History - Op TELIC Stabilisation Operations Apr/May 03

This article is about 663 Squadron Army Air Corps in the Maysan Province of Iraq, an area some 150 km north of Basra which 16 Air Assault Brigade moved to following the cessation of main hostilities. For 3 Regt AAC Battle Group, home was to be an abandoned airfield which provided a hardstanding for the aircraft and some buildings which would quickly be turned a working headquarters.

We were expecting an 'austere' new home at Al Amara airfield as the Commanding Officer put it. I wasn't sure what austere meant and guessed it was going to be a mosquito and fly infested cess pool interrupted only by a couple of tarmac runways breaking the surface of the pond scum. As it turned out it was fairly comfortable in relative terms: that is to say it was pretty much the same as the previous FOBs we had occupied, only dirt instead of sand. Each base throughout the Operation seemed fairly 'austere' to me. The only thing that changed was the shade of brown: darker the further north we went, and we were now up near the Iranian Border.

On the 10th of April, Stabilisation Operations began. After the uncertainty of the previous three weeks, life was brilliant for me. I was left to suntan (surreptitiously at first) and enjoy the banter and philosophising of Gazelle Flight (Lynx flight were busy reading and responding to fan mail). I was formulating lifestyle theories and making decisions on what to do when we got home and where best I might spend my money saved.

I was as happy as a pig in mud, a fairly accurate description really. However during some banter I got wind that the Squadron Sergeant Major was up to something. Uniquely, the Squadron had been given its own area of operations and the OC had determined that we would patrol by vehicle and on foot in addition to conducting aircraft sorties throughout a huge area. I was then tasked with co-ordinating the patrol programme and liaising with the CIMIC team at Battle Group HQ.

Patrolling involved a mixture of security, confidence building, intelligence gathering and humanitarian/medical aid. All was going extremely well under the watchful eye of the SSM who adopted the very definition of a hearts and minds policy with a firm grasp. Blue berets were on and the Squadron personnel were cutting about on foot, on motorbikes, in soft-skinned vehicles and also in the air. For his efforts during this campaign, Airtrooper Wood gets the award for the most dedicated and tireless waving.

Fearing the sound of incoming paperwork I decided that I would be better off out on the ground. The AO initially covered 7000 sq km of arid ground interspersed with predominantly dry drainage ditches. Population was estimated to be between 8 and 10,000. Running north to south was the Maymunah River which flowed ultimately into the Tigris. Situated on this river feature was the town of Al Maymunah. There were two other population centres linear in feature along a canal-like waterway. Our task was simply to stabilise a deprived lawless society in an environment beginning to suffer from the effects of a power vacuum and rapid flooding of the drainage ditches. For a time, we would be both the law and the aid.

Shortly after taking responsibility for the AO, 1 LI turned up and the Squadron handed over Al Maymunah to the troops in their Warriors. However we carried on quietly with what remained of the AO. Ground and airborne reconnaissance patrols continued. Finds were made, snap VCPs and soft stops were done, weapons were seized and then returned if appropriate. An intelligence picture of the AO and the main players was slowly but surely taking shape. Then 3 PARA took control of the second population centre and the AO shrunk a little more.

Although it still covered almost the same geographical area, there were now only 3000 people concentrated along the two strip villages known affectionately as Hustler and Parade. The decision was made to concentrate our efforts there.

Hustler was cut off from the nearest metalled road due to flooding of a dirt bridge to the north. Parade was cut off completely due to the condition of its road or in some areas, the complete lack of any road at all.

Three weeks of ground and air patrolling culminated in a humanitarian aid drop of 3000L of diesel, 2000L of drinking water, 700Kg of rice and wheat, 10 boxes of water purification tablets, 100 newspapers and 2 wind-up radios. Supplies were targeted at the most needy and delivered by under-slung loads from two Gazelles and one Mark 9 Lynx. Four load-point teams were delivered to drop points around the villages prior to each drop in order to distribute the aid and the operation was coordinated by the SSM at the FARP positioned to the north of Hustler's impassable bridge.

Concurrent with this operation, about 50 sick children were identified. Most of the sick kids were between 18 and 24 months old. Their symptoms pointed toward malnutrition and dirty drinking water, however we were not allowed to give medical aid unless their illnesses were imminently life threatening. Given their symptoms and young age, their illnesses in some cases might well have been fatal but Regimental medical aid was nonetheless not permissible. It was decided they needed paediatric diagnosis so two 2 year olds were collected from Parade as specimen cases. One of the mothers needed to breast-feed, panicked and got off the ambulance. The other family was delivered to Al Amara children's hospital as a specimen case.

As soon as we left the family at the hospital, their fear of the unfamiliar surroundings got the better of them and they fled also. Unfortunately, the paediatrician had not had time to diagnose the child. Subsequently, the decision was made to take the hospital's senior Iraqi paediatrician and dermatologists to Parade by air. A meeting with the senior hospital administrator was arranged and the plan was agreed. After a short two ship Gazelle transit, a basic but practical clinic was set up at the family's house and the doctors were able to diagnose and give limited treatment to a number of kids from the village. In all, two clinics were done on Parade and the doctors were returned to the hospital.

I was offered a sheep during one of the patrols, which was nice. I think a lot of the guys entertained various wild offerings. Anyway, when I explained that I could not accept it because of its size, I was offered a chicken. Explaining further, I said that the problem was not so much the size as the fact that it was alive. I ended up with what is now referred to as 'Abdul's Pot'. Drinking coffee is central to the Marsh Arab culture. They are a proud and resourceful people and it's really quite a nice pot. Sadly I don't drink coffee but it was nice all the same - might be handy the next time the Squadron has a boat race.