Spoken from the Front Read Free Page A

anxiety was
quite noticeable, to say the least. Before we got there,
everyone was like, 'What are we going into?' Very
anxious.
    As soon as we got out there, we took over from the Americans.
    The Americans had a very forceful, aggressive way of handling the local fraternity.
    They would suit up, heavily armoured in their SUVs, and drive around Lashkar
    Gah as fast as possible to get from A to B and back again. Our battery commander
    had his head screwed on. He had discussions with all the multiple commanders
    and we wanted to go out there with our arms open. But from day one it was
    'Suck it and see.' We thought: Are we going to wear berets or are we going
    to go too soft? Are we going to always have our weapons like this [he raises
    his arms] or are they going to be down by our sides? These debates were going
    on from the start, while we were out on patrol. No one knew what our approach
    should be because we did not have any information to tell us how to do this
    or that. So it was another steep learning curve. But we got to grips with
    it well. The population loved us.
    This time round [Operation Herrick 4 and into Operation
Herrick 5] I was a multiple commander. When we originally
turned up in Lashkar Gah, there were only 250 people [today
there are more than 1,500]. There was a nice fountain in the
middle and a volleyball court, all designed and made by
the Americans. There was a perimeter fence and inside there
were little pieces of hardened accommodation that the
Americans had built. I was lucky enough to have one of
these. It was a six-man room with three bunk beds but you
had your portable TV and your Xbox.
1 May 2006
    McNab: This was a significant day. The Union flag replaced the
Stars and Stripes at Lashkar Gah as America formally handed over
the 'watch' of Helmand province to Britain. The first members of 16
Air Assault Brigade had been arriving there throughout April. The
military task was to keep the peace and to support development
projects organized by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and
the Department for International Development. The aim was to
bring Helmand into the ambit of the central Afghan government.
British efforts were to centre on bolstering the authority of the
governor and reforming the province's parlous police, judiciary and
penal system. But it was privately acknowledged that the Taliban
had been steeled by America pulling its forces from Helmand, which
produces most of Afghanistan's £1.6 billion-worth of drugs.
May 2006
    Captain Nick Barton, DFC, Army Air Corps
    Captain Nick Barton, DFC, is an Apache helicopter pilot with the
Army Air Corps. Aged thirty-two, he grew up in West Sussex and,
after leaving school, took a gap year in New Zealand teaching
sport, and travelled the world. He graduated with a master's
degree in mechanical engineering with French. In 2001, he went to
Sandhurst for officer training, sponsored by the Royal Engineers.
After he had passed flying aptitude courses, he joined the Army Air
Corps. Following his eighteen-month helicopter pilots' course,
which started in January 2002, he joined 656 Squadron as an
Apache pilot. He has completed four tours in Afghanistan, serving
with 656, 662 and 664 Squadrons, and has since been posted to
instruct at Sandhurst.
    The Apache is a clever aircraft. It has amazing technology. It's
robust, very durable and very capable. And it has awesome
fire-power. It can fly at 140 knots max. We – there is a crew of
two – can cruise at 120 knots. In Afghanistan, we have an
extra fuel tank. We carry twenty-four rockets, and a standard
load is two Hellfire missiles, although we can adjust the
weapons' load according to the mission. We sit one pilot in
front of the other. You can fly from each seat. The more
experienced person is usually the mission commander.
Ideally, he should be in the front seat, since it's the only one
from which you can operate the laser and control the sights.
For weapons' guidance, range, etc., that is a