The Northern Echo | Afghanistan: A Soldier's Diary

Time to reflect

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:46:44 +0100

I have been back for a few weeks now and have finally started to settle back into civilian life, people always ask me, what it is like out there and I must admit I find it hard to explain some of my experiences and feelings, as I can describe them but to get the real picture, you really need to have been out there to see things first hand.

Homeward bound

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:39:50 +0100

19:00 - Some of the lads had found a crate of non-alcoholic larger, which we all delved into quite happily as this was our final night in Afghanistan.

Saying our final goodbyes

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:31:02 +0100

Our last day and we are on duty guarding what was the main gate, now blocked up by Hesco barriers. We are all excited as we hand in our final equipment; pack the last of our bags and move down to the dispatch area ready to go.

Huge explosion rocks the building

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:28:21 +0100

It is my morning off so I and my colleague are sitting up on our camp beds in the sports hall as our rooms are now taken up by our replacements.

All along the watchtower

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:44:59 +0100

07:30: I am in one of the guard towers watching over one of the junctions that is manned by the Kabul City Police. I just leave my position when I hear a scream and the sound of a shot fired close by. Nobody out of the guard could see where it had come from, however we still had to report it in to the command and ops room.

Holding the fort

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:46:12 +0100

16:15: Our Multiple are going off into the nearby hills on a foot patrol, today I am not joining them as I have been selected to work in the ops room as the signaller, making sure I keep communications with the patrol and plot their progress on the huge map that is on the wall. This is so if they are attacked or get into any kind of trouble I will be able to inform the Quick Reaction Force, as to the position that they will need to get to.

Feline like a little company

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:47:59 +0100

In our base there are many cats that live, these are placed here for a purpose, mostly for pest control.

A nervous night on patrol in Kabul

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:50:34 +0100

19:30: It is pitch black over Kabul. We are heading off out on a vehicle patrol to the very edge of our area of operations.

Fallout from Amercian accident

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:51:24 +0100

07:50 we are given orders to conduct a foot patrol through two nearby areas to show our presence.

Home comforts in a war zone

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:51:54 +0100

The Sergeant Major and a few of our other lads return from their R&R laden with shoe boxes full of sweets, toiletries and puzzle books.