Afghanistan: rest and recuperation from the frontline

Captain Doug Beattie of 1 Royal Irish Regiment won the Military Cross for bravery in Afghanistan. He writes exclusively for Channel 4 News on his return to the frontline.

Rest and Recuperation. R&R. Fourteen days at home with family and friends.

There are those who suggest this mid-tour break should be consigned to history, replaced instead with a cash bonus. For those sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of Bastion, Kandahar Airfield or the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Lashkar Gah, this might appeal – more cash-in-hand and less time to spend it.

But for those stationed at forward operating bases and beyond – the isolated patrol bases and checkpoints, where fresh fruit and vegetables are but a distant memory and the dangers are daily and real – then R&R is not just wanted, it is very much needed. The fortnight spent away from the frontline is not a holiday but part of the package needed to keep soldiers sane. At least that is my experience.

After thirteen weeks in the heart of enemy territory I was ready to get out. So too, I think, those around me: Lieutenant Paddy Pratt from Limerick had done wonders relationship-building with the locals around Checkpoint SABAT; Major Jamie Humphreys, who had swapped Belfast for the not-so obvious delights of Patrol Base KALANG, and orchestrated infrastructure and development work; South African Sergeant Pete Keogh who helped lead the battle against the insurgents to provide the time and space for constructive rather than destructive activities to take place.

Exhaustion

These men – all the men – of 1 Royal Irish had done their jobs and paid a price. One Ranger killed, several others wounded; these are the bald headline figures for the first part of our Afghan odyssey. But every one of us serving in Helmand has taken an emotional hit, mental exhaustion conspiring with physical tiredness to grind us down.

Perhaps it struck me more than most. At the age of 45, people like me are an anomaly. Still in the thick of the fighting, when many would argue we should be at a desk, beside a heater, writing out chits, filling out forms.

I still believe I am good at my job, but half way through my fifth decade I was as happy as anyone to get my R&R. There were also family reasons to get home. Not least a chance to see – for the first time – my second grandchild Bradley, who would already be six weeks old.

It is an odd experience arriving back in the UK. Almost immediately you are clock watching, counting down the hours until the return to Afghanistan.

As relaxed as you are, as enjoyable the moments with loved ones might be, the lingering thought is of time running out, a deadline approaching.

Recuperation

Which is why I could have got pretty wound up by being stuck at Newcastle airport for two days because of the snow, waiting for a flight back to Belfast after visiting my grandson. In the end I was sanguine about the delay.

I had seen the latest addition to the Beattie family, I had my wife Margaret with me and the beer tastes pretty much the same whether you are on Tyneside or in Northern Ireland.

I can still remember the periods of R&R when I first started my military career. If you didn’t drink and party till the early hours of the morning every night then you weren’t making the most of your time off. A quarter of a century later and little had really changed.

The snow arrived in the province just as I left it for another three-month stint of celibacy and alcohol-free living. To many the white carpet lying across the country equalled chaos and misery. To me it represented a magical winter wonderland evoking the seasonal festivities which lay just round the corner. Ruefully I headed back to Afghan knowing I was about to miss yet another Christmas with my nearest and dearest.

Christmas return

My 25th December would be spent who knew where, doing who knew what with whom.
Christmas dinner would come out of a boil-and-eat bag. The saving grace was that at least I would be with other people I admired, loved and respected, members of my other family, the Rangers of 1 R IRISH. And if there is one thing the Irish do as well as fighting, it is making the best of the most difficult circumstances.

As I departed Northern Ireland, I was handed a card depicting the Harland and Wolf dockyards in Belfast and the pair of iconic cranes that break the skyline.

Onto this scene were superimposed the images of soldiers patrolling the Helmand desert.

The caption read: “Merry Christmas from N Ireland – you are not here with us but we are there with you”. Gone but not forgotten. As Christmas presents go, I couldn’t have asked for much more.

Captain Doug Beattie MC of 1 Royal Irish Regiment is currently deployed in Southern Afghanistan. He is the author of An Ordinary Soldier and Task Force Helmand. Pictures provided by R IRISH media ops. View more here.