Father and son together on tour in Afghanistan

It is not unusual for sons, and indeed daughters, to follow in their fathers' footsteps and join the Armed Forces, but few actually get to serve alongside each other on deployment.

However that is the case for Colour Sergeant Spencer Brown and his son, Lance Corporal Josh Brown, who are both members of 2 YORKS and have been posted to Helmand province as part of the 2 YORKS Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) Battle Group.

In Afghanistan, CSgt Brown is the Acting Intelligence Officer based at the 2 YORKS Battle Group headquarters at Camp Tombstone, adjacent to Camp Bastion. He also has responsibilities for mentoring his counterpart in the 3/205 Brigade of the Afghan National Army (ANA), based in nearby Camp Shorabak.

Meanwhile, son Josh is out on the ground based in Patrol Base 1 in Babaji, which was one of the most dangerous insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan before being secured by British forces during Operation PANCHAI PALANG in the summer of 2009.

Among LCpl Brown's responsibilities is taking part in daily foot patrols to offer reassurance to the local population and deny insurgents influence in the area. He too has responsibilities for mentoring and, as part of an OMLT, works with Afghan soldiers so that eventually they can take sole control of the area.

It is the first time that 19-year-old LCpl Brown has deployed on operations after deciding to take up the family trade - a choice that LCpl Brown feels has saved him from bad influences and dead-end jobs at home:

"It was either join the Army or go on a downward spiral really," LCpl Brown explains.

"My father being in 2 YORKS was a big influence. Our local regiment is 3 YORKS but I grew up with the Green Howards so joined up with 2 YORKS."

For CSgt Brown, hearing of his son's desire to follow in his footsteps and join the Army was a welcome moment as he knew the Service would give Josh structure to his life:

"I was glad when he said he was going to join the Army," CSgt Brown said.

"The other lads back home are so insular that they think what they have is all their life. They settle for digging holes all day or getting paid £100 a week for humping sand around all day.

"The Army gives you structure. I'm not trying to sell the Army, as we all know it can be a very hard place to work at times, but on the whole you get a good life so I was glad."

LCpl Brown was impressed with the pre-deployment training for his tour in Afghanistan but nothing could have quite prepared him for his job out in theatre:

"I was naive about what it was going to be like," he said. "I was worried about coming out here and it hits home about a month or two before you deploy. But you get out here and it's not too bad.

"We have been pushing down into the bottom of our AO [Area of Operations] into the wadi [dry river valley] which runs to the south of us and have had a lot of contacts.

"We have a big IED [improvised explosive device] threat - a lot of it laid during PANCHAI PALANG.

"We patrol with the ANA and when we get spare time we give them training. They are a good set and are keen to learn. They do get fed up and they can be lazy but they have good days and bad days. But we have a good set and they are quite knuckled down."

Though things have improved since PANCHAI PALANG, the area around Babiji is still suffering from the presence of insurgents and 'contacts' with the enemy can be frequent and unpredictable. For LCpl Brown his first experience of live fire with the enemy was one he will never forget, as he explained:

"It was quiet when we got out here but it is surreal when you first get in contact; hearing rounds going off over your head.

"It's like being on a range when you put targets up, it's like, is that happening?

"But then you think yeah I'm all right and safe, it's going over my head. Then it stops and you fire back but it doesn't seem like it's two way. You can't see them, you can hear it but you can't see them.

"Then it sinks in and you get that adrenaline buzz and it's good.

"But following that you are always on edge. You think you are all right in the open but you are constantly on the lookout for dodgy things - even when I was back in Britain I was looking at things and thinking 'I don't want to go near that or I don't like the look of this'.

"Stupid little things that you wouldn't think of looking closely at anywhere else, but here you do as it is drilled into you. Things like 'don't go near the corner of compounds, don't rest in the shade, don't do this and don't do that'. And everything can be a marker; your eyes are constantly flicking all over the place to check the ground.

"But having said that the training out in theatre has been great. You can't knock the counter-IED training we have had. It's been spot on."

Since joining the Army in 1988 CSgt Brown has amassed a wealth of experience, with previous tours including Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has tried to supplement the Army training and pass on some of his own personal knowledge and experience to his son, but as with all father and son relationships this can meet with resistance, as he explains:

"I would like to think that I have passed on some of my knowledge and experience but it can be hard.

"The young privates and lance corporals all think they are reinventing the wheel and they think what they are doing has never been done before.

"So it's quite hard to instil in them that everything they're doing is everything we have done but simply in different theatres. You have to let them carry on and make their own mistakes.

"You can tell them how to do things till you are blue in the face and try and impart as much knowledge as you can but at the end of the day they will do it their way and learn from their mistakes."

Many parents with sons and daughters going through similar experiences in Afghanistan may long to be near their loved ones and might feel the tour would be easier for CSgt Brown being so near to his son, however he says that is not the case:

"I've never been put in the position, but I understand what people back home - parents, wives, girlfriends and civilians - must feel with a loved one away on operations. But I'm sure being here it is worse.

"Being in the Army myself I've never before been in a position where I have to worry about what is going on but being placed in a position where my boy is here and is out on the ground and I'm here is tough; every time we know there has been an incident, I think it is going to be my boy this time. So it is quite difficult for that reason.

"But you are serving in the same place and you have just got to get on with it. It is also quite hard for me to stay in camp thinking my boy is carrying the kit and out on the ground, potentially under contact, and even though I have done my time doing this I feel I should be out there and that is one reason why the bosses are always telling me to stay in camp.

"I'm always asking 'can I go to the Patrol Base [PB], can I go out on the ground?' and I have to stop myself thinking like that because I can't do anything. I can't do anything for him; even if we were in the same PB I can't do anything for him - he has to make his own way and I have to try and stand back, but it can be difficult to take that step back and say 'you are a soldier mate, just do your job'.

"But I also know it's tough for the people back home. Especially his little sister, as she is afraid of losing both of us."

However, despite both soldiers being in the same Battle Group and just a relatively short distance away from each other, the conditions on the ground and the differing demands of their respective jobs mean that they rarely get the chance to see each other:

"We have seen each other three times in three months," CSgt Brown explained.

"I'll probably not see him now to the end of tour. We can stay in touch through text link but sometimes it is better not to know because I've been out to the PBs and out on patrol with the guys so I understand how often they are under contact.

"If I keep thinking every time my boy goes out on patrol he's going to be in contact I'm going to be a nervous wreck so you don't need to be in touch - that way no news is good news."

He added jokingly:

"Plus, when we do talk, he just whinges about how bad it is - you'd think he was the only soldier in Afghanistan that carries heavy equipment."

Despite the challenges and emotional strains that having a close family member in an operational environment has brought, both of the Browns feel that their relationship has been strengthened by the shared experience and that each now better understands the other.

CSgt Brown explained:

"We have always had a close relationship, but now there is a greater appreciation of what each other has been through, though of course only in some respects and not completely.

"That is another reason why I try and get out on the ground as often as I can as I couldn't stand in the pub with him and hear him say you don't understand what it was like out on the ground."

For LCpl Brown his first operational deployment has given him a new regard for his father:

"I can't knock my dad," he said. "He has done and seen more than I've ever done, and probably more than I'll ever do - so I know now he really knows what he's talking about.

"In fact I'll probably only have one medal after 20 years' service, compared to his eight.

"We are going to a wedding in our uniforms next year [2010] and joke that he'll be a 'chink, chink' while I'll only be a 'swoosh'!"