Page 100 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

98 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) A Lancer in Baghdad
Shortly after the surprise successes of the Islamic State/Daesh over-running much of northern Iraq in 2014, a military coali- tion, led by the United States, was formed to fight against it and
return Iraq to a state of normality. This was highly successful and succeeded in pushing Daesh to a last few pockets of resist- ance, mainly just across the border into Syria, by the start of 2018.
In this context, I deployed in March 2018 to work in the British Embassy Baghdad, as part of the Defence Section, as their link to the military coalition in the country. The coalition was made up of thousands of troops, including a UK battle group work- ing across northern Iraq. My main role, as someone who could ‘speak’ military, was to update the embassy of the goings-on in the country, without too much military jargon.
Despite the Iraqi Prime Minister announcing the defeat of Daesh in Iraq shortly before I arrived, the country was not with- out its challenges: pockets of Daesh were causing a security con- cern for the Iraqi military who required continued support from the international community, the ‘liberated areas’, such as West Mosul, required much stabilisation and development assistance; the Kurdish region of Iraq had recently failed in an attempt for independence amid the confusion of the previous few years and continued political discontent in the south of the country lin- gered due to poor public services. This took place in the context of increased regional tensions, uncertain western foreign policy and a general election with a surprise result. Much to keep all aspects of the British Embassy busy and the liaison officer on his toes!
The British Embassy, based in the Green Zone in central Bagh- dad was a sprawling compound and home to a number of other diplomatic missions, was my home for six months. Although a new Embassy which the UK moved to after the 2003 invasion, (the UK still owns the previous one, which sits abandoned in the ‘red zone’ overlooking the River Tigris), the embassy is well positioned close to the military HQ, Iraqi government and dip-
Hugh Richardson
lomatic centres of Baghdad – and well positioned to host their famous monthly pool parties.
Despite the HESCO walls and the occasional indirect fire alarm, Baghdad felt safer and a more confident place that it had for a long time, with the city opening up and the large concrete walls slowly coming down as the security situation improved. Being at the heart of the UK’s diplomatic effort in Iraq was a real eye opener with a wide range of actors and working with military, diplomats, humanitarians and other international institutions, there was no shortage of interesting people dealing with this problem. A particular highlight was being closely involved in the liaison with the Iraqi military academy, Al-Rustimayah, as part of a defence engagement strategy’s twinning with Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
2018 proved to be an interesting and varied year for the Tactical Air Control Party with personnel deploying to a wide variety of countries for a plethora of training opportunities. The biggest output of the year saw the Tactical Air Control Party planning element deploy to Estonia as part of the 1st Battalion, The York- shire Regiment enhanced forward presence battlegroup.
On competition of the 2017 training year uncertainty existed about the future employment of the Tactical Air Control Party. In the new year, 38 (Seringapatam) Battery of 19 Regiment Royal Artillery (The Scottish Gunners), the battery aligned to the Roy- al Lancers for Joint Fires support, transitioned into suspended animation. The Tactical Air Control Party found itself discon- nected from the Regiment and without a fires battery to align itself to. An opportunity soon arose to plug a manning gap in an- other 19 Regiment Royal Artillery battery which resulted in the Tactical Air Control Party OC, 2IC, signallers and a Joint Tacti- cal Air Controller plug in to support the 1st Battalion, The York- shire Regiment, battlegroup while 19 Regiment Royal Artillery could train replacements. Within weeks we found ourselves back on Combined Staff Tactical Training Exercise – this time for Op- eration CABRIT Mission Specific Training – and deployed to
TACP helicopter spotters
Tactical Air Control Party
HAR