Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Talk Wrench]

Served in Iraq and Afghanistan?

It's clear that if you are a Goater, during the last 15 years, you have been involved in the two conflicts.

What are your own personal stories of the places. Are they good or bad memories?

One of my own poignant memories was watching the build up to GW2 with aircraft carriers and ships of all sizes descending on Limassol bay and upon the Akrotiri Mole itself. I remember the Royal Engineers building a fuel pipeline from the main base to the mole in anticipation of things to come as well as helicopters flying in and out to resupply the ships as well as building up the coalition Air Forces on the station.

Then there was the tent city which was built to accomodate the thousands of coalition forces who were going to make the station there home for the next 8 months.

A lot of the permie singlies were moved into empty MQ's and the vacant singly rooms were fitted with bunk beds to take in the influx of RAF and Army reinforcements. A time of chaos and a time of knowing anticipation.

And then one night, the aircraft took off. Tankers went first, fast jets joined them thereafter and Blackhawks patrolled the skies. The attacks had begun.

 

[Kryten]

Based at a secret location in the desert in GW2, and about 2 or 3 days in we were hit by this almighty sandstorm...it was so powerful that the Mess tent was ripped apart and one of the navs got clonked by a falling TV...I remember one of our guys trying to take laundry down to the laundry tent and being unable to walk - the wind was that powerful.

Also remember going for a late brekkie at Basrah - this was when there was a mess tent rather than the aircon feeder tent that was et up later - and being told that we could only have 2 compo sausages per individual despite the fact that a) it was 0830ish and b) they had cooked enough sausages to feed a small army. We then sat and watched as the guy behind the servery threw them all in the bin.....

 

[Harry B'Stard]

During GW II I was at Coltishall. As the Turkish had decided not to get involved, everything came home from Incirlik overnight. We were primed to head out and occupy a recently captured airfield and begin ops. However, shortly afterwards the Americans rolled into Baghdad and it was all over.

During the following occupation period my skills were apparently more needed in various AMF's and teaching posts I filled... No matter how many times that I asked.

With Afghan I also asked a number of times, but apparently the fact I'd been to the Falklands meant that I was at the bottom of the list for deployments.

So I'm a desert dodger by proxy... However, since leaving I've worked in such dangerous places as Angola, Congo and Montrose!

HTB

 

[busby1971]

My most vivid memory of GW2 was kitesurfing on ladies mile with the black hawks and Black Stallions flying back and forth behind the kite.

Then having volunteered for Afghan after my Tampa det was cancelled, and having even started my prep this too was cancelled as they couldn't let me go.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Ahhh GW 2, my last foray with her majesty's airforce before I decided enough was enough. I was sent on an instructor supervisors course at Halton, travelled down the evening before and checked in the mess as you do and retired to the bar for a medicinal one. There I met an old colleague from Wittering who was on a different course and when we got chatting he told me he was posted to Akrotiri in a couple of months, finally getting the posting he'd wanted when I'd got the same several years before. We passed the time then toddled off to our beds.
45 mins into the course intro the following day I'm hoicked out by the OC and told to get back to Cosford sharpish as they'd received a assignment order for me for Op Telic. Bugger, CT'd after 45 mins, has to be some sort of record.
Back I Cosford I'm given the assignment order by the lass in PSF....CP2 Post Eng1. I guess the Eng bit is a engineers post of some sort, but whats the CP bit I asks?
Can't tell you chief, says the PSF lass.
Why not?
Its secret, gulf states have agreed to take a certain number of our personnel but we're not allowed to say which one is which.
Rrrrrright OK. What about this kit list, can you give me a clue. Do I favour deserty type stuff or mix and match with stuff for cooler climes? Give me a hint, help me out there.
Can't say, sorry. But you've got IDT booked for Weds and you need to zero a weapon.
Ahhh, so I need a weapon where I'm going.
Errrr, no you're to zero it and it stays in the armoury here.
What the absolute fcuk is the point of that? So if I later need it its going to be FEDEX'd out to me or something?
Sorry chief, just doing what it says on the checksheet.
Yeah, yeah, not your fault etc etc.
Oh, and you need to pick up 72 hours worth of rat packs when you get your kit.
Okay, I dread to ask, but why?
In case you end up holding at Hullavington, there's no catering there.
Of course, how stupid of me not to think of that.

Now, everyone including the cleaners cat appears to know that CP2 is Akrotiri. Everyone knows, and I mean everyone. So I go with the cleaners cat and discard stuff I don't believe I need for Akrotiri. 48 hrs later this proves to be the correct decision as I'm sat in the reception shed at Akrotiri having just had it finally confirmed that this is indeed CP2. My kit choice turned out to be a lot better than the copper who had also travelled with me and had been reliably informed he was going all the way into theatre so had literally packed one pair of civvy shorts and some sandals besides his uniform only to be told Cyprus was the end of his trip. Bugger.

Nobody is there to greet myself and another chief from Brize who appears to have the same assignment order as me (except he is Eng2) so we head for the mess bar to decide our strategy. We guess between us that we been given eng ops posts but have no other clues. We fleetingly consider saying fcuk all and seeing if someone actually realises we are there and comes to find us, but a sense of responsibility pervades and so I ring up eng ops the number for which I had somehow remembered from my own Cyprus tour a decade before and it turns out that yes, they had been waiting for some augmentees and pretty soon the warrant and an eng ops controller pitches up to greet us.
The job was actually bloody taxing and interesting with 35 KC135 tankers operating from the place but not enough parking for them all to be on the deck at the same time! What did p1ss me off was that ops continued to work their peace-time shifts of 2 days, 2 night, 4 off and that included the augmentees. Great for the lads who were permies and had their wives and kids to go and spend time with on the 4 days off, but a little boring for us augmentees on a unit jam packed with people and every facility full to the rafters. Also a little jack to continue your peacetime shifts and demand augmentees to come and cover so you can keep it going IMHO. But, on the other hand, if you're going to go OOA during a conflict theres a lot of folka got a lot worse than 4 months in Cyprus.

Anyhoo, to round off, the lad I'd met in the bar at Halton the night before my course arrived while I was there and to say he was somewhat surprised when I pitched up at his arrival kebab was an understatement.