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Vikings

Iraq - April 2005

The Vikings deployed to Iraq in April 2005 after 3 months training. There were a variety of jobs but we were all working to improve the police and maintain security. Operation Telic 6 was the Battalion’s first exposure to Iraq, though many of our forebear regiments saw service there previously, including 2nd Battalion The Royal Norfolk Regiment who fought at the battle of Shaiba, (Where most of us was based) exactly 90 years previously.

On patrol in a market in AAK

Operation Overview

The Area of Operation (AO) That the BG took responsibility for was Basra Rural South, an area of 12000 km2. Significant because of its borders with Kuwait and Iran, the main supply routes running from the south through the AO and on to Baghdad. The Regiment was spilt up to provide cover around the Region, A (Norfolk) company went to two different areas one was Basra Palace and the other was Al Faaw, B (Suffolk) company went to Az Zubayr and later redeployed back to Shaiba Logistics Base where HQ Company remained during the duration of the tour. C (Essex) company Remained at SLB as well but was BG reserve which meant they took part in vital search operations around the AO, D (Cambridge) company was spilt up around the companies to strengthen the numbers around the three main companies.

Afghanistan - Op Fingal 2002 & Op Herrick 6 2007

The Vikings have been deployed to Afghanistan twice within 5 years. The first deployment, Op Fingal, was to Kabul in March 2002. The second (our current deployment) is to the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan to which we deployed in March 2007 as part of Op Herrick 6.

A Op4

Op FINGAL 2002

The Batallion deployed to Afghanistan during 2002 to the capital city Kabul, as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The main job was to enforce the peace and help create conditions that would enable the shattered country to rebuild following the removal of the Taliban regime in 2001. Vikings soldiers took the lead by patrolling and securing the worst hit areas of the city, in order to help the Afghan people and contribute to the search for international peace and security.

 


Op Herrick

Op HERRICK6 2007

The Battalion deployed to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission. The main job was to provide security and eliminate the resurgent Taliban threat in order to create conditions that would enable the legitimate and democratically elected Government of Afghanistan to extend its authority in the southern region and permit the international Development and Reconstruction Programme to take place.