Major Russell Lewis MC Citation
JMA asked:
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Any Brit readers know where to find his MC citation?
A little research found this text in Major Lewis's old school magazine, which IIRC is likely to be based on the official text which would have appeared in 'The London Gazette', but that website eludes easy use.
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St Albans soldier wins Military Cross in Afghanistan - Major Russell Lewis MC (S86-91)
A soldier from St Albans has won a top bravery award for his actions in Afghanistan. “Major Russ Lewis, aged 35, has been awarded the Military Cross for his heroic leadership of a company of the Parachute Regiment during a six-month tour in southern Afghanistan.
“Major Lewis and his company of 160 troops of 2PARA were located in a Forward Operating Base deep in the hostile Upper Sangin Valley and were subjected to almost daily rocket and mortar attacks. He led many foot patrols through the dense vegetation, canals and compounds of the surrounding countryside and during frequent bouts of intense fighting with the Taliban.
Major Lewis’ citation described him as "tenacious and courageous in attack" and added: "Major Lewis has set an outstanding example to his company at significant personal risk and has been an inspiration to all ranks."
“Major Lewis lives with his wife Andrea at Colchester where his unit is stationed. His wife, who is pregnant with their first child, is a major in the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps and set up the first field hospital in Iraq.
“Said Major Lewis of the bravery award: "I have mixed feelings about the award. It's a fantastic honour to receive such an award and I do think that it represents all of B Company, 2 PARA and what we achieved last summer".
Speaking about the intensity of the deployment on the Army’s website after his Company’s return from Afghanistan at the end of October, Major Lewis said: “Once it started it didn’t really stop for three months. We were just in the thick of it. We went through a period where every single patrol that went out came into contact of some description. There have been some horrible moments. I said before we went, I felt this tour would give us the best soldiering days of our careers and our worst. It has.”
Major Lewis described the soldiers under his command as “the finest generation of paratroopers in the history of the Parachute Regiment”. He added: “we lost three in one go to a suicide bomber and that was just an awful day, but it’s amazing how the guys deal with it. We had a night of grieving and the next day we were back out there. We had to, but I think that was what we wanted to do for our comrades, we are paratroopers and we go straight back out there and take the fight to the enemy.”
Link:http://www.oldaldenhamian.org/Downlo...nhamiana37.pdf
I note the Major now offers to talk on leadership, for a fee 3-4k.
Two other Para majors and one private got the MC, along with thirty others getting awards; the brigade lost eleven dead, nine from 2 Para.
Battle inside Afghanistan's most violent corner
Amidst all the news of Camp Bastion, Prince Harry and "green on blue" along comes an article on what the UK and allies are doing on the ground:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...rgents-taliban
the cost:
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Eighteen British soldiers have died there since the beginning of the year, nine in the last 10 weeks. Afghan soldiers have perished in even greater numbers, 25 since April. Hours before this security meeting, a government official was assassinated less than a mile away.
Yes there is a good amount from senior officers - following the official legend. There is a closing comment by an ANA commander, which might actually happen sooner than expected:
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This is our country and our people, and it is our obligation to take responsibility for their safety. There will be peace. The only question is when.
A supportive public and a majority against being there
A recent piece of research, based on opinion polling:
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The research is the first major study into British public attitudes towards the military and is published today as part of the 2011 British Social Attitudes survey.
Link to review article, with links to authors and more:http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/department...medforces.aspx
Link to the Survey's section:http://bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk/read-the-...roduction.aspx
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The research found that nine out of ten people respected the UK Armed Forces and eight out of ten had a high or very high opinion of the Services. The UK Armed Forces was also more respected as a profession than doctors, lawyers or the police. It seems that support for the UK Armed Forces is significantly higher among men, older people, those with lower educational qualifications and people who align with parties on the political right, as found in overseas studies.
The study also showed that 58% of the UK public were opposed to Iraq and 46% disapproved of operations in Afghanistan, with women, older people and people supporting minor political parties significantly more opposed to the missions. Despite this, more than 90% supported military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, regardless of their agreement or disagreement with these missions.
Continuing to fight is not worth the life of one more British soldier
Paddy Ashdown, a former leader of the Liberal-Democrats awhile ago, an ex-SBS officer and with the experience of Bosnia, has a rather unusual place in British politics - he is listened to with respect.
So when he makes these remarks some will listen, HMG certainly will not and the public will agree. So what did he say?
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The only outcome of staying longer is more deaths for no purpose; most of them now caused not by the enemy in front of our troops, but by the enemy among them. It is not worth wasting one more life in Afghanistan.
All that we can achieve has now been achieved. All that we might have achieved if we had done things differently, has been lost. The only rational policy now is to leave quickly, in good order and in the company of our allies.
Lord Ashdown conceded that British forces have succeeded in driving out al-Qaeda, the main reason behind the conflict, but he said:
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In almost all the other tasks we set ourselves, especially the establishment of a sustainable state, we have failed.
