Year in the Life

A Year in 2 PARA Light Aid Detachment

Foreword

Scribe: WO2 (AQMS) Si Rose

Having spent many years within 16X and at various states of readiness, it seemed rather routine when 2 PARA would again take the lead for Air Manoeuvre Battle Group (AMBG). However, the last 12 months have been anything but. With an extremely busy run in to assuming AMBG lead at the end of May 2021, Ex WESSEX STORM on SPTA would be used to validate the battlegroup in winter of 2020, trying to deliver Ex WS5/20 during COVID presented extra complications together with various vehicle safety notices causing unforeseen extra work. Upon return to Colchester and a thoroughly well-earned Christmas break it was soon back to ‘knees to chest’ maintaining the c.260 ground effect platforms the LAD must continually manage and the impending AMBG HOTO with 3 PARA at the start of June 21. Concurrently to managing the aged fleet and ensuring ‘proof of good order’ at HOTO date, the LAD also supplied tradesmen to two further OTX’s; Ex AFRICAN LION (Italy into Morocco) and Ex SWIFT RESPONSE (America into Estonia). Both of which were based around the Lead Company Group (LCG) with a parachute decent into both host countries.

Having now assumed AMBG lead, June would see the Lead Company Group (LCG) encompassing 3 LAD tradesmen and the wider Lead Assault Force (LAF) deployed to Cyprus in an overt capability display to our adversaries on Op FORTIS. Here, the LAF would use the resources of the islands already well-established infrastructure as a Forward Mounting Base (FMB). Working mainly out of Radio Sonde and Episkopi Garrison, the LAF set the conditions for a successful forceable entry in the North of Jordan, culminating in a joint assault on a village complex with the Jordanian SF. For the eagle-eyed readers, this operation was also a small part of wider carrier strike group activity providing the LAF with simulated fighter jet air cover whilst it covered off its own TO’s.

With defence focussed on the Middle East as we inserted into Jordan, the humanitarian crisis was unfolding as the Taliban re-took large swaths of Afghanistan. It soon became apparent that evacuation of many thousands from the war-ravaged country was soon to be required. Step forward 2 PARA Battle-Group once more, with very little planning time force packages from across the Brigade were generated and stood by to move to Kabul to carry out the NEO. Further planning took place followed by the receipt of various CAV’s (Armoured Land Cruisers) for use in country which resulted in the ES

Kabul Airport

elements to become part of the force package. This resulted in 4 individuals from the LAD (the only REME elements to get into country) deploying on Op PITTING. Following on from the visceral onslaught of Op PITTING the lads returned to some much-needed rest before picking up the pace for an EC reset and the run up to a further AMBG deployment.

Looking back, it has been an extremely busy period for the Brigade; we wouldn’t have it any other way and I’m extremely proud to be at the helm of a particularly inspiring group of individuals, their thoughts of the previous deployments follow on. We now look forward to Ex FALCONS AMARANTE in the Toulouse area of France, where we will conduct interoperability training with our allies and try to mend some relationships after AUKUS.

Ex AFRICAN LION

Scribe: LCpl Dean, Class 2 VM

Ex AFRICAN LION was my first exercise as part of 2 PARA and 16 Brigade. During this exercise we worked closely with our American counterparts and it was good to see the similarities in how we both operated. Before deploying to Morocco where the main exercise was taking place we stopped short in Italy for some low level training before the real fun began.

While working with the 173rd Airborne, I was impressed with how well we managed to work together and how quickly we adapted to their way of operating whilst on exercise. As the lone VM, I had the responsibility of ensuring all the quads were kept on the road. A demanding task as the quads were being constantly used and did not like the heat in Morocco. Being apart of the RAL was an experience I will never forget and I had to quickly adapt to the different terrain and heat I was use to back in England, which wasn’t as easy as I had thought.

So far, compared to all the other nations I have worked with, the 173rd Airborne have been the best. The skills and knowledge I have taken away from working with them will stay will me throughout my career and I will use them to further myself. On the return via Italy again, we managed to squeeze in some R&R and had the chance to travel some of the country. Florence was by far the most rememberable place we visited, as it was truly a beautiful place. Moments like these are the reasons I joined the army and I am looking forward to the future exercises and operations within 16X, working with different nations and seeing more of the world.

Scribe: Cpl Broom, Class 1 Armourer

Ex SWIFT RESPONSE 21 begun with a flight into North Carolina – Fort Bragg, the home of the 82nd Airborne Division. Greeted by our US Airborne counterparts, we started the initial week with an intense ground training package which followed the similar structure to the British. This included how to fit equipment, exit drills, flight swing lessons and flight tower practice. The following week: ‘Jump week’ involved x3 descents at 1000ft from a C-17 onto Holland drop zone within Fort Bragg. The jumps were successful with no major injuries, despite a handful of Paratroopers landing in the surrounding trees on the DZ. During quiet periods I would head to the armouries and repair any faults the US had on their weapons, focusing on the Company’s we were deploying with and building relations within the Platoons. I integrated closely with the 1-508 Sniper/Patrol Platoon and helped repair most of their equipment. Subsequently, I was offered to take part in the day shooting with them. 6 hours, 100 rounds and plenty of dits later resulted in 1st of 4 classic American Company smokers.

