First resupply convoy of Op MOSHTARAK delivers
22 Feb 10
The first Combat Logistic Patrol (CLP) of Op MOSHTARAK, made up of 35 vehicles, has delivered vital heavy equipment and supplies, which could not be airlifted, to troops on the front line.
Private Pancaj Gurung, of 10 The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, oversees the unloading of a vehicle
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
As Op MOSHTARAK moves into its next phase, the supply routes are being opened up so heavy equipment and other vital supplies can be brought in by road, leaving helicopters free to be used for other tasks.
The first CLP set out from Camp Bastion on 18 February 2010 bound for Shahid 11 miles (18km) away and, having successfully delivered the equipment, returned to Camp Bastion the same day.
The CLP Commander, Major Patch Reehal, 10 The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, was very pleased with progress so far. He said:
"There was a real and credible threat to the convoy and the soldiers have worked really hard to pull it out of the bag. But it is not over yet. This is the first of many."
The Commanding Officer of 10 The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Martin Moore, was right on the front line with his troops as the CLP reached its destination. He said:
"Everyone has been raring to go and we have been stood by waiting to get on with it, but it was important for conditions to be right with the local leaders before we started with the CLP.
"All the troops are really well drilled in this type of op, so in many ways it is just another task, but it does feel special to be part of something so big."
Speaking about the success of the patrol, he added:
"The patrol got through very well, we were well protected and the locals there were very pleased to see us. We got through to our offload points and now we're starting to offload not just the supplies but also the stores to enable the coalition forces to build the bases. And that's quite symbolic because they're going to stay there and then protect the population."
The troops had been waiting for five days for the order to go.
Corporal Lucy Marrow, who is based in Camp Bastion with 33 Field Hospital, was a medic on the convoy and this was her twelfth CLP. She said:
The huge convoy of vehicles of the Combat Logistic Patrol
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"Op MOSHTARAK is a massive op and so it does feel special to be part of it, but in many ways it is just another op for me.
"The hardest part was the waiting. We had been stood by for five days waiting to go on the op. At one point we were all standing by our vehicles ready to go and expecting to go when we got stood down at 9pm only to be back again at 4am the next morning ready to go again. We were all really glad to finally be off on the op."
Corporal of Horse Daniel Abbott, Household Cavalry, whose job was to call in air support if the convoy was attacked, thought it had all gone really well. He said:
"So far as Op MOSHTARAK is going - it all seems to have gone pretty well, especially given what it had been built up to be. As far as I am concerned a quiet day is a good day."