Page 60 - Mercian Eagle 2014

Base attack rehearsals
down by accurate fire allowing them to extract by SH.
October rolled quickly into November at which point the most catastrophic event of the tour befell A Coy when a Suicide Vehicle Borne IED detonated next to
C/S KRYPTONITE 0B outside an ANSF checkpoint, killing WO2 (Warrior Sgt Maj) Ian Fisher and seriously injuring three others in Coy Tac. The Coy performed
with utter professionalism and dogged determination to CASEVAC the multitude of casualties within the golden hour, recover two destroyed Warriors and then recover
a third Warrior which broke down during the extraction. The loss of WO2 Fisher was felt across the Coy, BG and Task Force but as would be expected, the Coy was back operating in support of the ANSF within
days of the event, taking the fight back to the insurgent.
The tempo remained high throughout
the tour as the Coy conducted numerous defensive operations around Bridge TOM, south of GSK, to protect Coalition Engineers as they replaced sections of the bridge,
as well as offensive operations to disrupt insurgent action. New Year was spent on Op YAREK FALCON, an 11 day operation
in the north of the TFH AO to protect routes back to BASTION as US bases in the
Upper Gereshk Valley began to close. Not only did temperatures plummet to minus
13 for the duration of this operation, it also saw the Coy conduct BATUS style Rolling Replens as the Sub Unit operated at length, for duration, in a most hostile environment. Throughout December indirect fire attacks
OC A Coy developing relations with embedded media
increased on PB LKD but the focus of our effort was preparing the PB for transfer
to the ANSF and setting the conditions
to place the HERRICK Warrior AFV fleet
into the Theatre Equipment Redeployment System (TERS) for their redeployment to the UK. By now the Coy had been told their six month tour had been extended to eight and their effort to transfer the base and prepare for TERS gained momentum with the Coy effectively living in the desert behind HESCO prior to the base transferring to the ANSF. The operation to protect the transfer saw the Coy Gp deploy with the Talisman Route ‘Prove and Clear’ capability and a Troop of Danish Leopard 2 tanks under command, thus 47 vehicles deployed to disrupt insurgent activity and saw one SVBIED attack foiled by the professionalism and
SH arrives to pick up a detainee after A Coy deploy as QRF to an ISAF IED strike
WO2 Ian ‘The Colonel’ Fisher; KIA 5 Nov 13
58 THE MERCIAN EAGLE