We finished our time in North Carolina with an 8-mile US led march and shoot, partnering up with an American for the competition. It is safe to say myself and many others from 2 PARA carried our partners around for the entirety of the course. At the end I was presented with the US Airborne certificate and blood wings. Next stop was preparing for our joint force insertion into Estonia.

We emplaned onto x9 C-17s with over 600 Paratroopers from 16X and began a 13-hour flight to Estonia. Stand up fit equipment was called 2 hours before P hour. This is where we conducted a round

In front of the Duomo, Florence

robin for all para kit. First pass was at 1900 hours resulting in a 20+ man sim stick night insertion, landing and deploying straight into a Joint Force Exercise. This consisted of joint Section attacks, building clearances and elements of both nations providing Support Company fire suppression. The exercise concluded a few days later with the remaining days before departure spent conducting partnered live fire range packages. A thoroughly enjoyable deployment which provided an excellent base for B Coy’s further training serials in the run up to AMBG take over.

Op FORTIS

Scribe: Cfn Thapa, Class 2 VM

During Op FORTISs I was attached to Support Company as the Vehicle Mechanic. Having already been attached with the Sp Coy in the past on Ex WESSEX STORM, I was fully aware of my responsibilities and the problems that could arise. As the lone VM within Sp Coy I was embedded into Anti tanks (AtKs) but was still on call to repair and assist Machine Guns (MMGs) and Patrols RWMIKs when required.

Op FORTIS was held in Jordan and the operation was led by A Company while Sp Coy provided fire support for the Coy before heading to Jordan, we flew to Cyprus where we stayed for two weeks. During my time in Cyprus, A and Sp Coy’s carried out various Rehearsal Of Concept (ROC) drills in order to get ready for Jordan

and within the first few days I had my first big job; a clutch change. Fortunately, my boss WO2 (AQMS) Rose was deployed with me and instead of sending the vehicle back for 2nd line work we carried out the clutch change ourselves. With the vehicle breaking down out on the area it was towed back to the camp where we had a bit of hard standing. Having done a few clutches already, I was confident in getting it done but knew it was going to be long and gruelling experience as we needed to repair the clutch throughout the night into the early hours of the morning. With resources in scant supply and the usual methods of clutch replacement not an option it was an excellent opportunity to carry out a repair in a very different way.

The next phase was split into A Coy, SP Coy and Atts and Dets who were CR trained and parachuted into Jordan and the remainder including myself arrived in a Hercules aircraft on a Rapid Air Landing (RAL). Once the tactical action had finished the BG moved to a camp in the North of the country where we stayed for a few days conducting some equipment repairs in preparation for the 300 km move South to a battle camp named QA2.

Due to limitations on internal air load, 2 PARA’s RWMIK’s were left behind in Cyprus which meant Sp Coy would be required to loan some RWMIK’s from 3 PARA (conducting Ex OLIVE GROVE). Shortly after leaving on route to our second home in Jordan with our tired old fleet the problems started. In the heat of the day, sometimes in the mid 40’s the RWMIK’s just couldn’t take the heat. With two overheating RWMIK’s it was decided to cannibalise to make a good one with the other requiring a head gasket change and subsequent recovery.

It was early dawn when we departed the QA2 camp and deployed out onto the training area with AtKs where we spent several days and nights carrying out various drills including close recce and cover for A Coy. After working through the kinks, the vehicles were surprisingly reliable, and I had no real issues continually managing them through their various stages of the exercises.

After the exercise phase was complete, we drove down to Camp TITTIN, a USMC camp. Again, overheating issues were the order of the day, resulting in another head gasket failure. This time it was one of the BFA’s supporting the aid post. Once we arrived at our destination it became clear we were not going to receive a replacement engine in a timeline that would work for us. With this in mind we chose to replace the cylinder head gasket, something we don’t ever do, even in camp. It was intriguing to see what can be done with some experience and a ‘can do’ attitude and is clearly the sort of repairs that are completed as part of an AMBG deployment. This was a new learning curve for me since I had never carried out this type of task before, made even more difficult by the searing heat, but a thoroughly enjoyable job.

Being embedded within Sp Coy on Op FORTIS was a huge learning curve made so much more enjoyable being emersed by the Fire Support Group (FSG) as one of their own and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough to any VM wanting to experience a new challenge at trade given the opportunity.

