New Forest soldier's leading part in Afghanistan mission (From Bournemouth Echo)

New Forest soldier's leading part in Afghanistan mission

10:30am Friday 27th August 2010 in

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A BATTLE-hardened Parachute brigade is being sent to Afghanistan during a crucial period in the war and a New Forest man is second in command.

Colonel Hugo Fletcher, who lives near Ringwood, serves with 16 Air Assault Brigade, the unit deploying for six months in Septem-ber.

The unit is 7,500 strong and the men are holding their final three-week exercises on Salisbury Plain. This is the fourth time they have been in Afghanistan at a critical period.

They took part in the 2002 invasion, the 2006 move into Helmand, were in the country in 2008 as the threat from improvised mines grew, and will arrive during 2010 while the American troop surge is at its peak.

Lt Col Tim Purbrick, from Shaftesbury, a former tank commander during the Gulf War, is now a TA soldier and will spend two months in Afghanistan from October as an army media officer.

Royal Engin-eer Sgt Jim Peter-son, 35, lives at Boving-ton Camp and drives a Trojan armoured engineering vehicle – it looks like a giant metal lobster.

“I was a bit nervous at first, but when you do a tour, before you know it you are back home,” he said. “You could be hit by a bus outside an army camp as much as by a bullet.”

The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, which recruits predominantly from the South West and does all its training at Bovington Camp, is sending three squadrons.

Trooper Edward Antwi-Berchie, 28, originally from Ghana, finished training on Viking armoured vehicles at Bovington in January.

He said: “I can’t wait to go. That’s the reason I joined up, to help people. I haven’t asked anybody what it’s like out there. I don’t see the point. I just want to go and do my job.”

The brigade held a media briefing the day after news emerged that a rogue Afghan soldier had killed three Gurkha soldiers.

Brigadier James Chiswell said the attack would “not be deeply unsettling” to the relationship with the Afghan Army and would be seen as an “isolated incident”.

American and NATO troop deployments will be wound down over the next year, so will there be pressure to get results now?

Brigadier Chiswell told the Echo: “We should expect steady progress but we should be patient.”

The brigade’s force will include two battalions from the Parachute Regiment, The Royal Irish Regiment, The Irish Guards, The Royal Highland Fusiliers and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.