The View From Above

Yesterday I had a real treat.  I got to ride in the back of a British Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter for a tour of the area.  The British have about 10,000 total troops here in Afghanistan, most of them based right here at Camp Bastion.  Of these there is a contingent that is comprised of various helicopter aviation units.  They fill several roles including MEDEVAC, general support (moving supplies and people) Close Air Support or CAS (shooting weapons at the enemy in support of friendly troops), and scout / reconnaissance. The Lynx is a small utility helo with a crew of three and room for up to three passengers.  I got to ride along as they conducted a general  reconnaissance  mission.

My first impression was that the area is much more fertile than I at first thought.  Camp Leatherneck is very dry and dusty, but most of our operations are conducted in the Helmand River valley and this area was vibrant green.  It was dotted with small fields that have been cultivated to grow crops for feeding the people or livestock that live there.  Of course the problem these days is that a lot of these fields are being used to grow poppy and support the opium trade, and thus the Taliban.

I also noticed that the entire operating area is relatively small.  It only took us a hour to tour the entire area from one end to the other.  The airspace is thus very crowded with helicopters flitting around supporting all the myriad patrol bases that the ground troops use.  The nice thing was that it was nice and cool up in the air since the Lynx flies with the doors open like a Huey.

When we got back I had the privilege of touring the British Medevac aircraft.  The Brits have a CH-47 Chinook that they use for what we call Incident Response.  They can equip it for any number of contingencies, and here in Afghanistan they have outfitted it with a very robust medical suite.  They carry a medical team of four and a security element of four.  Their capability is remarkable; they have an anesthetist on board and they can fully sedate, intubate, and push blood plasma to a severely wounded patient all on board the aircraft.  Essentially, this eliminates the need to prep the patient for surgery upon arrival from the battlefield since they can do it en route.  This savings in time has often meant the difference between life and death for victims of IED attacks and traumatic brain injuries.  It was a very interesting tour and the crews that man these planes are incredible professionals.

So what else do you folks want to know about?  Use the comments button and fire away with any questions you might have.  Thanks and we'll see you next time!