Grenadier Guards see tangible success in Nad e-Ali

"It is hard to believe that the Grenadier Guards have now been in place and responsible for Battle Group Centre South for over three months. The time has passed quickly and we are now into 2010, and the prospect of another three months improving the area of operations fills us all with a certain sense of duty.

"The transformation since our arrival has been heart-warming. There has been tangible success within our Area of Operations [AO] which I will highlight during this report; however, success in Afghanistan comes at a cost, and we have lost a number of men to insurgent activity and other incidents.

"The situation within the Nad e-Ali district has improved immensely. The ever-developing 'inkspot zone of security' has been pushed out further than was imagined. New checkpoints manned by the Battle Group but also by both the ANP [Afghan National Police] and the ANA [Afghan National Army] have been established across the AO. This has given the local Afghan people a greater sense of safety and proved to them that ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] and Afghan forces are here for the long term.

"These 'protected communities' are the initial steps to hopefully returning the local community to the life they had pre-Taliban. Being able to patrol more freely throughout the 'Green Zone' and access the villages or 'kalays' has meant that the District Governor, Habibullah, has been able to address the people by conducting a number of 'shuras'.

"During these meetings with the local elders he has explained the opportunities that can be achieved in their areas following the arrival of the ISAF and ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces]. He has encouraged them to engage with him in order to take advantage of employment and economic development, neither of which had been available during the reign of the insurgents.

"To further add to the regeneration of the local communities, a 'wakil' - spokesperson - for each kalay has been appointed and will sit in as part of the Community Development Council and liaise directly with the District Governor, who in turn will approach the government with any grievances or issues.

"The reconstruction and development that has been carried out over the last three months has been nothing short of monumental. The projects that have been discussed, tendered and built have seen the landscape across the AO change dramatically. A lot of this has taken place within the confines of the District Centre [DC].

"The redevelopment of the commercial zone within the DC is an ongoing project with a new centre for 58 shops and a covered market area being built. The roads around the DC have been improved and are awaiting a further project to tarmac them. New drainage ditches have been put in place and the shops within the existing bazaar have been rebuilt.

"The prospect of a bustling bazaar has encouraged the locals to recommence trade within the surrounding kalays, thus improving the economic growth within. The opening of the 'Friendship Bridge' at the western edge of the Green Zone has greatly improved the transit route for the local Afghans and the displaced community in the desert. It has also meant that these people can now avoid Showal where Taliban 'taxation' and intimidation are endemic.

"Coupled with a secure route down to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, this has meant that once again the prospect for trade routes to reopen has been achieved. The amount of 'traffic' that crosses the bridge on a daily basis has grown steadily over the months, and, as the word gets out about its practicality, we envisage that it will be one of the main thoroughfares within the central Helmand belt.

"Other projects within our AO have been carefully selected by our very busy Military Stabilisation Support Team group based at FOB [Forward Operating Base] Shawqat. These include the rebuilding of the health clinic in Nad e-Ali, the District Governor's new compound, a new mosque, and even a new football pitch, complete with goalposts, for the local children. A lot of these children are now attending the newly-painted school which was formerly Patrol Base [PB] Argyll.

"The ditches throughout the AO have been cleared of all the debris and fauna that has been clogging them up for a number of years, and the sluice gates, which help control the irrigation for the farmers, have been rebuilt. All this rebuilding and construction has been carried out by the local Afghan people themselves in a very busy 'Cash for Works' programme.

"This will continue to increase as we strive forward with progress. The need to have an Afghan face very much at the forefront of anything we do is paramount.

"There has been a lot of reshaping within the Battle Group over the last couple of months. The Estonian Company that was based at PB Pimon has been replaced by their successors and in doing so have moved to PB Wahid in a direct swap with Number 2 Company.

"This move was as part of a strategy to set the conditions for 'Op TOR SHPA'H' - the sweep down through the villages of Zorabad, Baluchan, Kakaran and Noorzo Kalay. These villages have for the past 12 months been a 'free movement zone' for the insurgents who have exploited and oppressed the locals in order to mount attacks on central Nad e-Ali, ANSF and the ISAF.

"The Inkerman Company has remained in PB Shahzad and continued their excellent start to the tour. They have been instrumental in engaging with the local Afghans who in turn have accepted them and what they are trying to achieve within their community. Chah-e Anjir represents a more mature community, a legacy from a monumental US project in the late 1950s, and is very much a blueprint of what we are trying to develop across our AO.

"The Queen's Company has been the focal point for all operations taking place within their own very large AO around Lashkar Gah. This includes the Bolan 'desert' and the Basharan area. The latter has been visited on many occasions by high ranking dignitaries as this area has been described as the model for a counter-insurgency - mainly due to the ISAF and ANSF that operate in that area, but also due to the fact that the insurgents have shaped the conditions for this progress!

