now even starting to set up contracts with local irms. As they

improve, we slip further and further into the shadows, conscious that they cannot

rely on us for much longer. I have also been tremendously encouraged by the pro-

gress we are making to get the Afghan police onto a sustainable footing. We have

previously handed over a number of patrol bases to them, but it is clear that there

are not enough police men, or enough money, to man them all once we leave. Plan-

ning is underway to correct this and it is quite rightly being led by the Afghan Chief

of Police, not us.

SCARAB TELEGRAPHEDITION 4XXVI


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Page 3

Tied to all this is our gradual withdrawal from the smaller outlying

bases and consolidation into the remaining larger ones. This is

challenging in the short term, requiring a fair amount of engineer

work to deconstruct old bases, and further work to expand others.

Much to the infantrys relief, it also allows us to improve some of

the sanitation, power and other life support, particularly as the

temperature carries on rising.

As I travel around, I have been amazed by how positive everyone in

the Group is. After three months of illing / emptying Hesco, build-

ing / illing in burns-pits, and lugging around bridge panels it would

be reasonable for them to be a little jaded. Not a bit of it. If you

dont believe me, look back at the posts on the Regimental Face-

book site. Banter, weights and occasional visits from the RSM seem

to keep everyones spirits up. Above all, it is down to the support of

the families in the UK. Those who have returned from R&R seem

recharged, and in the outlying patrol bases the arrival of letters and

parcels is perhaps the most important event of the week. Every-

thing you are doing helps. Morale also peaked during the Queens

Jubilee celebrations with impromptu street parties. It also, for a

limited time, rose during the football.

From my perspective, I continue to be humbled by the professionalism and sheer determination of everyone

in the Group. From the sapper hauling rocks up a ladder in body armour and a helmet at over 40 degrees to

ill a sangar, to the resources team packing and unpacking ISO containers in the midday sun, they continue to

amaze me with their fortitude. This is a remarkable team.

It is only natural to look ahead to the end of the tour. We will have a fair amount of leave on our cards and,

whilst my wife already has a lengthy list

of Daddy jobs for me, there may even

be a chance to rest a little too. 2013

looks very promising. We have exercisesin Canada and Kenya as well as some

hard earned sport and adventure train-

ing. I am also clear about the need to get

our work/life balance back on an even

keel, so we will make sure that we leave

some gaps in the programme.

Thanks again for all the support from the

UK, and a public well done to everyone

in the Group for over half a tour of out-

standing effort.

Page 2


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Page 3

38 HQ & SP SQN

A Word from the OC

(Maj A Pritchard)

As the sun goes down on another sunny day

in Afghanistan I was going to open with a sob

story of heat, dust and dehydration. Then

again its been the wettest June for years back

home; a wet summer where Im guessing

some would happily swap the downpours

and lash loods for the heat of Bastion.

Another opening paragraph so another

month ticked off; even in Afghanistan ac-

counts are inspected and this month has seen

all of the Squadron doing their bit to make

sure we pass. A special mention for the SQMSdept, Log Node and account holdersthe

pain is almost over! Outside the wire, weve

been back to FOLAD in the Green Zone. This time to recover the temporary bridge the Squadron put in over

the NeB Canal. It was also an opportunity to have a look at the LSB put in by 30 AES (not bad!). With the

squadron having the force protection multiple we tend to pick up quite a few jobs; the timely arrival of Cpl Da-

vies, LCpl Guest and Spr Beardsmore bringing us back up to full strength.

It is also time for a few of the Squadron to head back to Tidworth; a combination of planned tour rotation, ca-

reer courses and the end of R&R cover. Needless to say well all get back together when the regiment goes

through normalisation (1-5th October). So with thoughts of home and normalisation I will sign off for this

month!

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Page 4

A month in the world of Support Troop(By Support Troopcollective effort)

Well I guess the irst thing that I can say about being in 38 Support Troop for the last month is that while you are in the

troop you are always busy whether its preparing for the next op, getting ready to put in a GSB (general service bridge)

which is one of our main roles out here, or just constantly servicing and looking after all the kit and vehicles that we own

so that all the ops and bridges can go ahead without a hitch, and as the saying goes if you look after the kit it will look a f-

ter you.

So after all the prep is done we carry on with our normal everyday work. Getting our kit ready to go out the door at the

drop of a hat, but as you can imagine when work starts to slow we then have chance to work on our Op Massive some

needing it more than others, mentioning no names Sgt Ginge Atwell. As I dont think there is enough time in this tour for

him to even get a tiny bit bigger. So after a bit of veh maint and other tasks the next job rolled in. Our troop was due out

again, but this time it was one of our Force Protection jobs to collect NEB (non equipment bridging) stores from 30 AES.

This meant a trip back to Folad but with a smaller packet of vehicles and I will not mention the fact that Spr Subo Boyle

managed to collect the wrong stores. He seems to have a talent for this kind of comedy error.

