Page 33 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

Op SHADER
For those of you who don’t know, Op SHADER is the name given to the UK’s contribution to the fight against ISIS across the broader Middle East, more specifically against the ISIS forces controlling large areas of Iraq and Syria. The UK is part of a 60+ Coalition contributing to the fight against ISIS under the banner of Operation INHERANT RESOLVE (OIR). At the time of writing this article (Feb 16) there are two QAs on Op SHADER, Capt Shaun McGarry, OC of a Medical Training Team at Taji, north of Baghdad and myself, Lt Col Anton Philpott, on an OCE tour as Senior Coalition Medical Planner, embedded in the US-led 3* Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) HQ at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. There are of course other DMS personnel in varying important roles on Op SHADER that Capt McGarry and I work closely with but I will keep to Shaun and I as the only QAs and how we are contributing to the mission.
Aside from direct degrading strike operations against ISIS, Operation Inerrant Resolve (OIR) focuses in two other areas; ‘Partner Force Development’ (PFD) i.e. helping to build up Iraqi fighting capability and an ‘Advise and Assist’ (A&A) mission to teach them how to fight ISIS better. With PFD, medical training is always a good political tool as well as a real force multiplier when developing combat forces and its impact in this theatre is enormous. When building up an army from scratch, even a modest level of battlefield first aid training and basic Medic training can significantly reduce combat mortality, which enhances willingness to fight and extends operational reach. At the sharp end in Iraq, Capt Shaun McGarry leads the only specialist medical training team in theatre. He is based at a Build Partner Capacity (BPC) site in Taji and has been instrumental in developing a suite of medical training courses available to Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) going through basic training programs. The courses are Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) accredited, which is important because the plan is to hold up the schedule of courses as examples of best practice and invite other Coalition members to send their own training teams to use the Programs of Instruction (POIs) that Capt McGarry and his team have developed. In this way we hope to achieve continuity of training content and standard of training across all the BPC sites in Iraq - that’s where I come in.
There are over 20 UK officers embedded within various sections of HQ CJTF and I am the first to fill a position within the Surgeon Cell focusing on Coalition medical issues. As well as offering higher level direction and guidance to the UK Medical Training Team, I have been taking a more strategic view of medical aspects of PFD, working on how we can encourage more Coalition members to offer up their own medical training teams to deliver the UK-developed courses across all the BPC sites in Iraq preparing the ISF to enter the fight. The main vehicle for this is through the Combined Joint Statement of Requirement (CJSOR), an uber-document listing all the specific requirements that Coalition (and other) countries are invited to fill. My time here is spent in constant liaison and communication with representatives from Coalition partners, highlighting healthcare and healthcare delivery issues, raising the profile of how medical training greatly benefits PFD and sowing the seeds for them to discuss with their own national HQs. This will hopefully bear fruit at the next CJSOR meeting in March 16, with more countries offering up medical training teams. This requirement becomes more urgent as the future plans for progressing the fight against ISIS take form and ensuring that ‘Med’ gets the appropriate visibility in the
G3/5 planning forums is a daily struggle. An additional role is close liaison with PJHQ on possible joint efforts with specific Coalition partners to provide medical support to Coalition forces deployed on PFD and A&A missions in Iraq.
For anyone who has worked alongside the Americans before, they really will appreciate that we are indeed two nations divided by a common language. But I have also learnt a lot about my own perceptions of the UK Armed Forces. I have had incredible fun with my immediate US colleagues with fantastic banter and genuine friendships but very rigid rules and regulations are never far away. In many areas there appears little latitude for commanders to use their discretion and consequently Mission Command is rarely exercised below OF5. I now see how smooth and efficient our ‘Joint’ approach to many aspects of the UK Armed Forces actually is; something which is not always apparent until you see how counter- productive tribal attitudes and inter-Service rivalries can be in others. I also now appreciate how much responsibility and accountability we do delegate to our junior ranks. However, I am having a great tour and my time at Camp Arifjan has been very comfortable with a range of welfare facilities unimaginable to the average British soldier on an operational tour.
A final note to the young Nursing Officers out there. The opportunities for operational tours in clinical positions are far less now, so I would urge you to see if your knowledge, skills or experience could be used on an OCE tour - the trawls are constantly circulating and you have to include your willingness on every PPP you submit. The personal and professional gain to be had from working with another nation’s armed forces is unique and greatly develops you as an individual as well as a soldier.
Lt Col Anton Philpott QARANC & Capt Shaun McGarry QARANC
THE GAZETTE QARANC 31