Royal Marines Band
Commando Logistics Regiment - Op Herrick 9

Adjutant Major J Burcham BMus(Hons) MMus(Perf) AMusTCL Royal Marines
Bandmaster BdCSgt S Bacon RM

 

Introduction

After nearly a year of pre-deployment training and a short spell back in our respective bands, the Op Herrick 9 “B Team” of bandies were ready to flick the go switch and punch out to Afghanistan, well… almost. We had to get there first.

The initial flight from RAF Brize Norton to Kandahar had almost reached its destination when it about turned approximately seven hours into the flight. This was due to a malfunction in the defence systems… safe! So, back to Brize it was for an overnight stay. The second flight teased us even more by attempting to land three times at Kandahar only to be redirected to Muscat in Oman because of inclement weather. We took off a day and a half later and successfully touched down at our destination, three times a charm indeed!

The 'B' Team in the air

As if that wasn’t enough, getting from Kandahar to Camp Bastion was even more of an epic. So much so that I have genuinely lost count of how many times I got on a Hercules and then alighted it, yet again due to poor weather and other complications. If only pusser issued air miles, we’d have been quids in.

Eventually we caught a flight to Bastion. Prior to this we said our goodbyes to the “lucky” few who would be travelling elsewhere. Musn Michelle Andrews was thrown somewhat of a fastball when we first arrived in Kandahar and, as memory serves; she began work within 24 hours of landing there. Musns Richard Sharp, Darren Walton and Georgina Robertson went on to the country’s capital, Kabul to assist the Medical centre there by way of driving and commanding the Saxon armoured vehicle.

Once we had finally arrived at Camp Bastion we were warmly greeted by and reunited with our “oppos” who were sporting warm, welcoming smiles, some of which were masked by facial hair that would easily put the likes of vintage cricketer Merv Hughes and the Chuckle Brothers to shame. Nevertheless they were (presumably) glad to see our pasty white faces as that signified their imminent departure. Due to our impromptu trans-global excursion the hand-over time frame had been shortened quite considerably, so, in true Bandy fashion it was a case of straight in, no rolls, well… sort of. In all fairness we did receive a comprehensive albeit brief acquaint of the various duties that were required of us which, as you know, were working as drivers, radio operators and casualty handlers.

Filling MT Spaces

BdCSgt Jos Tiley andCpl Bug Stevo Stevenson on patrol

Musn Andy Hall and I were selected to work in MT Troop under the management and watchful eye of BdCSgt Jos Tiley who, straight away, appointed me Troop “Fun-Meister”. To this day I’m still trying to figure out why!? Assisting Jos is Cpl Bug Graham “Stevo” Stephenson who was given the “enviable” task of collating and managing all the vehicle documentation and accompanying paperwork, of which there was far too much. First and foremost was a guided tour of our new environment so, in order to get our bearings we had the privilege of being chauffeured around Bastion Joint Operating Base, Camps 1 and 2, by Bug Stew Vyse. He gladly showed us the all the necessary pick up/drop off points that would become an everyday occurrence in our work routine as well as the NAAFIs, coffee shops, PXs and of course, “Scully’s HESCO”. One of the duties as an MT driver is the disposal of sensitive documentation by way of burning it in a pit situated by the perimeter fencing. On one particular trip, as myself and Stew were watching the documents go up in flames a flare went off. Of course, me being new to the area and very much wet behind the ears I assumed it was IDF (indirect fire) and went to ground much to Bug Vyse’s enjoyment. Good drills if you ask me.

Our predecessors were lucky enough to have had a qualified VM (Vehicle Mechanic) at hand. We don’t, so on several occasions Bandy has had to step into the breach, don overalls, grab a handful of tools and rectify whatever fault had occurred to the vehicle we were responsible for. To be honest though, it only got as technical as changing a bulb or a wheel; anything else was dealt with by the real mechanics at ES squadron who were always very accommodating and willing to help. Because our fleet of vehicles facilitates UK Joint Force Med. Group they are classed as a priority and therefore seen to immediately. Pretty handy when you’ve lost a set of Land Rover keys… whoops! As always work continues in MT making sure the right personnel and packages get to the right destination at the right time. Whether it be dropping off a Colonel at the Rotary flight line to catch a Chinook to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Edinburgh or nipping over to Bastion 2 for a “stores run” (AKA a look round the Danish PX and a coffee), it's all in a day's “work” in the world of Motor Transport.