When we irst started training for this tour we were told that there were going to be changes to our troop orbat to enable

as many people in our troop in the uk to get out here and get some of the action. So in the irst week of May we saw three

of our guys from the uk turn up. A big welcome to Cpl Rob Davies, LCpl Mark Guest and Spr Lee Beardsmore who are

with us now until will inish Herrick 16 and return to UK. With these new arrivals we had to say cheerio to two of our

guys LCpl Wes Craven and Spr Raven Head Middleton which will be missed as they were pure comedy value on this

tour and would always make the guys laugh when we were down. So to them I say cheers Fellas and make sure the beersare cold for our return.

The next main event for our troop and Sqn was the arrival of our corps band who popped out to play a few songs for us to

lift morale whilst we had a cracking BBQ cooked and watched over by our local named chef LCpl John Gage. Cheers for

that, and as you can imagine it was a good time to let of a bit of steam and act like we were back in UK having a beer

(although non-alcoholic) and food with friends, but as you can see some of our lads in the troop seem to be liking the sau-

sage a little too much. Eh WO2, Im a PTI Nick Richards. Just as I am writing this I thought I would quickly mention that

our troop have just come back in from a 48 hour op which saw the main bulk of our man power deploy round some of the

more adventurous routes and places in Helmand that some people would avoid. As usual we crack on with the job at

hand and complete it to the best of our

abilities which I personally think is alwaysto an extremely high standard.

Well I that is about it from the wonderful

world of support troop for the time being

so hope you can now see that we are a

very busy troop and the lads are enjoying

every second of the tour so far. All the lads

of support troop are looking forward to

returning home to friends and loved ones.


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Page 5

The Diving Team

(By Capt Mick Stewart)People often raise an eyebrow at the thought of an Engineer div-

ing team in a land locked country. Images of hot dry deserts,mountainous terrain and green zone are portrayed by the media.

Even our own troops are unaware of the small team of Royal En-

gineers capable of carrying out underwater search, survey and

recovery tasks in the hundreds of miles of canals and irrigationsystems fed by the River Helmand as it meanders its way South

through Helmand Province.

The team, based in the Main Operating Base in Camp Bastion are

not just there for diving, in fact it would be a huge waste of re-sources if they were. They are all employed in their primary

roles which range from managing Squadron business in an Oper-

ations Room or accounting for vital Engineer Logistics to advis-

ing the Afghan Security Forces as they continue to lourish andgrow in strength.

Divers are able to carry out vital Engineering tasks from military

vehicle and equipment recovery to underwater survey and repairof bridges and canals to keep the trafic and water lowing and

boost the economic development of the country.

In order to train and maintain readiness the team has developeda purpose made training facility (commonly known as the OxfamTank) which allows them to carry out important drills and re-

hearsals, keeping them current on the equipment. Sgt Perry Har-ris ensures that standards are maintained. Sapper Adam Kitchen, when he isnt welding bits of metal together

in the workshop, is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the kit.

Often, when the team is called out, they have to call on assistance from within the Regiment as LCpl Jordan

Rymer found out on the last task. Fortunately (or unfortunately for him) the extra manpower is used to carryequipment on and off helicopters or vehicles and provide additional protection as the team move to the task

site

During the past 3 months the team has been stood up for a number of tasks. Next time you think of the lush

green zone in Afghanistan and the farmers tending their ields, remember the waterways which provide thesource for their crops to grow. There may just be an Engineer diver upstream, helping to keep the water low-

ing.


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Page 6

A few good men and one woman

This month has been a relatively quiet month for the AGC(SPS) Det in theatre. With no Triple Crown and no

other charity events on the horizon just yet the focus has been on the mid tour checks and inspections. A cou-

ple of weeks ago our SO2 (Maj Thomas) came round to make sure that everything was being done ok and

went away happy. We are already into the planning phase for coming home which is keeping us busy with

endless meetings and instruction writing but hopefully you will all see the beneit with the quick sorting of

pay, allowances and leave on return to the UK.

Cpl Maddar has joined us and taken over 30 Armoured Engineer Squadron as their clerk. Hes slipped into the

role really well and seems to be enjoying it a lot. The previous Chief, Sgt Roberts has taken up the vital ap-pointment of ROG Sys co-ord which will help the ROG Det out immensely. Half of the Det in theatre have had

their R&R and the rest of us are getting restless to go. Stories of the rain, the wind and the cold are all too en-

ticing (or maybe its the promise of a cold pint). WO2 Fidler has just come back from R&R and has gone

straight to Lashkar Gah to ill in for one of the VWOs. In just a few weeks it will be full steam ahead with the

recovery back to the UK. Preparations for coming home are just as time consuming as the ones to come out

but at the end of it we know we can see our families and thank them for the support that they have given us

throughout the tour. With the ROG Det committed to helping out with Op Olympics we just want to say thank

you for all the support and help that they have given us, especially given the temperamental nature of the IT

out here!

Padres ParagraphFrom a dusty PB

(Padre Alison)

Since Ive arrived in theatre I have been getting around in Helmand by land and air and have popped in for

coffee in some of the most interesting places! I share my time with the EOD & Search Task Force, Light Dra-

goons, Engineer Group and Talisman and seek to share my coffee needs with each group equally at the same

time a doing some good work. My greatest weakness seems to be not having the right kind of sweets

expectations are very high in this regard.

While being on one such visit the IDF alarm sounded and I, along with everyone else, dove to the ground. I

found a particularly comfortable place next to an armoured vehicle and promptly dozed off. Now the way Im

packaging it is that I was being like Jesus who slept through the storm that threatened to overturn the boat he

was in but he remained at peace and slept until awoken by his disciples (see Mark 4:35-41). If Im honest, that

is where the similarity ends! When Jesus was awoken he came out with a great spiritual statement about faith

and actually stilled the storm whereas when I was awoken I made the great addition to Christian history with

a um, ah, ur, Hello. Well the servant is not greater than his master!

Apart from being an illustration of the peace of God a lot has been happening and I continue to be able toachieve a great deal and have found a warm welcome wherever I have gone.


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XXVI

Page 7

SCARAB TELEGRAPHEDITION 4

Life in the SQMS Dept

(By Spr Vickers)I lew out to Afghanistan on 1st May 12,landing on 3rd May 12, such was the journey. I was put into the SQMS

dept of 38 HQ & Sp Sqn and took on the role of arms store man where I was running the squadron armoury

and also the one for the MSSG and Geo Cells. Lately we have been preparing for an LSI and ECI which has left

the department quite busy doing late nights (apart from the SQMS who sits around delegating while tanning).

The LSI did go well and is now over, the next hurdle for the department was the ECI (another inspection)

which took place on the 25th June. Unfortunately we are still waiting to ind out the outcome. We think it has

gone well because the QM hasnt been ranting at the rest of the department, which must be a good sign. Mo-

rale is running quite high in the department as Cpl Fee is over the moon that he could be going on R&R as ear-

ly as Friday and I also discovered Im allowed R&R as of 10 July leaving the SQMS to run the armoury and the

SQMS dept, meaning that Cpl Fee will have a lot of work to rectify when he comes back off R&R. Spr Brennan

arrived back from R&R recently and to the departments shock hasnt gone man down, meaning Spr Elwick

lost his bet.

LCpl Gage is now on R&R leaving Cpl Fee to run the clothing account and issue kit. Life in the armoury is still

busy having to chase people down to get their weapons inspected and back in date, which luckily isnt too

hard to do. The USA store has been very busy everyday, especially Spr Elwick who had to issue 900 items indi-

vidually. Needless to say he was a broken man by the end of that day! All in all the department are in a good

way and are now just waiting out until the end of the tour so we can all take some well earned POL.


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XXVI

LIGHT AID ATTACHMENTA Sappers perspectiveof life in the LAD

(By LCpl Phillips)

Having returned to Camp Bastion with

Sgt `Hakeswill` Bayliss following a 4

week stint attached to 3Tp 8AES as

their embedded Equipment Support

and doubling up as a B1 Combat Engi-neer on many of the troops taskings, it

was time to screw my mechanics head

back on and pick up a tool box ready

for the Bastion maintenance regime to

begin again.

We were back in Camp Bastion

for a matter of hours when Sgt Bayliss

and I were informed we were to re-

deploy to PB2 to carry out equipmentinspections and health checks on Pro-

tected Mobility and protected plant

equipment. So we jumped on the next available Chinook, the following morning. We wasted no time in com-

mencing our work so we could inish in time to catch the opening game of EURO 2012, as this was clearly

the priority of the day.

I have enjoyed my time on tour, especially my last 6 weeks in theatre having carried out such a wide

variety of roles, I look forward to

seeing what else the Regt has in

store in the near future as I have

heard that I may be off to assist

the resources department and

gain some more new experienc-

es!

Page 8


OC LAD shows of the workshops in

Bason


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Page 9

8 Armoured Engineer Squadron

A word from the OC

(Maj J Stuart)

The Sqn have been exceptionally busy over the last month, R&R has well and truly kicked in and although it

reduces the number of people available to undertake the many and varied tasks the squadron are completing

the effect on morale is noticeable. 1 Tp have now inished the epic task of upgrading the main entry point to

the Lashkar Gah Main Operating Base and they have done an absolutely excellent job of it, inding numerous

solutions to the plethora of problems and issues that come as part and parcel of such a major task. Not con-

tent with upgrading one main entry point they have also completed the upgrade of the entry point at Patrol

Base ATTAL. 2 Tp have been equally busy, completing numerous small but essential tasks all around Nahr e

Saraj (South). In particular the completion of the water distribution task in Patrol Base 2 was greatly appreci-

ated by the residents, who now have running water all around the Patrol Base. There were even some com-

plaints (tongue in cheek I am sure) that now the showers were too powerful! 2 Troop have also been out and

about upgrading a whole range of Check Points making them more secure and improving the living conditions

of those that live there as well as producing some much needed new toilets for Patrol Base 2. 3 Troop never to

be outdone have completed some excellent work at Patrol Base Lashkar Gah Durai improving both the general

infrastructure and the force protection of the patrol base. A new soak away was put in to enable all of the wa-

ter that is used in the patrol base to safely drain away as well as numerous improvements to the washing and

cleaning facilities. They also ably assisted 1 Tp during the main entry point upgrade and have deployed on

explosive denial tasks in support of Engr Fd Sqn 3 in the Combined Force BURMA AO. Not content with all this

they have also helped with the handover of

Check Point Spina Kota to the Afghan Uni-

formed Police, stripping out the unnecessary

structures and giving the check point a

smaller and more secure perimeter. Back in

BASTION the Squadron Echelon have been

extremely busy with a vast array of inspec-

tions. We have managed to cram about 2

years worth of inspections into the last

month or so. All of the echelon have been

lat out both supporting the troops out on

the ground and preparing and then success-fully completing the inspections, no mean

feat from a small but dedicated G4 team.


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Page 10

LKG MEP1 Troop

(By Spr Stuart)

1 Troop are still being held at Lashkar Gah tackling the

complicated job of the Main Entry Point (MEP) to the

base. This week we have continued with inishing off the

6:5:4 HESCO sangar where LCpl Mattey, Spr Allen and

myself inished building the frame out of timber and cor-

rugated iron. Whilst this was taking place, the rest of the

Troop were tasked to it a large rejection gate which

went in smoothly and when completed, everybody was

happy. However, we then discovered that the lock was

located on the enemy side which meant it would have to

be taken off and re-welded to the other side of the gate.

Not having a welder in the Troop (SSgt Benn was on R&R

in the UK) we had to hire a bloke from the contractor

company PROLOG to do the job for us. Unsurprisingly, we found the same problem with the hinges on the

pedestrian gate! We also had to place a inger barrier which went through the same process as the gate but

all was correct on this one, unlike the other two.

The next day most of the Troop had a well deserved rest from wearing their Osprey body armour and full

protective equipment outside of the camp perimeter in the blazing sun working sunrise to sunset and fo-

cussed our attention to tasks inside the camp. This included building two sheltered areas to allow the guys

on stag (protecting the camp) to have some shade - who said

Engineers arent nice? This didnt take too long to construct,

but the following task was the installation of yet another

gate to go on in the inside of the camp; seriously this place is

going to be like Fort Knox! Back to the shovel for the lads

but at least no PPE this time! Sapper Charlie Folly and his

trusty Self Loading Dump Truck (SLDT(P)) (armoured dump

truck) were the heroes of the hour lifting the gate into posi-

tion and

this was

concreted

into place

in no

time.


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Page 11

The following morning we

had to put in two New bar-

riers, one for incoming ve-

hicles and one for outgoing

vehicles. Cpl Mackenzie

took command of this task

and also completed most of

the concreting as he is the

only bricklayer in the

Troop. This task was fairly

tricky as the angle andmeasurements had to be

spot on, it didnt help that

we had to dig out the hard

standing irstly for the bar-

riers to be sat in place. The

task began with Spr Nev

Gladstone bringing out the

skid steer with the breaker

on, he honestly believes that the cab is hotter than the devils behind! FACT! After this was done we once again

got our shovels out and removed the spoil. The barriers were the lifted into place (by team Folly and his SLDT(P)) and we then started the concreting cycle over again. When the next day came we checked to see if the

barrier worked, it did, However, with no rope attached to pull it back down it was left upright with Sappers

hanging off a pole to return it back to its normal position.

It was back outside the next day where we had to put in a large HESCO wall between the front gate and the

inger barrier. This seemed a doddle compared to the late nights of HESCO illing we had recently encoun-

tered. With this all completed Lashkar

Gahs front gate is now nearly com-

plete. We are now all just eagerly

awaiting stores to arrive to inish whatis left and go back to our (temporary)

home PB Attal.

The new 1 Troop mascotSheeps, adopted

at MOB LKG


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Page 12

H20 TO GO2 Troop

(By Cpl Hissey)

Patrol Base 2 (PB 2) is a Combined Force (CF)

HQ which needed a fully working water distri-

bution system that should have been completed

on Op HERRICK 15. On our arrival back in early

March only 60% of the pipe work had been in-

stalled and 50% of parts needed to complete

the installation where sat in an ISO at PB 2 col-

lecting dust. This was having a major affect on

the base as the basic system in place was not

able to cope with demands of the CF HQ.

It was down to mighty 2 Troop to save the day,

but like most things out here we hit a problem.

The two main trades (Heating & Plumbing Engi-

neer (H&P) and an Electrician) which we need-

ed to complete the task, 2 troop did not possess.

So the call for help went out to the 8 Sqn massive and that call was heard! In stepped LCpl Cus Colaco (H&P)

from 3 Troop and LCpl Stu Carmichael (Electrician) from 1 Troop to save the day. SSgt Hatchard COW (M)

was also tasked to PB 2 to over see the technical aspect of the task.

The task started well , the main effort was completing the main supply pipework already placed by our 29 AES

comrades. This went fairly well, aided by LCpl Colacos extensive knowledge of mdpe pipework, learnt on an

arduous 3 day Pre Deployment Trade refresher course at the home of artisan engineering - Chatham! Mean-

while SSgt Hatchard and LCpl Carmichael worked out the electrical aspects of the pump.