Op PITTING - 13-28 August 2021 Readiness

Scribe: Sgt J Besperat, VM Prod Sgt

Having been on readiness since May, it was essential prior to taking over we were ready and fully prepared for any eventuality that could come our way. This meant various kit checks were carried until everyone in the LAD had their bergens packed ready to go. With everyone ready, it would all depend on the skill sets required as to who were the lucky ones to deploy. We also had to ensure we had achieved and could maintain an R1 fleet consisting of 52 vehicles and an R2 fleet consisting of 118 which needed to be kept at 100% and 90% availability respectively. A demanding task for any 0 + 16 LAD consisting of an AQMS, x4 Armourers and x12 VMs. Fortunately, we are also supported by 8 Para Fd Coy with the help of BDSG IBES and 128Fd Coy, from 103Bn REME.

Usually, only one Company Group is stood up at any one time as part of the Air Manoeuvre Battle Group (AMBG) which is part of the Lead Assault Force (LAF) within 16X. However, with the current situation in Afghanistan it was apparent we would need as many soldiers as possible from 16X to deploy at very short notice, as this would be a deployment like no other.

With 2 PARA taking the lead and with a view to deploy CAV’s; Cpl Broom, LCpl Higgins and LCpl Fay and myself were the lucky chosen few to support this Operation from the LAD. Fully prepared but not really knowing what we were walking in to, we received the call and was ready to deploy within 48hrs NTM. Over the two-week period, it was an experience like no other and in that short period of time so much good was achieved in recovering over 15,000 Entitled Personnel (EPs) including members of the British Embassy through to Afghan woman and children.

VM Support

Scribe: LCpl S Higgins, Class 1 VM

In the weeks leading up to Op PITTING we had heard rumours about a potential deployment abroad with the possibility of working on Foxhounds and Civilian Armoured Vehicles (CAV). So, we started preparing our own equipment like tools, STTE and vehicle spares. The closer it got to summer leave the more apparent it became we could very well be deploying to Afghanistan due to the withdrawal of the US Forces. At this point, I still didn’t know if we would actually be going or who would be going but we were prepared just in case.

When the time finally came and the code word was used to call us back into work, even though we were fully prepared it was extremely quick before we were on that coach from Colchester to South Cerny. When we arrived in Dubai and before the flight into Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) we still had no real idea what we were walking into. All we knew was what we were seeing on social media and that the Taliban were starting to take over Kabul city. Once we landed it was apparent to me it wasn’t going to be anything like the Op TORAL that I had done the year before with 2 PARA. The accommodation was tent city, no LAD workshop, no spare tools, no spare parts, and no confirmed fleet of vehicles to maintain. All the tools and vehicle’s that we prepared weren’t coming anytime soon

and we only had a limited number of CAV’s in HKIA that were ours to use but we needed more for many different tasks. This meant we had to ‘acquire’ vehicles and tools around HKIA via other means.

During the first few days I found an old, abandoned maintenance vehicle that had a toolbox full of old tools which we could make use of for small VM tasks. Vehicle’s that we had found left abandoned behind by people fleeing Afghanistan, we would then take for ourselves by either hotwiring or removing the barrel locks from the ignition as the keys were missing. Acquiring these vehicles was very important as they were used to supply water and rations, cleaning and medical supplies forward to the different various locations. The vehicles that had more than 5 seats were used to carry the civilians who were trying to flee to safety. They would be initially processed from the Baron hotel which was just outside the airport and brought to various different holding areas before flying to safety.

Every day we were set different tasks and with the fleet in good order most of the tasks had nothing to do with trade, so I had to use all the skills and experience I’ve learned throughout my career to help me complete them. Some days I could be transporting entitled personnel from one location to the next and then the next day I could be denying weapons, vehicles and various other pieces of equipment.

Op PITTING was definitely an experience I will never forget, and I don’t think I’ll do anything like it again in my career. However, I am extremely proud of the small but significant part that I played in the operation.

CAV Driver / VM Support

Scribe: LCpl J Fay, Class 2 VM

Before deploying on Op PITTING, I was sent to DST Leconfield to get familiarised on the Civilian Armoured Vehicle (CAV). A Toyota Land Cruiser by design but heavily modified, with different variants of it but with the main purpose of it being armoured so they can withstand various blasts and ballistics. My main role in HKIA was to drive supplies such as rations and water, medical supplies, and baby food to the Afghan people. This was to ensure we were doing our best to supply them with what they needed from the moment they first arrived at the Baron Hotel to the various holding areas until they were processed and eventually on a flight out of Afghanistan. The CAVs proved to be a great piece of equipment with rarely any issues to keep them moving throughout the two-week deployment and they served a great purpose transporting those in need and supplying the essentials needed to survive.