Instincts and training prove key

By Cameron Buttle
BBC Scotland

There are currently 1,200 soldiers from Scottish units serving in Afghanistan. When they finish their tour in August, 45 Commando from Arbroath will begin deploying to Helmand. Ahead of that deployment, they took part in an exercise near Brecon in Wales.

It was supposed to be a simple reassurance patrol - high-profile, lots of contact with the locals.

Exactly the kind of patrol Royal Marines from 45 Commando will be carrying out hundreds of times when they deploy to Afghanistan.

But this was a mock village in a remote corner of Wales. Here the streets were filled with men and women dressed in Afghan clothes - some Afghan nationals, some actors, some soldiers.

The aim of the patrol was to assert the British presence in a settlement in Helmand, the aim of the exercise was to make it as real as possible.

Corporal Paul 'Tank' Easton led the patrol out of the gates of the base, down into the sprawling town. Tank is a experienced NCO with an active tour of Iraq behind him. There he was left in no doubt of the importance of the basic drills.

As the Marines spread through the village, the "locals" began calling out, wandering close, distracting them. 'Tank' kept things moving, kept the Marines evenly spaced, the arcs of fire clear and correct.

"In Afghanistan it is the smallest details that can have severest of consequences"

Within a few hundred yards marines began reporting in to him. Anything suspicious had to be assessed, no matter how small.

A metal tube in a burnt-out car was possibly unexploded ordnance, all the windows in a housing block suddenly slamming shut could be insurgents preparing to ambush, a man hurrying past with a large bag stuffed under his robes could be moving weapons.

In Afghanistan it is the smallest details that can have severest of consequences.

A small pile of stones brought the patrol to a halt. 'Tank' and his men examined it through the sights on their weapons before "going firm", spreading out and finding cover. 'Tank' called in the engineers to deal with the small pile of stones.

The constant flow of information back to 'Tank' was unrelenting. He filtered it down, manoeuvred the patrol to deal with the new threat, constantly reassessing the aims of the patrol and the safety of the Marines.

An hour and a half later and the patrol had barely moved a mile from the gates of the base. There had been some contact with the locals, but not the two hours of moving through the town gathering information, reassuring the people.

The suspicious pile of stones on the path that stopped the patrol in its tracks turned out to be a mock explosive device.

'Tank' had been right to go with his instincts and training - two things that will serve him well in a few weeks' time.

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