After a few days the main body of the pipe-

work was complete and ready for testing,

so it was with a little excitement mixed

with trepidation that we ran up the new

pump. Only to ind our irst leak a whole

foot away from the pump! This was a com-

mon theme throughout the whole job, with

over 50% of the large joints leaking to a

degree. This turned out to be a learning

curve and after slightly reconiguring the

pipework over the next day and a half and

wrestling with lots of joints the pipework

was tested and found to be sound.


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Page 13

By this point rumours were

rife, as other PB 2 call signs

had caught glimpses of lots of

plumbing kit in the 2 Tp back-

yard. It was rumoured that

those pesky engineers were

busy building themselves

theyre own showers to which

the reply was of course not, we

still havent inished the hot

tub and wave machine!

All that was left at this point

was tweaking of various con-

nections and joints, and the

digging of French drains for the

various wastes and grey water

from the basins. This went

fairly well, despite unearthing

unexpected levels of hackingness from the pan-bash and kitchen area! Upon completion of the job it was

great to see decent power delivered in the showers and the whole PB can now enjoy the beneits of a decent

water supply and none were more relieved than the BGE Capt Tom Docker who on all accounts had taken

quite a lot of lak from his peers and is hoping that no more grey hairs will appear!

PB 2 has now given over 200 personnel a better standard of living, the morale of all those who dare to live in

PB 2 has improved to a new level. Those who were involved can now stand back and hold their heads high.


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Page 14

XXVI

School desks for mixed school in Kundjak3 Tp

(By LCpl Mattey)

Spr Samuels and I got tasked with building school desks for the local children to help improve their school and

hopefully encourage their learning, so we grabbed Spr Powis to give us an extra hand and we went to work.

We knocked up some desks using our extensive knowledge and skill in chippying, only to be told they were

good but far too small. So back to the drawing board we went. By this stage the heat was kicking in and we

were all slowly giving up, Cpl Walker came down to help

and within the hour we were getting somewhere.

The following morning we were to be ready for 0800hrsto roll out the door, this quickly changed to 0730hrs and

so did the look on the lads faces. So 0730hrs came as

we sat at the front gate ready to go but the time was

again changed to 0800hrs without letting us know, the

day was off to a great start. When HQ decided they were

ready to leave, we set off from PB Nahidullah and head-

ed west to the school. The patrol was stopped short of

the school about 600m because the vehicles couldnt it

down the path. It then became apparent that the HQ

element of the Mastiff crew didnt realise that they had

Engineers attached to the patrol as they thought the Wolhound we were manning as 2nd vehicle, was their

rear mastiff. This was a great start to our patrol with KRH HQ. We then handed the desks to the unsuspect-

ing members of the patrol to carry along with the rest of their kit, they were less than impressed.

We arrived at the compounds and were shown to the school, which was a tiny room just big enough for the

desks to it in and as this was happening the KRH introduced one of their TA soldiers to the locals who hap-

pened to be a teacher in civvi street. Whilst he was talking to the Teacher and the children the Doctor and the

medics (Not the 80s pop group) were outside help-

ing out the locals. Once they were all done we head-

ed back to the vehicles on foot trying to stay drycrossing the irrigation ditches and getting as many

allie photos as we could.

The drive back was interesting. Due to the narrow

width of the track the vehicles could only move

slowly, which as everyone knows is an open invita-

tion for the local kids to climb onto the vehicles and

try and steal anything that is not strapped down, as

well as anything that is strapped down. Due to some

skilful driving from Spr Hamson this should not be aproblem for future trips.


15/26


Page 15


A word from the OC

(Maj C Ankers)

I will keep my foreword short this month as SSM Morris will ill you in on what else the Squadron has been

up to.

I must however say a huge congratulations to 5 Troop, lead by Capt Ed Brown, who have completed the

FOLAD Logistic Support Bridge. They have constructed a permanent crossing over the Nahr-e-Bughra canal

for the local Afghans which will provide access for years to come. 5 Troop made short work of this complex

bridge build under the most arduous of conditions. At the last minute, SSgt McDermott stepped in from 6

Troop to oversee the rehearsals and the construction. The rehearsals really paid off as the troop devised

various methods of completing the bridge build much quicker than it says in the instruction manual!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to WO2 (SSM) Morris as he has now in-

ished his time in Dirty Thirty. SSM Morris has been with the Squadron for over 2 years and in that time has

provided a massive amount of support, advice and morale. A larger than life character who always has the

best interests of the sol-

diers at heart. It has been a

real pleasure to work

alongside SSM Morris but

now he is off to be the Regi-

mental Sergeant Major at 3

RSME Regiment.

SSM Morris - from everyone

in Dirty Thirty, we wish you

and your family all the best

for the future. Im sure that

whenever anyone from the

Squadron is in Minley that

they will be in your ofice;

hopefully for a brew and

not because theyre in trou-

ble!


