Lt Col Harry
Fullerton talks about his tour Commanding the HCR BG
Musa Qaleh had been considered one of the most dangerous areas in
Helmand. Taken once by British forces during 2006, in October of
that year an agreement with Tribal Elders to keep the Taliban
insurgents of the town was made and the British Forces moved out.
In February 2007 the Taliban returned in force to reoccupy the
town. In December that year ISAF forces were back engaged in
fierce fighting to retake the town. In a short time soldiers from
the 2nd Bn Yorkshire Regiment, supported by the light tanks of the
Household Cavalry Regiment were back in Musa Qaleh District
Centre. And there British Forces have remained ever since.
Five months into their tour in the northerly town of Musa Qaleh,
while elements of the Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) Battle
Group are still firmly involved in combat operations, others have
their minds trained on moving out of Musa Qaleh.
The town has been the home to the Battle Group Headquarters since
October 2009 when the HCR took over from the 2nd Bn Royal Regiment
of Fusiliers (2RRF). At the time Musa Qaleh was relatively secure,
but only weeks before the arrival of the HCR there were occasional
indirect fire attacks. Operations led by 2RRF and later the HCR
succeeded in pushing back the firing points until the incoming
fire stopped.
Talking about the developments in Musa Qaleh Lt Col Fullerton
said,
"I think there have been an number of considerable
changes and it's probably partly to do with the
partnership we have with the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the
Afghan National Police (ANP). It's a close relationship,
they've been very well trained by various training
programs, and they have lots of experience. We've managed
to embed ourselves with them so that all planning is done
together, we listen to them, listen to what they've got
to say about the area, they have a great deal more experience of
it. I think its also to do with the people of Musa Qaleh. Every
single area in Helmand Province has it own micro climate of local
nationals, and what we've managed to do through the
Governor, the Army and Police is to convince the locals that we
area force for good. We're here to support the government
and the government is the right way forward for the people of
Afghanistan and the people of Musa Qaleh. And I think the
important thing there is to show progress, and when they see
better security, when they see justice being done correctly and
when the see projects happening in front of their very eyes and
employment opportunities arise they say look the Taliban is not
the right way forward, the insurgency is on the wane,
we're on the winning side with the government, lets stick
with it and lets support it."
Government and Governance are the buzz words in Musa Qaleh, they
are seen as the key factors in maintaining the momentum of change
for the better in the town. The measures put in place to ensure
effective governance and the men carrying out the duties of
decision making are in position. These men are in almost daily
contact with the Colonel and his team. 'At the root of
the problem here in Afghanistan, in Helmand and in Musa Qaleh,
there is no doubt about it, is governance and security. On the
governance front we have a number of challenges but we address
then through weekly security Shuras, and have a very good
Stabilisation Officer from the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction
Team) and a Political Officer or what we call the POLO. Between
the three of us we liaise a great deal with the District Governor
and the Chief of Police.
The District Governor, Mullah Salaam is himself an ex-Taliban
fighter and two years ago he was part of delivering Musa Qaleh to
coalition forces, and ever since then its been a case of trying to
get him to govern correctly and make the right decisions so that
the people feel that justice is being delivered. It's
never been easy and we continue to make progress with it, our five
months here have seen a great deal of progress. I think the
popularity of the government generally here, although still in a
very much an embryonic form is growing with the locals.'
The security, stability in the town and in the surrounding areas
has resulted in a commercial boom. The towns Bazaar or market and
the Livestock market held twice weekly on the gravel banks of the
Wadi, or river to the west of Musa Qaleh are testament to this.
The Colonel continued, "We didn't takeover a
disaster at the beginning, we took over a market system here which
was starting to be successful. But we have certainly seen the
market which happens twice a week here enlarge possibly by up to
30%. We have about 1200 stall holders in the Bazaar. Probably the
key to their issues is the connection with places like Geresk,
we're still quite cut off here in Musa Qaleh and further
ISAF operations are going to try and do something about that, to
try and get better route security, to make sure their roads
aren't IED'd and also to make sure that
they're not paying things like illegal taxes, so the
locals feel like they can make a living and have a business
without being illegally taxed."
Lt Col Fullerton commands the HCR BG in Musa Qaleh, but Squadrons
from his regiment are spread across Helmand working with other
battle groups. This has meant his regiment has one of the biggest
footprints in the Province and means some of his officers and me
have moved out of their familiar Scimitar light tanks and into
Jackels, Coyotes and Mastiffs.
He said,'"We trained for 18 months for this 6
month tour and as a Reconnaissance regiment we always knew that we
would be split up. There was no way we would be put into a Battle
Group all of our own. We do have specialist skills and as Armoured
Corp soldiers those specialist skills mean that we can adapt to
various vehicles and to various ways of operation. That means a
Squadron has moved into Mastiff, but sometimes they switch back to
operating in Scimitar and that has been a highly effective
combination of vehicles. Other men have been put into Jackel and
some others have stayed with their Scimitar, but not working with
us. B Squadron is working as the Brigade Recce Force, albeit with
a number of highly specialist soldiers from the infantry and
Engineers among others.
"I think its been a challenge in order to create such a
diverse organisation, the Battle Group HQ would not normally come
from the Household Cavalry or the Royal Armoured Corp, but we are
used to working as a BG HQ and being given the job of a ground
holding BG here in Musa Qal'eh has been a real privilege,
something we've worked at and I think something
that's been a real success story."
Five months into a six month tour on Op Herrick 11, it is obvious
walking around the camp that the HCR are preparing for their
departure. It's likely they will handover what has
recently become known as Combined Force Musa Qaleh to the US
Marine Corp.
Col Fullerton commented on how the ISAF landscape in Musa Qaleh
and Helmand looked like changing. "Well we're at
the planning stages, the American Marines have been here on
various recces, they have looked at the area, they're
very happy with it, they are happy to be taking over a relatively
safe and secure environment where Musa Qaleh, the District Centre,
the outlying villages are all under government control.
It's at the edges where we come across the insurgents and
where we are trying to reintegrate them. Effectively the Americans
are going to be taking over a great deal of the north of Helmand
and this is a rebalancing act where British forces, battle groups
and sub-units are going to be reinvested into central Helmand to
bump up troop numbers in order to give us that security that will
provide better governance in those areas. That will leave the
Americans with further work to do up here. But I think the
important thing the stress is that what they are taking over is a
British success story, 5 battle group's have been here
over the past two years and they have progressively expanded the
area of governance, it hasn't been without its cost but
it has been a cost worth making in order to deliver success for
the British Army, the British Government and most importantly the
people of Afghanistan."
ENDS
Contacts:
Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk