Girls in the army

Virginia Wheeler and Andy Bush from The Sun returned to Helmand to catch up with units that they had seen on their visit in May and to see other aspects of the work of the 49 strong Coalition of nations in Afghanistan. I took them down town Lashkar Gah with soldiers from 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles who are the Police Mentoring and Advisory Group, helping the Afghan Police to grow their capacity and capability.

With less than two weeks to go of my six months as the Spokesman for British troops here in Helmand, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up: articles to write, Afghan and military friends to say goodbye to, places still to visit, meetings to attend, reports to write and the usual support required by the headquarters. My time is telescoping very quickly into a small space in which there remains a lot still to do. Paratroopers call it ground rush.

We visited Precinct 2, one of the districts which has already transitioned from our responsibility for security to Afghan control, and then we went to splash in the Helmand River where kids were swimming and people were washing their cars. It was all boringly normal which, in my book, is a huge success.
　　
That night Andy and I walked over to Police HQ, about 200 metres from our base, to enjoy locally cooked kebabs with our Afghan Police comrades and the Gurkhas – spicy chicken with a delicious sauce, wrapped in a thick, nan-like bread which came in a folded sheet of newspaper.
　　
An important aspect of our troops’ return home is to try and gain some recognition for them for their service on operations in their local press. To that end I flew up to Main Operating Base Price, the headquarters of the Danish Battlegroup, which is also the base for A Squadron 9th/12th Royal Lancers and Brimstone One-Four, a four-man RAF, Army and Royal Marines Counter-Improvised Explosive Device team, to capture their stories before they head home over the next few weeks.