Combat Logistics Patrols (CLP)

BdCSgt Jos Tiley, Cpl Bug Stevo Stevenson and Cpl 'H' Henwood with their Tempest Vehicle

As the tour continues so does the requirement to re-supply the FOBs and Patrol Bases (PB) by way of vehicle convoys or CLPs. Another duty within MT troop is to provide drivers for the ambulance used on these operations. The vehicle in question is the Tempest. A 16 tonne, left hand drive, automatic transmission, mine proven beast that bandy has aptly christened the “Pest”. It’s got a very fetching walnut effect dashboard too! The tempest is on loan to UK Joint Force Med Group from the Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team and has been converted to fit a stretcher. Driving “outside the wire” is quite an experience. The ground is undulating, unforgiving and potentially dangerous. Often the vehicle in front disappears out of sight due to all the fine sand that’s been disrupted, making the journey that little bit more “interesting”. Thankfully, of the operations so far in the latter half of the tour, there have been no major incidents, just a wayward Camel and the odd blown tyre. Be under no illusion, changing a wheel on a vehicle of this calibre is a mammoth task, hence its nickname. One wheel weighs approx. 150 Kgs. If you don’t believe me ask Andy Hall; I dropped one on his feet!

BdCSgt Jos Tiley in his Tempest Vehicle during a CLP

Radio Ga Ga

On arriving in Camp Bastion I and two others found out we would be working as signallers in the Command Post (CP) of the UK Joint Force Med Group. I was quite apprehensive as it was a job I’d had no training for but after our hand-over from the first group I was feeling more positive. We started off with four people working a shift pattern, myself, Musn Dave Hernon, Musn Phil Davies and L/Cpl Carl Saunders RM which gave us plenty of time for personal admin, phys and most importantly time to phone home. Unfortunately after a couple of weeks the work force was cut down to three which was hard as we didn’t get much time to do anything. As we were working in the CP tent it meant we were beside a lot of officers. I was a bit worried about working with them at first but in the end they were really friendly and very funny at times which made the hours fly by, especially when there was a bit of down time. One of our main jobs was to keep in touch with the ambulance drivers via the radio so that if a casualty was to arrive we would be able to tell the watchkeeper where and how many ambulances were available, quite a task when the radios started playing up. As well as having communication with ambulance troop one of our other radios was linked directly to troops on the ground. Most of the time it was irrelevant to us but now and again we would get a 9 liner, which is a casualty report, over the radio before it would come up on the watchkeeper’s computer; this would allow the watchkeeper to warn ambulance troop and the hospital in plenty time. Our job was then to transfer the information from the radio onto a white board so that the operations officer would be able to see exactly what was coming in. Over the weeks that we have been here my intake of tea has risen dramatically thanks to Sgt Bug Jim Butler who introduced dice throwing to decide who makes the wets. I made my fair share but it was always funny and a bit of a morale booster when one of the officers threw a snake eyes (double one) which meant they had to make the wets all day whenever anyone wanted one. A book of quotations was kept throughout the tour also, documenting people’s slips of the tongue, the odd faux pas and just down right stupid statements.

Contributors to this publication include Sgt Bug Jim Butler, Musn Pete Dolby and myself! As I write this I am now part of MT troop and even though I enjoyed my time in Sigs I am enjoying working and experiencing another side to this deployment.

Musn Ellie Wilson

Music

As always the band are ready, willing and able to provide an operational soundtrack out in theatre, whether it be for the sake of lifting morale or the sombre occasion of the repatriation ceremony. Cpl Bug’s Dan Johnson and ‘Stevo’ Stephenson took over the sobering yet honourable duty of playing Last Post and Reveille at the Vigils and Repatriations within Bastion and also outside the wire at Shoraback. To their credit they have received nothing but praise for their outstanding musicianship and professionalism, courtesy of the COs and RSMs from the regiments and units that have been most unfortunate in losing someone. The resident rock band, A.W.O.L. have managed to perform three times during the tour. Their debut gig was for the Danish contingent in Bastion 2 and was so well received they were asked back again. The final performance, outside the NAAFI in Bastion 1 saw them raise in excess of $150 for Help for Heroes. A.W.O.L. also managed to adopt a tour manager in the guise of Cpl. “H” Henwood of the Queen's Dragoon Guards; the very same gentleman who trained us bandies to drive the Tempest. A debt of thanks must go to “H”. He turned out to be quite an asset to the band with his “Del Boy” like business acumen and gift of the gab. Despite the band's popularity they would not perform again for the rest of the tour because shortly after the last gig the instruments were packed away ready to be shipped back to Britain. Also, Bassist Musn Phil Davies managed to trap his fingers in the folding steps of a Battle Field Ambulance (BFA) leaving them immobile and a rather unsavoury colour.

The Rock Band A.W.O.L set out on their 'world tour'

Summary

The Band Service ranks on Op. Herick 9 B may be back in Britain by the time this article is published but from our perspective we are coming to the end of the tour and there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m sure we’re all eagerly anticipating our decompression package in Cyprus and even more so, getting back home to our nearest and dearest. Many, many thanks to you all for your blueys and welfare packages; they were very much appreciated. I’m pretty adamant that a record amount of Haribo was consumed during the tour; it’s a good job there’s a dental department in Camp Bastion. See you all on Horse Guards; we’ll be the ones spinning dits and sporting shiny new gongs. End of message, end of broadcast.

The Author (Musn Andy Platt) off road during the CLP

 

 

Last updated September 2009