The interview first appeared in The Times, this is behind a pay wall, so I use this second hand report:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...y-Ashdown.html
A former Afghan veteran added (via Twitter):
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Only we won: AQ smashed, OBL dead.
British troops 'most vulerable' during Afghan withdrawal
The UK CDS, General Sir David Richards, has spoken publicly on wider matters and of course leaving:
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It is vital that Afghan confidence in the West’s long-term commitment to their country is retained. Why, should this be lost, would they stay the course themselves let alone fight to protect us in 2014 when, absent successful reconciliation, we will be at our most vulnerable?
And why should the Taliban reconcile, if they thought we were ‘cutting and running.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ithdrawal.html
Given the state of the UK economy I was mildly surprised mention was made of future deployments in the Middle East, with local allies, like Jordan.
A muddled nation and army: a mother writes
Lt Mark Evison, a Welsh Guards officer died after being shot in Afghanistan in mid-2009, his incredibly brave mother, Margaret, has written her story: 'Death of a soldier: A Mother's Story' and was reviewed in 'The Spectator' recently:http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/880...-of-unknowing/
Mark Evison coined the phrase "mowing the grass" IIRC when his letters or diary were released after his death - asking what exactly were the soldiers doing.
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...she realises that some things about the official account of what happened to him don’t add up. Why did it take so long for a helicopter to airlift him out? As a result of the delay, Mark bled until his heart was ‘dry’ just 30 kilometres from a sophisticated hospital base.
(Ends) She never really gets to the bottom of what happened to her son — and in a way it’s this lack of answers that makes her book so powerful. Quite possibly, she acknowledges, there is no sinister back-story, no dark chicanery. Instead, there is just blunder and evasion. As she writes, ‘The muddle over Mark’s death seemed to reflect a more fundamental Army and political muddle over Afghanistan, as well as a muddle about itself.’
UK combat operations effectively cease
A very curious way to tell the UK public, an Army brigadier in Afghanistan being interviewed by the BBC's Mark Urban:
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We have reduced our profile to such an extent that we don't do ground combat type operations anymore...[The] Afghans with whom we work still like to know that they can call upon us...
Alas an ANA Brigadier in central Helmand dissented:
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In terms of combat we did not need any help with that and we have not asked for any.
Mark Urban questioned why so many UK troops remained, the answer was slightly odd - hinting at far fewer being in Helmand and Urban writes:
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During the current six month troop rotation - now coming to its end - around 900 troops were sent home early, bringing the total down to around 7,000. There are plans to cut back to 5,200 by the end of the year, both figures exclude the special forces group of around 1,000.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21839451
Elsewhere an observer reports an infantry battalion (2 Royal Scots) is about to leave, to mentor the ANP.
The main thread 'The UK in Afghanistan' is:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=7644
Achieving a return to the past
The UK in Afghanistan has been the subject of a House of Commons Select Committee on Defence review, for odd reasons it was published this week when parliament was on holiday and so had little coverage amidst the focus on Lady Thatcher's demise.
Link:http://www.publications.parliament.u...ce/413/413.pdf
There have been a few comments, so starting with Paul Rogers:
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.. there is deeply conflicting evidence as to whether the Taliban are actually in retreat; the second is that the committee has faced great difficulty in trying to find out how Britain plans to aid Afghanistan after the withdrawal.
(Later) In the British parliamentary system, select committees are (with a few exceptions) not particularly effective at calling governments to account - and usually this is even more true for the defence committee. Its Afghanistan report is different: a welcome sign that at least one part of the political system is trying to get a stronger focus on what is really happening in Afghanistan, and whether the UK and other governments should be replacing their "boots on the ground" with much greater efforts to help Afghans rebuild their own country.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-ro...stan-day-after
Kings of War:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2013/04/ham...nd-civil-wars/
The Daily Telegraph's Foreign Editor:
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One of the more depressing observations made by a defence select committee report this week concerned the apparent lack of interest that both the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office have displayed in Afghanistan’s administration post-2014 – when Nato’s combat operations officially conclude. Given that these departments were responsible for dispatching thousands of British troops to southern Afghanistan in the summer of 2006, one would have thought they would be doing their best to ensure that the sacrifices of the past decade – the total British death toll stands at 441 – are not in vain.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-of-peace.html
The Guardian's correspondent has some "boots on the ground" experience and concludes:
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Unfortunately, it looks like the need for a quick exit will mean the west caves in to Pakistan's demands. At that stage, we will have gone full circle in Afghanistan since 2001, with Pakistan once again back in the driving seat and civil war the only realistic outlook.
Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...criminals-west
Last night the BBC re-ran what appeared to be a short clip of an interview with Lt. General Nick Carter, ex-RC(S) and now Deputy ISAF CO; in which he stated:
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Cutting British forces in Afghanistan too quickly could "endanger" progress at a critical time, the UK's top commander there has told a paper......But he warned any move to thin out UK forces too soon would be unforgivable.
I have just noted the report is dated April 1st 2013.