Afghanistan 2012

In 2012 I deployed to Afghanistan on my third operational tour as a relatively new 24 year old Cpl. I was given the opportunity to command the Force Protection Fitter Section which I was very excited but nervous about. I was to be responsible for the inspection, maintenance and repair of over 40 mission critical platforms. If we couldn't deliver the force protection vehicles for the daily re supply convoys, it would mean that the convoys wouldn't deploy and would leave soldiers in forward operating bases go without vital supplies such as food, water and ammunition.

I embraced the opportunity and achieved a lot during the 6 month tour and was able to use experiences of two previous operational tours to my advantage. This was my second tour of Afghanistan as was to be very different to my first experience. My first experience came in 2008 where I was attached to the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group and spent most of my time deployed in many areas across the Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul Provinces.

The team knew that the patrols were vital and we often worked through the night to ensure that we had enough protection for the convoys. Routinely delivering 100% availability was a huge task and was largely down to the network of contacts our team had built up and utilising multiple other nations capabilities and assets to aid our goal. Waiting for parts to arrive or "awaiting spares" as we used to say, was never an option. We managed to work out what nations workshops/ engineers had what capability and realised that we all had things that we could help each other with. We had no such thing as working hours or having the weekends off, we worked when there was work, and recharged whilst the convoys were out.

On top of managing the team, I inherited the responsibility of ensuring the air conditioning accross the entire Regimental fleet of over 100 platforms was serviceable. Anyone who has been to Afghanistan will completely understand how important this is. I had a second smaller team to help with this and this ensured that any free time I was to have whist deployed was kept to a minumium. Most of the time we could only use the aircon equipment after hours which lead to a fair few 5am milkshakes at the American Green Bean.

My biggest achievement during the deployment was the implementation of a project I carried out to solve the ongoing problem the Regiment had with children smashing the vehicle windows. believe it or not, the bullet proof glass had a sacrificial glass layer in-front that could be easily cracked my stones. This would render the vehicle as off the road due to affecting the drivers field of view which was already restricted with the armour fitted.

On my return I was awarded the 3* Master General Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Commendation for my technical ability and leadership which I later found out was second only to the Queens Honours list. I was then selected for promotion to Sergeant which at 25 I thought was a huge achievement. Not bad for a council estate tearaway!

My workshop commander at the time had made the decision to select me for this role and it's something I'll never forget. I learnt and achieved so much from the opportunity and continued to lead teams in the same manor.

Although it was me that received this Commendation, it wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of the whole team and the support received from my chain of command.

This is something the REME does very well and why many civilian employers love hiring ex-REME personnel. We'll always get the job done!

Arte et Marte.