16/26


A Sergeant Majors Farewell

(By SSM Morris)

After more than 2 years in post, it is inally time for me to

move on to bigger and better things. After some well de-

served leave (QM, it hasnt all been beer and skittles;

some days, the papers werent even published online!), I

am due to take over as RSM of 3 Royal School of Military

Engineering, our depot Regiment near Camberley. My re-

placement is now in and is receiving his mandatory in-theatre training. Already, Im feeling my authority ebbing

away!

Operational deployments tend to bring out the best in

people; those you suspect may buckle under the pressure

shine through. I can vouch, pretty much to a man (and

woman) that this is exactly right. 4 Troop have been stuck in Patrol Base (PB) WAHID, pretty much through-

out their tour so far. The work they have done to upgrade the camp for our Estonian comrades has been im-

pressive. Every time I visited, the transformation was remarkable; an opinion shared by the CO of the Royal

Anglians when I bumped into him at PB FOLAD. The camp has changed so much that I had a moment on one

visit when lying in at night, it wasnt until I saw SSgt Jim Peterson that I was sure Id got off at the right stop!

5 Troops main task has been to strip out a Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) over the Nahr-e-Bughra Canal, a gap

of about 36m, and replace it with a Logistic Support Bridge (LSB), a more permanent structure. Due to R&R,

the MGB had to be stripped with just 14 men (the book recommends 24!). SSgt Tim Kingham did sterling

work taking charge of the strip, and the lads all worked in intense heat for 12 hours to get the job done. (I can

conirm how hard it was. Not wanting to tread on SSgt Kinghams toes, I let him command the strip, while I

humped and dumped with a carrying bar all day. After more than 10 years working out of an ofice, I can con-

irm that I had to take a few more water breaks than the rest!)

Unfortunately, SSgt Kingham had to ly home after the MGB, so SSgt John McDermott from 6 Troop stood up

to take charge of the LSB build. Unfortunately, due to the size of the equipment, we dont get to train much on

LSB, so SSgt McDermott set about rehearsing inside PB FOLAD and came up with a new way to build the

bridge. This new method meant the bridge was inished in a third of the time, reducing the time the lads were

on site, outside of a secure location. At the time of writing, it has just opened and the locals couldnt be happi-

er with their new bridge.

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6 Troop have had some decent tasks to get their teeth into, although after upgrading their main location, the

plan is now to strip it out and hand it back to the Afghans! They have improved locations and, in line with the

longer drawdown plan, have closed down a number of locations.

6 Troops Cpl MacDonald excelled himself, stepping up to do a sergeants job at short notice, going off with the

Police Mentoring and Advisory Group (PMAG) to recce a number of Afghan Police bases. This has conirmed

the Corps decision to select him for promotion this year. Alongside him on that board were Cpls Copping and

Sovanivalu. Spr McCormack and Atkins have been promoted to LCpl, proving that hard work pays off, and Sprs

Marshall and Davies have been selected to be promoted within the year. Lts Jarrett-Kerr and Kehoe have also

picked up their Capts. Congratulations!

Finally, the unsung heroes. The QMs guys back in Bastion do a great job keeping the forward troops supplied

with the stores and equipment they need to do their work. As with every tour, there are sometimes frictions

between the people deployed forward and those based in

the rear. The fact remains that the Squadron would grind to

a halt without them. Also, the Ops room staff go largely un-

noticed; they are the ones whose job is to direct the trafic,

monitoring all the work, deconlicting moves between loca-

tions and ensuring everyone is brought back to the airport

in time for R&R. One of their most important jobs is to get

the mail forward. Contrary to popular belief, I can guaran-

tee that they do everything they can to get mail on to heli-copters, despite the best efforts of the air movements staff.

I feel I must mention an individual who is not part of the

Squadron but has impressed me with skills that are very close to my heart. LCpl Richie Addo, a chef from 38

HQ & Sp Sqn was sent to PB FOLAD with 5 Troop and did an amazing job. In temperatures in excess of 50 the

food he produced was outstanding. We had a large container fridge delivered that we couldnt power up, so

for a week we ate like kings! LCpl Addos illet steak (I know!) melted in the mouth!

I will be lying home with mixed emotions; excitement and joy at being reunited with my wonderfully sup-

portive wife and girls, almost deinitely the last time I will experience that feeling of butterlies in anticipation

of the homecoming; something most civilians will never go through (like ENDEX after a long exercise!). But itwill be tinged with sadness that I will be leaving behind the

Squadron. The last one I will serve with, one which is quite

signiicant in our family. My brother served in the Squadron

twice, attending both the disbandment parade when it

closed down in Germany and the reformation parade some

years later at Ludgershall. I wish the Dirty Thirty well for

the remainder of the tour, my time as Sergeant Major hasnt

always been enjoyable, but the good times far outweigh the

bad and I will look back with fond memories. Good luck to

my replacement, WO2 Paul Jones; although Im sure he

wont need it.

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Smile, your in PB WAHID4 Troop

(By Spr Sonahee)

Smile! Youre in WAHID the PB of fun!

My irst two months in Afghanistan was in the Ops

room and now Im in WAHID for the rest of the tour.

