Private Graham ‘T’ Thurston

Private Graham ‘T’ Thurston is a soldier in 5 Platoon, B Company, the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) known as the ‘Tigers’.  Private Thurston is based in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province as part of the 5 RIFLES Battle Group.

JEKER is a relatively new check-point and packed with the latest technology to help the patrols get on the ground with as much intelligence and knowledge as possible.  We also have BFBS [British Forces Broadcasting Service] TV and two internet computers and this gives us a good change to relax in the welfare tent that doubles up as a cookhouse.

The other two B Company check-points aren’t as lucky but they get up about once a week and check their mail and chill out.  With solar showers and toilets with a door (poo in a bag variety) this check-point is classed as a luxury here in the Green Zone.

Continues at: britisharmy.wordpress.com – Strengthening relationships in the Green Zone

An Afghan National Police patrolman talks with a local resident during a counternarcotics mission in the village of Talukan in the Panjwa’i district of southern Afghanistan. Picture: Sergeant Nazly Confesor

Although the fighting season is over, insurgents continue to rely on illicit drugs like poppy and marijuana as a source of revenue to acquire weapons for the 2012 fighting season.

According to US Army 1st Lt Eric Catalanotti, an Infantry Officer and platoon leader for C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, the district of Panjwa’i, “has always been a strongpoint for multiple Taliban fighters, both as a staging ground and operations.”

As US forces begin to draw down in preparation for their 2014 exit, ANSF are taking over operations previously conducted by US and coalition forces.

In recent weeks, multiple agencies from the Afghan National Security Forces have been working together in planning and executing Afghan-led operations to secure the Panjwa’i District from insurgency.

Officials from the ANA, Afghan National Police, Afghan Uniform Police and the Afghan National Civil Order Police met at Forward Operating Base Zangabad in the Panjwa’i District a day prior to the January 5th operation to coordinate the details.

“ANP, ANA and ANCOP with the support of the AUP had intelligence regarding a possible hashish or drug compound,” said Catalanotti.

“They planned and executed the mission,” he said.

Approximately 100 ANSF Soldiers provided security and support around the suspected drug compound, while an Afghan counter narcotics officer, assisted by ANSF examined the processed marijuana and interviewed the family members of the detainee.

Seeing a large presence of ANSF around the area, insurgents took the opportunity to open fire as ANSF and the 3-21st Infantry were leaving the compound area.

The firefight ended with no injuries when US forces called in for air support.

The mission sent a clear message to the counter narcotics fight, that the growth of narcotics will not be tolerated in the district, and anyone who is caught will face charges.

“Today’s mission was a success. We are very happy that the ANP, ANA, AUP and the Narcotics Police are doing combined missions,” said ANA Captain Safiullah, fire team support officer, 2nd Kandak, 1st Brigade, 205th ATAL Corp.

A former detainee who just recited the oath of release, shakes the hand of Zharay District Governor, Niaz Sarhadi, during a release ceremony at the Task Force Spartan Reintegration Shura at FOB Pasab, 19 September 2011. Picture: Specialist Melissa Stewart

District government officials from Zharay district and Soldiers from Combined Task Force Spartan’s 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment conducted the detainee release ceremony at Forward Operating Base Howz-e-Madad, for the men who were captured during a planned operation in the Zharay Dasht Camp, December 31, 2011.

The men were from a Kuchi tribe that resided just north of the FOB, and were suspected improvised explosive device builders and emplacers. Over 25 tribesmen and village elders attended the release ceremony, and the tribal leader, Tawos Khan, ensured the government and security officials that the men would be held accountable by the village elders, and their contact with the Taliban insurgents would be prohibited.

“These men are now under our responsibility,” said Tawos Khan. “We welcome them back into the village to become men who practice peace instead.”

After the Afghan government and 1-32 Infantry Battalion officials gave their remarks, the four detainees swore an oath against violence in the area, and then placed their thumbprints on a written copy of the oath. Placing one’s thumbprint on a document is the traditional Afghan method for “signing” a document, and one’s fingerprint is just as valid as an actual signature.

The Zharay district government and leaders from CTF Spartan have conducted at least six previous detainee release ceremonies throughout the district to demonstrate their willingness to free low-level Taliban insurgents, if their village or tribal leadership vows for their integrity and character.

