MOD analyst provides troops in Helmand with essential information

Noel Wilde is an analyst in the policy and capability studies department of Dstl Portsdown West.

He is currently based at the Task Force Helmand HQ in Lashkar Gah, where he works as an Operational Analyst. He explains his role:

"My job now is to ensure that the soldiers who are planning all the operations have full information on the areas where they are going to send troops.

"A lot of my work is based on trend analysis. Essentially this means keeping a database of previously recorded incidents of enemy activity - such as where IEDs [improvised explosive devices] have been planted or locations of enemy firing points. I then use this information to identify specific trends which are fed directly into the planning cycle.

"Nobody can predict perfectly where things are going to happen, so I provide as full a picture as I can so that the operation planners have a clear idea of what might await the troops who are going to conduct the operation."

This is in fact Noel's second deployment to Afghanistan, but the last one saw him in a very different role. He continues:

"This is my second time to Afghanistan. The first time was with a TA [Territorial Army] company in 2007 on HERRICK 6. We were an infantry company stationed at Camp Bastion and I admit that I was a bit scathing of civvies when I was commander of a patrol.

"However, having now worked on the other side of the campaign, I can see that everyone out here is making a contribution in one way or another.

"Make no bones about it, commanding a patrol was much more entertaining than sitting in a hot, confined headquarters for 16-hours-a-day, but to be honest I enjoy what I am doing. I can see a direct correlation between the work I do and the results of a military operation. I am always chuffed to see my work being used in this way

"I have nothing but respect for the guys who conduct patrols, and having done it myself I know exactly what they are going through. It is for that reason that I take my job very seriously and would challenge anyone to question the need for me, as a civil servant, to be out here.

"The challenges we are facing today in Afghanistan require the best team to be assembled around the commander so he can make informed decisions. Civil servants are an integral part of that team."