Hackles go off to war

Mar 31 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

THE latest contingent of Black Watch personnel flies out from Scotland today to spearhead a wide-ranging attack role in some of Afghanistan’s most hostile terrain.

The 500-strong Black Watch 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland are the first Scots infantry to join around 8000 British troops operating within the NATO command structure.

A 45-strong advance guard have already experienced a firefight with the Taliban enemy.

The PA was granted exclusive access to Perth and Kinross soldiers as The Black Watch prepared for their toughest mission since a high-profile support role to the Americans in Iraq’s notorious “Triangle of Death” in 2004.

Expectant fathers, close friends, battle-hardened veterans and apprehensive teenage rookies all spoke to the PA at their base at windswept Fort George, near Inverness.

Under commanding officer Lt. Col. Stephen Cartwright, the Perth-based regiment have been handed a unique role within the Regional Battlegroup South’s Operation Herrick.

Based at heavily-fortified Kandahar Airfield, they’ll take the war into the Taliban heartland and so-called “safe havens” in the Helmand Valley, and other regions, with temperatures ranging from sub-zero to a strength-sapping 50 degrees in the heat of summer.

But the fluid mission is a delicate balance between potent air-lifted seek and destroy missions and winning hearts and minds through life-enhancing construction projects.

The Black Watch, joined by a platoon of Royal Scots Borderers and 30-plus Territorials, form part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Their return is pencilled-in for November.

Major Robin Lindsay (37) said: “We are better prepared to deploy on this op than at any time in the past.”

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Steven Cartwright said: “I am delighted that the battalion has been given this opportunity to serve our nation.

“This will be a considerable challenge to the battalion. Our goal is to secure the respect and trust of the Afghan nationals and we can only do that by providing them with the security that's badly needed. From an improved security situation, reconstruction and governance will continue to improve.”

*LOOK out for a PA window sticker giving readers a chance to show their support for The Black Watch in Afghanistan.