Ive been in WAHID for nearly four weeks now and

so far its been amazing. On arrival I was told Ill be

in charge of Bowman radio and ECM equipment.

The irst few days focused on taking over all the

equipment and sorting out the store. I got help from

Cpl Sovanivalu and Cpl Faga to build some shelves

to make it nice and tidy. The living condition are

very basic but at least we get fed fresh food every-

day.

Mail in WAHID comes once in a blue moon due to

the lights in and out of this place, but when we do

get it, we get bags of the stuff! You can always tell

when we have it, the lads morale goes up ten fold. I would like to say a big thank you to those who have beensending me parcels since Ive been out here.

While I was in Bastion, in my free time, I wrote to different companies asking them to send me some of their

products and it inally paid off as I received ifteen boxes of Walkers shortbread biscuits which was a boost of

morale for the lads!

I am looking forward to getting out of WAHID on our next task which is an upgrade of a camp along the Nahr-

e-Bughra Canal. It brakes the time up and a change of scenery is always good in this place.

Lately Ive been up to my eyeballs, what with maintaining Bowman and ECM equipment, it seems like we are

HESCOing the whole of Afghanistan! I LOVE HESCO; HESCO LOVES ME; SO HESCO IS MY FRIEND!

Not long now, we have just past the half way point

and Im looking forward to my R&R which is in six

weeks time. Also, Im missing Britains Got Talent:

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN THAT SITUATION WHERE

YOU LOST YOUR KEYS AND YOUR MOBILE PHONE?

WHERE ME KEYS, WHERE ME PHONE?!

Page 18

4 Troop enjoy a BBQ at the Swamp


19/26


Local Relations5Troop

(By Spr George)

During our time in FOLAD, as well as building the LSB

we also built up a good friendship with the Afghan Uni-

formed Police (AUP) that manned the sangar and Vehi-

cle Checkpoint next to the bridge site. Their job was

primarily to control the movement over the NeB Canal

from the Dashte (the sparsely populated area to the

north of the canal) into the more built up area to the

south. They were also on hand to give us additionalforce protection when required, which was sometimes

needed when working on the bridge.

At irst the AUP were fairly standofish, as they hadnt

had much dealing with ISAF forces up until this point,

especially not in such close quarters. However, as the

time went on they started coming out of their shells, as

did the lads in the Troop. We would teach them English

words using the international sign language of pointing

at something like our watch and saying louder than nor-

mal WATCH!! They would then teach us the Pashtu forthe same thing. I think Spr Davies might hold the record

with the most words learnt. The friendship continued to

grow the more time we spent on the ground during the

bridge build, to a point where the lads were looking

forward to going out and seeing what they were going

to learn today.

This friendship and understanding culminated in the

AUP throwing us a celebration meal on completion of

the bridge, where they cooked us a goat, rice, foot bread

and even supplied us with cold pop. It was a great way

to end our time in FOLAD after a tiring build.

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Page 20



A word from the OC

(Maj C James)

With more

than 50% oif the tour complete, the

Squadron is in good shape. Morale has

been boosted by very recent memories

of R&R, or its impending nature. Hav-

ing bid farewell to Maj Joe Gossage on

the 21 June, Maj Claire James is now in

command and very much looking for-

ward to recovering the squadron in as

good a shape as when it left in early

march. Looking back over the last

month the Squadron have been very

busy, close support to Combined Force

operations is currently dominating theprogramme with some more mundane

force protection work having to take a back seatthere is no shortage of work, whether thats out in the Com-

bined Force area of operations or here in Bastion. Within our Bastion lines, the quartermaster and in particu-

lar Sgt Jackson, Cpl Quigley, Cpl Waddell and LCpl Thornhill have been tirelessly working on preparing the

Squadron for a raft of G4 inspections; their efforts have paid off and despite one or two momentary concerns,

the Squadron have done extremely well. Out with the Combined Forces, 7 and 8 Tp have been supporting Op

QALB, an ongoing operation for which our

Sapper skills have been critical. Explosive

denials, crossing points and maintaining

Ground Lines of Communication just toname but a few. Of note was yet another

bridge (MGB) build by 7 Tp under the com-

mand of SSgt Dil. 9 Tp on the other hand

have now completed an upgrade of FOB OU-

LETTE to the delight of their CF (1 Royal

Welsh Battle group). Looking forward the

tempo is unlikely to slow, as we start to plan

our Relief in Place with 73 Armoured Engi-

neer Squadron, 21 Engineer Regiment for

Op HERRICK 17.

XXVI


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Page 21

7 Troop

(By Cpl Knight, REME)

This week, elements of 7 Troop deployed on an operation, deemed the biggest so far during Op HERRICK 16,

it was going to be a positive drive through the green zone in our area. We were tasked with denying river

crossing points, to restrict enemy movement across the river for the duration of the operation. This came as a

welcome change to HESCO and razor wire, both of which were starting to enter/interrupt our dreams. After

preparing our kit and completing demolition rehearsals, we moved to PB RAHIM, and departed on our foot

patrol in the early hours of the morning. As a Class One Vehicle Mechanic in the REME this was going to be

my irst close up experience of live explosives, and inally after carrying around 40 kilograms of it I was re-

lieved to arrive at our irst crossing point. The Engr lads quickly positioned the bar mines and awaited clear-

ance to begin. Once the clearance was received, the explosives were ired and the lads set about moving

through the remaining crossings in good time. Explosions, debris, sweat and fatigue followed but all in all it

turned out to be a great success.

