alpha company

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ALPHA COMPANY 4 0 TSU NES

‘THE SAINTS’

Dear Family, Friends and Loved ones of Alpha Company, As I write this the ‘Saints’ are well established in their new home at HMS PRICE. For those of you concerned that their Marine is living in an isolated patrol base, under daily attack and surrounded by cunning Taleban, please be assured that is not the case! PRICE is a very large, well protected and comfortable camp, an ideal place for the lads to relax after being on the ground. There is Wi-Fi available in the accommodation (so no excuse to not answer your emails!), a decent gym and excellent, plentiful food. The tempo so far has been steady, the Coy providing support at multiple (about 15 guys) and troop (about 30) level, with tasks focusing on force protection and providing a quick reaction force. Morale amongst the boys remains high, despite the two tragic incidents which have resulted in the loss of four comrades. Sgt Nige Quarman’s multiple provided valuable support to Charlie Coy following the deaths of Cpls Dave O’Connor and Channing Day; and following the loss of Lt Ed Drummond-Baxter and LCpl Siddhanta Kunwar, multiples led by Capts Tom Huckle and Dom Weldon, Sgt Marc McKinley and Cpl ‘Taff’ Francis were involved in trying to detain the perpetrator of the attack. Currently the Gurkhas are being supported by Capt Nick Freeman’s

multiple, ably assisted by Cpl Ash Hore. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the fallen brave.

Alpha Company arrived in Afghanistan after twelve months of Mission Specific Training, on a dark, chilly Tuesday morning. Bleary eyed and squinting at our new surroundings of Camp

Bastion, we were quickly ushered onto transport and taken to our temporary accommodation, where a seven day induction awaited us. This ranged from live firing, numerous operational

We are yet to deploy on the ground as a whole Coy, but rest assured that when we do, it will be on our terms, at a time and place which greatly disadvantages the insurgent and in numbers that will discourage a contest. In a real sign of campaign progress, our operations must now be planned alongside our Afghan counterparts and will focus on the areas that really matter to them – we will only be used in a precise and judicious manner. Maj Fraser Allan RM

lectures and Counter- IED training to remove any last cobwebs before we hit the ground. You will be glad to know we received a very inspiring report from the staff there for our competence for the job, which has given us the confidence needed for the coming months. The living space at Bastion was cramped but to ease the burden, Mne Malpass in the FSG tent decided that sleeping outside would solve this issue and that it would also condition him quicker to the environment (as long as the camel spiders didn’t get him first!).

After a long and rewarding week, we flew forward to HMS PRICE, our base for the next six months. Home to around two hundred Bootnecks, Mohican sporting Bosnians and Viking Danes we settled in very quickly. The accommodation is incredibly comfortable (7 man pods which are air-conditioned), the food is better than back home (steak every night) and 2 Troop have their very own volleyball team (average at best). The temperature ranges between 2534° but as it gets nearer to winter the winds will pick up and eventually the rain will arrive. Hazards at night have so far proved to be a problem for 1 and 3 troop, 2 troop are

eating enough carrots obviously and not suffering in the small hours; lighting has yet to reach the whole of the camp and walking from the bright lights of the galley or briefing room to the pitch darkness of outside can cause momentary night blindness. So far there have been two victims of this unfortunate phenomenon, LCpl Clanachan and Capt Huckle. After a particularly enjoyable phone call home, LCpl Clanachan was skipping with glee back to the accommodation when he managed to trip on a piece of matting and suffer a slightly bruised forearm and not the broken arm initially diagnosed, which resulted in him being flown all the way back to Camp Bastion. Capt Huckle somewhat spectacularly managed to miss a concrete culvert wall as he was walking over to brief his men and completed a full 360° somersault before falling a good few feet into the ditch, using his face to cushion the landing. His men gave him a 9.2 for effort but a 2.7 for technique. With regards to the work and the reason we find ourselves out here, the Company has been used in a variety of roles so far, which have been exciting and diverse. In our position as an Operations Company, we can be tasked at a moments notice in response to events that happen on the ground. This has so far ranged from VIP and shura protection to clearance patrols of the green zone. Everyone has settled in fine and is enjoying life in a job they have been training to do for the last year. We look forward to updating you on our goings on next month and keep sending the welfare packages, they keep morale high!

Jack Pitts-Caton 21 years old, 2 years in the Corps, my first tour and so far so good. Been waiting the best part of 12 months of MST and now I’m finally here! Settled in well and have been on the ground briefly. Still hot but looking forward to winter. So far not missing home too much and hope to make the most of my time here before R&R. Kyle Banner Hi guys. Everything is alright. The food is essence, see you all soon, Kyle x Sam Cherry To everyone back home. All settled in now, it’s like being on holiday. Sun, sand, air conditioning and TV. Hope you’re all well. Lots of love, Sam x Ben Cottrell Hi everyone, life’s not too bad out here; hope everything is good at home. Lots of love x Mike Doherty Hi to all back at home. All is well here. Hope all is well back there. Lots of love x Marlon Butcher I am 25 years old and this is my first time in Afghanistan. I am based at HMS PRICE. HMS PRICE is very good with great food and internet access. So far I have only been on the ground once. I hope the Operations will pick up as it will be good to get more time on the ground. Jonathan Latimer Hello, hope you’re all well. Martin O’Grady Been catching up on last minute Jackal training, making sure everything is ready for future taskings. Sam White HMS PRICE is a good place to be based for operations, as it has the facilities for us to properly relax.