An Afghan businessman is awarded US$10,000 by Brigadier General Jeffrey A Sinclair, 82nd Airborne Division and Regional Command ( South) Deputy Commanding General of Support, 13 December 2011, to make improvements to his park in Bagh-e Pol. Photo by Sergeant Larry Hayes

“This facility will be a source of pride for the community, and will help bring back a sense of normalcy to the Bagh-e Pol area,” said Lieutenant Colonel Greg Anderson, the commander of Combined Task Force Spartan’s 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment. The 2-87 Infantry Battalion is responsible for operations in the eastern Zharay district.

The park, which lies just east of the Bagh-e Pol bridge, overlooks the Arghandab River, and has a small zoo, a swimming pool and water slide, and a large glass-walled conference center. The park’s owner said he would use the microgrant to improve and renovate the facility with painting, electrical work, window repair, and landscaping.

During the summer months, the park’s swimming pool is consistently packed with Afghan schoolchildren who swim and enjoy the water slide to cool themselves off. The zoo has a pair of peacocks, a trio of monkeys, and some other species of animals. The conference center, with its glass-enclosed atrium, is a location often used for Afghan meetings, shuras, and feasts, says the owner.

Microgrants are provided by coalition forces to help businesses grow their industry, employ more workers, and pay for renovations to facilities. Previously, leaders from the Zharay district government and CTF Spartan have presented checks to an ice factory, a cellular phone shop in the Pasab bazaar, and many others throughout the district.

Lt Col Anderson said once the building’s renovations are complete, the park will attract increased patronage from the local and even regional areas.

“Once this work is complete, there will be increased Afghan usage of this facility. The owner will be able to employ up to eight additional workers in the Bagh-e Pol area,” said Lt Col Anderson.

Sir Simon Gass. Picture: Crown Copyright 2012

Sir Simon began by reflecting on the fact that, as 2012 begins, there are just 36 months left before the ISAF mission in Afghanistan comes to an end and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) take on responsibility for the security of their country. ‘How should those remaining months be used to achieve a sustainable degree of stability?’ he asked.

Progress so far

To put that question into context, Sir Simon first reflected on how much progress has been made so far:

“That would depend,” he said, “on what you take as your starting point. If you go back to 2001 when ambition was very high and the insurgency seemed to have been stamped out, then you would say that the progress that we have made since then has not been as much as we would have liked or expected.”

Continues at: mod.uk – NATO’s senior civilian in Afghanistan discusses challenges ahead

Captain Andy Scott, Territorial Army. Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD

The exercise at Towthorpe Lines, Strensall, was designed to pull together over a year’s worth of build-up planning for a three-month operational tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Amongst those taking part in the exercise was Territorial Army Captain Andy Scott from 201 Field Hospital, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The exercise gave Captain Scott the chance to get to know the other members of his team before arriving in Helmand province as well as helping him to familiarise himself with the different ways of working and terminology amongst the international and tri-Service team.

Continues at: mod.uk – Medics prepare for Helmand

Sir Simon Gass, a British diplomat, said the country has gone through 30 years of disastrous conflict which has destroyed infrastructure and institutions.

“It will take decades to recover from the destruction that was wrought over that period of time,” he added.

Continues at: telegraph.co.uk – Afghanistan ‘will take 30 years to develop into proper democratic state’

Major Ross Noott, B Company, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, at the opening of Khorgajat School. Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2012

Staff at Khorgajat School, in Nahr-e Saraj district, have been able to start work this year after an eighteen-month struggle to get the school built finally came to an end.

The build was co-ordinated by the local British Military Stabilisation Support Team (MSST), a tri-Service unit that co-ordinates reconstruction projects.

The MSST ran a tender process for local contractors to build the school and, with a winner in place, construction got underway at a total cost of 500,000 Afghanis, or £6,500, donated through UK military charity the Afghan Appeal Fund.

Continues at: mod.uk – UK and Afghan troops help open school in Helmand

Sayed Fazuldin Agha, the governor of Panjwai District in Kandahar, was targeted by a car bomb.

Continues at: bbc.co.uk – Afghan suicide bomb kills senior official in Kandahar

Soldiers from the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, comprising troops from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment and 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, patrol through the northern Nahr-e Saraj district. Picture: Sergeant Wes Calder RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011

Nearly 500 members of 1 YORKS arrived in Helmand at the beginning of October 2011 for a six-month deployment in support of 20th Armoured Brigade.

They have deployed to Afghanistan as a complete battalion for the first time and are based at forward operating bases across Helmand province, carrying out patrols and security operations, and providing mortar and heavy machine gun support to the NATO-led mission.

Continues at: mod.uk – YORKS soldiers on patrol in Helmand