"The two multiples (one multiple equals half a platoon, 14 men, and is the basic grouping of infantry in Afghanistan) of Irish Guards attached to the Battle Group have completed their time with Number 2 and the Inkerman Companies. They arrived at very short notice during our PDT [pre-deployment training], settled in very quickly, and deployed with all the gusto and impishness that you would expect from the Micks.

"Their performance during the last three months has been commendable. We wish them well as they prepare for an overseas exercise in Kenya which in turn sets them up for a deployment back to Helmand in September this year with their own battalion.

"The Rifles have been replaced by C (Essex) Company from the Royal Anglians at PB Silab, who continue to develop our southern boundaries, and Blenheim Company, 2 LANCS [2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment], have been replaced by their fellow soldiers from Arnhem Company.

"The OMLT [Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team] has been maintained by Support Company from 2 YORKS [2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment], who have one of the most challenging and rewarding tasks of mentoring the ANA. Whilst they have the specific role of mentoring, we are all partners to the ANSF. Embedded partnering is the way we conduct all our business within the central Helmand belt.

"The 'End State' of an Afghan state policed and run solely by the Afghans is the goal of this campaign and can only be achieved 'by, with and through' the Afghans themselves. There is a way to go yet but progress is definitely being made.

"The Rear Joint Operations Centre continues to be very busy. The R&R [Rest & Recuperation] package has kicked in and is a constant noose around the RAO's [Regimental Administration Officer's] neck as he seeks to ensure that all flights are accounted for and dispatched accordingly. It is very reassuring to know that every avenue has been explored to enable the members from the Battle Group to arrive back in the UK, spend a period of time with their families, and return to duty with the minimum amount of fuss.

"The administrative team back at Bastion has excelled itself. The G4 element [logistics and quartering] is a constant engine that has been working tirelessly to ensure that resupply of essential items and the all important mail reaches all the numerous outstations. The Quartermaster, who would normally be running this chain, has deployed forward to FOB Shawqat to replace the BGLO [Battle Group Liaison Officer], Captain Broad, who was injured by an IED [improvised explosive device] strike. We wish Bernie Broad and the Gurkha soldier injured alongside him a speedy recovery.

"'Courageous restraint' is a phrase easier to say than actually execute, however we are glad to report that although we are at the higher scales of kinetic activity, the judgement shown by all the soldiers on the ground has been exemplary.

"There have been a number of major incidents of engagements with the insurgents. November saw a busy period for Number 2 Company as they were attacked on three consecutive days at Wahid, resulting in over 80 insurgent KIAs [killed in action]. Simultaneously the Recce Platoon were disposing of 16 insurgents on our southern boundary. Since then there have been similar engagements and the Taliban has been greatly reduced in numbers due to the effective targeting and engagement by our Battle Group.

"As aforementioned, the successes within our time here in Helmand have been tinged with sadness. To date we have lost eight men to insurgent actions. In the one incident at the Blue 25 Police Station, a rogue policemen shot dead five members of the Battle Group (including three members from the battalion). A heavy loss indeed. Other members from the Battle Group have suffered loss of limbs due to IED strikes, but they have remained positive about their condition and are looking forward to integrating back with their units on completion of their rehabilitation.

"We have had a number of visits to the Battle Group during the past few months. The main one being that of The Right Honourable David Cameron MP, the Leader of the Opposition. After lunch, Mr Cameron conducted a tour of the local bazaar with the District Governor.

"He spoke to the BBC in the middle of the bazaar outlining his ideas for a better developed community within Afghanistan and also about the sterling job that the ISAF were doing in Helmand. He was escorted around by the Commanding Officer and finished off his visit by taking the time out to speak to the soldiers back in FOB Shawqat.

"The final week of 2009 saw Christmas celebrations throughout the AO. A wide variety of festive participation was taken by the Battle Group. A number of the Patrol Bases had carefully nurtured turkeys throughout the build up to the 25th of December - sadly none of these birds saw the 26th! The New Year came and went - the main activity being a number of outreach shuras being conducted by the District Governor in Zorabad and Noorzo Kalay.

"So as we move into a new decade we reflect on what has been a very busy first three months for the Grenadier Guards Battle Group. The pace of activity coupled with the rate of progress within our AO has been immense. The Battle Group goes from strength to strength.

"The way in which the soldiers have taken to this demanding and dangerous task has been humbling. Their bravery, compassion and sense of humour have formed a rich vein that flows through the Battle Group. All our families and friends back home can be immensely proud of the tremendous job that they are doing in such difficult circumstances.

"The fruits of our efforts are making a dramatic difference to the lives of the Afghan people and that in itself is truly rewarding. The return to a Taliban regime is now no longer an option. ISAF is here for the long term. There is only one way this change is going to go - and that is forward."

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