The food is good as are the grots. Shame about the company though…..not. The best past time is cards, so we need more please. Neil Swanson Greetings from the ‘Stan. Doubt thou the stars are fire. Doubt thou

the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar. But never doubt my love Hamlet. I love you all. A Troop Sgt So far Team Alpha remains on a knife-edge awaiting operations. Elements have scattered far and wide to outlying stations, having packed in a rush. Capt Nick Freeman now finds himself an honouree Ghurkha with no tabs left. The excitement of the other night has died down - a possible helicopter mission at night to rescue the Yank SF! To quote the OC “That would have been interesting.” Ads Seaney has managed to take on all the admin without too much hair loss. However, there seems to be a lot of ‘For a Soldier’ packages in his bed space (i.e. comfort eating). CSgt Richie ‘The Bronze God’ Hayden has assumed the role of Coy PTI. Monday is Company PT day, when he has a job to do, cheers! The Troop Sergeants still maintain the sanity of the

Company and have already burnt out two kettles. Greg Bryant Wildlife here is impressive, from massive ants, great cormorants, camel spiders, grubby mice and overloaded mules. It’s nails to survive out here, just like 40! Kurt Gledhill I’m sound as you know. Best bit so far was when Andy Bartlett fell in an irrigation ditch! Laters Gledders. James Burdis Just want to say Hi to all my family in Dorset. All is well and looking forward to coming home for R&R. Andy Mort To everyone back home, all is going well and I am looking forward to seeing you all when I get back. Miss you more everyday. Andy x James Caisley To Stephanie Caisley. My eye is healing fine. Happy first Anniversary. Love James x Callum Harrison It’s good to get away from the UK and actually do the job we have been training to do. The accommodation is good and we have been lucky with being based on a large camp. The food is excellent and having some good times with the lads. I have learnt a lot about the people that live in this country and their culture. Ryan O’Regan Being on Herrick 17 is a welcomed change to Herrick 12. Wi-Fi, decent scran, AC in the tents and a good dream make this tour a hell of a lot easier. Although, I am looking forward to going home for Xmas. Matt Vickers After arriving early at Bastion for some specialised training the rest of the Company arrived to go through RSOI. Once completed we all flew forward to HMS PRICE. From listening to the lads who have been on previous Herricks I have been amazed at how good

the facilities are here. I’ve also been back to Bastion on a Jackal drivers course which I enjoyed. Robbie Hodder Life at HMS PRICE has so far been good on Herrick 17. We have got good food and great training facilities to keep our skills and drills up to scratch. Mathew Cook Since moving from Bastion to HMS PRICE, I’ve enjoyed furthering my language training with the locals and ALP. Life at PRICE is good. The accommodation is great and so is the food. I’ve learned a lot of the stuff I missed while I was away during MST. Chris Lambert Living the dream at HMS PRICE, doing training serials and some range time. Just preparing for Ops now. The accommodation and scran are good and can’t complain about anything. Looking forward to the next five months as well as getting some time off to spend at home.

Rob O’Connor HMS PRICE, I can’t complain about anything really. Settled into a good routine and squared our vehicles away at last. Looking forward to R&R. Tom Hunt We arrived at HMS PRICE and we were pleasantly surprised at the living accommodation. It is a massive step up from the last tour to say the least. We are maintaining our edge through training serials in between Ops and everyone’s morale is high.

Colin Amyot HMS PRICE is quite cushy. Easy access to internet and phones. I am very hopeful things will pick up and we will get to go on the ground more. Being on HMS PRICE is not much more different than being on Norton Manor Camp. The food is outstanding!

Pat Wall The Company had a BBQ organised by G man. There was a volleyball competition in which the mighty FSG made constant improvement. The food was awesome. All in all a good day, good effort G man! David Malpass HMS PRICE is good. It has amazing scran, training facilities and accommodation. It is very quiet at the minute, hopefully things will pick up. Joseph Branczik Everything is going well. Volleyball skills are improving daily and the weather is way too hot for .

4 0 TSU NES

November. Wish I could be allowed to work on my moustache however. Oliver Chivers It rained one day but mostly it has been sunny. The food is fine. Everything is fine. Tom Pottage Been here a month and managed to join the prestigious Volleyball team. Still attempting my tan and a failing miserably. James Keenan Jimmy is 2 Troop’s volleyball team captain and is enjoying his time in Afghanistan. James Beevor Jam is 2i/c on the volleyball court so lots of skills and drills to master. The weather is awesome. David Brennan All is well in Alpha Company. Morale is high and the lads are happy to being doing the job they are trained to do. The weather is good, no complaints there. We have mastered the game of volleyball. 2 Troop in particular are smashing everyone but then again that’s nothing new. Liam Bounsall Good to be out here doing the job we have spent a year training to do. Got a good set up, great scran and good banter with a hoofing bunch of blokes. See you all in April.