One of the units currently deployed as part of 52 Brigade is Right Flank 1st Battalion Scots Guards, the first unit in Afghanistan to use the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicles on a major deployment. The introduction of this vehicle is credited with enabling the Guards to really get out into the communities safely, maintain the cleared areas and provide reassurance to the local population.
Major Chris Bell, Officer Commanding Right Flank Scots Guards, explained how the work of his troops in clearing ground has presented opportunities for reconstruction:
"Civilians are now moving back into the villages and farms in ever increasing numbers. They are starting to grow crops again and are getting back to normality. This is fantastic to see and we will do our very best to ensure and protect so this may continue."
See 'Warriors give Taliban a pasting' in Related News >>> for more information on how the Warrior Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicles have played a huge part in enabling this progress.
Reflecting on the many patrols he has now undertaken, Warrior Platoon Commander, Captain Peter Mann Scots Guards, added:
"In the last couple of weeks we have seen more and more locals returning to the area, and this is always good to see. It allows us the ability to build a good relationship with the locals and additionally gain some good intelligence information for future patrols.
"I feel we are doing a fantastic job, locals are happy to see us here, as they are now able to use their land again, as they have been prevented from doing this by the Taliban for two to three years. I think it is important that we now sustain this and keep the pressure on in the right places, whilst building confidence elsewhere."
52 Infantry Brigade Commander Brigadier Andrew Mackay assumed control of Task Force Helmand on 10 October 2007. Speaking about the latest progress in the province he said:
"We are concentrating our efforts towards a balance between offensive operations we know are required to counter the Taliban and the enemy threat, against those operations we know will make the difference in the medium to long term; such as the reconstruction and development, bringing on the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, that is the balance we have to achieve here. What I'd like to be able to do is a lot more of the latter than the former.
"There are lots of areas where we can show progress has and will be made. What we are trying to achieve here, is that if we clear an area of enemy, we will hold that area, and if we hold that area, we will build on that area. Nothing dashes expectations of the local population more than if we just clear, promise and then don't deliver. It's all about delivering on expectations, and that's fundamentally one of security, reconstruction and development, and addressing some of the poverty that exists here in Helmand.
"The Warrior has been performing superbly, its availability, its reach, its manoeuvre, all make a huge difference on a large area. We can hold 100 plus blokes in the back of those vehicles and they all disembark, get into villages and speak to the local population, do the reassurance, obtain the information and provide that level of security the population are looking for. And of course being Scots Guards, they come with a great sense of humour."