XXVI


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XXVI

Page 22

Hearts and Minds A small local project

(By LCpl Miliner )

Being half way through the tour and with R&R in full swing, every-

thing is on the go hear at our PB. But not everything is Operation

related. ISAFs (International Security Advisory Force) aim is still

very much hearts and minds of the Afghan people and if possible

helping them in any way possible. With this on everyones mind, it

was the Company Commander, No2 Company, Grenadier Guards

who approached to our Troop Commander, Capt MJ Gurung asking if

the Engineers could provide some support to provide a sporting fa-

cility for the locals. With the go ahead from the Squadron Head-

quarter at Bastion, preparation for the construction of a football and

cricket pitch began. Sapper Gaurab being the Carpenter & Joiner (C&J) made improvised goal posts out of

some timber in the PB. The task site was just approximately 300m west of our Patrol Base. As soon as the

outer cordon was in place by the multiple from No2

Company, Sapper Summers went out in the Light

Wheeled Tractor Protected (LWT (P)) to level off the

ground. Straight away locals were pleased with the idea

and came out of interest and to help with the project.Sadly due to technical dificulties with the LWT, the task

was put on hold, but only for a short time. LCpl Milliner

was able to inish off the work the next day not only lev-

elling the ground so it was a good playing surface, but

also buy lattening the area behind with about 100 tons

of leftover aggregate. A few hours later and 3 newly

painted pickets were also placed for Wickets. We have

ourselves a small but promising cricket pitch, a favour-

ite with the elder locals.


23/26


Page 23

XXVI

Hesco, Hesco and more Hesco9 Tp

(By Spr Saunders)

The last week has seen the end of our 5 week long task of upgrading the protection around the accommoda-

tion and working areas within our camp. Our section had the task of the hardened bunkers and Sangers,

whilst 2 Section completed the HESCO around the accommodation. The ground for the Sanger was levelled

by the plant and the task of building the tower began. Once complete we moved on to the hardened bunker

that has 650 nuts and bolts that need to be hand tightened and after just three days the irst bunker was com-

plete.

The next gave us a few problems. As we unpacked it and check all the stores we realised we were missing650 key components; all the nuts and the bolts! After a few phone calls back to Camp Bastion we managed to

get some lown up on a helicopter 24 hours later. In the mean time we moved onto help the other section

with the protection for the accommodation while we waited for the missing parts to arrive.

Were now into a period of maintenance before we get a couple of well deserved days off.


24/26

Page 24

Non-Alcoholic beer and the Royal

Engineer Band


25/26


Page 25

Glossary

RanksSpr - Sapper

LCpl - Lance Corporal

Cpl - Corporal

Sgt- Sergeant

SSgt-

Staff Sergeant

WO2 - Warrant Oficer Second Class

WO1 - Warrant Oficer First Class

Lt- Lieutenant

FormationsSect- Section

Tp - Troop

Armd Engr Sqn - Armoured Engineer Squadron

Fd Engr Sqn - Field Engineer Squadron

Hq & Sp Sqn-

Headquarters and Support Squad-ron

Afghanistan speciic termsOp - Operation, mission, task (not surgery)

PB-

Patrol Base

CP - Check Point

SANGAR - A watch tower which is manned 24 hours a day to provide protection to a base

Stag - standing in the sangar keeping watch and providing protection

JOB - Joint Operating Base

FOB - Forward Operating Base

NES (S) - Nahr-e Saraj South

NES (N) - Nahr-e Saraj North

NDA - Nad-e Ali

TFH - Task Force Helmand

ISAF - International Security Assistance Force

ANSF - Afghanistan National Security Force

ANA - Afghan National Army

ANP-

Afghan National Police

IED - Improvised Explosive Device


26/26


HESCO - Large lat packed containers made of thick strong wire containing a large sandbag. The

sandbag is illed with sand to produce a large protective brick. The individual HESCO blocks are then

used like giant bricks to produce a protective wall for our bases.

HLS - Helicopter Landing Site

Barma - Our drill used to ind Improvised Explosive Devices with a hand held metal detector.

EquipmentMASTIFF - Large armoured truck with a with a heavy machine gun for protection.

TALISMAN - A series of vehicles used to clear a route of improvised explosive devices.

HUSKY - Another type of large armoured vehicle.

MWT - Medium wheeled tractor (dump truck).

SLDT(P) - Self Loading Dump Truck (Protected) - A small dump truck.

Apache - Ugly looking attack helicopter.

Chinook- Large helicopter featured in the ilm Big Friendly Giant.

Sea-king

-Royal Navy helicopter used as search and rescue in the UK.

Merlin - Medium to large Royal Air Force and Navy helicopter used to move Troops around from

base to base.

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