Medic on life with British reconnaissance troops in Afghanistan
4 Sep 12
A young medic from West Yorkshire is working with the 12th Mechanized Brigade Reconnaissance Force, an elite unit that operates in some of the most dangerous areas of Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Natalie Aspinall on a night patrol with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force
[Picture: Sergeant Andy Reddy, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Lance Corporal Natalie Aspinall, from Liversedge, is serving with the 2nd Troop of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) as a combat medical technician. Even though she is only 22, LCpl Aspinall has been at the forefront of some of the most challenging and dangerous operations conducted this summer.
The BRF's role is to gather information from across Helmand on potential insurgent activity, as well as the public mood, local requirements and progress being made in the province's communities, and report back to the brigade command.
Depending on the analysis of the information, the brigadier might then use the BRF to strike quickly and deftly at an insurgent thorn in the side of an Afghan community.
Whereas in previous tours huge kinetic operations were launched to flush insurgents from their compounds and hideouts with a show of force, today's Task Force uses information from a variety of sources, including the BRF, to selectively target key insurgents and leaders, then uses strike operations, increasingly led by the Afghan National Security Forces and supported by the BRF, to detain and question them.
Though small in number, the members of the BRF therefore have a hugely important role to play in identifying and dealing efficiently with the various insurgent groups which operate in the area...
Much more here.
No comments:
Post a Comment