Battleworn
Authors: Chantelle Taylor
BATTLEWORN
THE MEMOIR OF
A COMBAT MEDIC
IN AFGHANISTAN
CHANTELLE TAYLOR
iUniverse LLC
Bloomington
BATTLEWORN
THE MEMOIR OFA COMBAT MEDICIN AFGHANISTAN
Copyright © 2014 Chantelle Taylor.
Cover artwork: Medics in Afghanistan by Edward Waite –
www.edwardwaite.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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ISBN: 978-1-4917-2528-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4917-2529-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4917-2530-6 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014902837
iUniverse rev. date: 4/14/2014
Brought to you by KeVkRaY
CONTENTS
Preface
List Of Abbreviations And Acronyms
Prologue
1 Game On
2 Establish Routine
3 The Shooting Season
4 Flashheart Arrives
5 Face-To-Face With The Taliban
6 Patrol Base Test
7 Mass Casualties
8 Ali Cat
9 Homeward Bound
10 Saying Goodbye
About The Author
For my brother David
(1970–2002)
The following account is based on my experience as the lead trauma medic within an infantry fighting company. I have endeavoured to report events accurately and truthfully; insult or injury to any of the parties described or quoted herein, or to their families, is unintentional.
After putting my thoughts on paper over a period of six weeks in the late summer of 2009, I decided to send the raw text to my mum, trying to explain what I had experienced in Afghanistan as a serving soldier. It wasn’t polished, and it only touched the surface of my time with B Company 5 Scots (5th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland) during their mission to hold Nad-e Ali. She wrote back, commenting that my writing was developing into a good story and that she enjoyed reading about the characters, particularly young Duffy.
I would never have contemplated writing this book if it hadn’t been for Mum’s encouragement. I have enjoyed a lifetime of her wisdom: ‘You can stoop down and pick up anything, Channy; try reaching for it instead.’
In
Battleworn,
I tell the story of B Company, a beleaguered group of individuals who fought relentlessly and against all odds to hold Nad-e Ali, a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, in 2008.
It is difficult for soldiers to express feelings whilst engaged in combat, as training rightly teaches suppression of emotion in order to survive the battlefield. I wrote the following poem for Cpl Stu Pearson QGM (3 PARA) and Cpl Mark Wright GC (3 PARA). I share it here in honour of all our fallen.
KEEP ME AWAKE – KAJAKI
Lying still, like the Tommy did before me,
My trench is in a land far from her heart;
A purple horizon has become my solace, my peace.
Don’t fall asleep, soldier, for you may not wake again.
Body broken, I still breathe.
Who is that, who lies beside me?
I am your brother; you are my keeper.
Don’t fall asleep, soldier, for you may not wake again.
What is your name?
I am a fallen soldier; keep me awake, let me see her face once more.
I will, I will …
Don’t fall asleep, soldier, for you will not wake again.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
2IC:
second in command
2Lt:
second lieutenant
2 PARA/3 PARA:
2nd/3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment
ABTF: Airborne Task
Force
ANA: Afghan National ANP: Afghan National
Police
AO: area of operations
ASM: air to surface missile
ATV: all-terrain vehicle
Brig.:
brigadier
CAP:
company aid post
Capt.:
captain
CAS:
close air support
casevac:
casualty evacuation
cat-A:
category A (wound classification)
cat-B:
category B (wound classification)
cat-C:
category C (wound classification)
CCP:
casualty collection point
CLP:
combat logistic patrol
CMT:
combat medical technician
CP:
command post
Cpl:
corporal
CSAR:
combat search and rescue
CSgt:
colour sergeant
DEFAC:
dining facility
DOS:
Department of State
evac:
evacuation
FCO:
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FOB:
forward operating base
FSG:
fire support group
Fus:
fusilier
GC:
George Cross
GM:
George Medal
GPMG:
general purpose machine gun
HE:
high explosive
HLZ:
helicopter landing zone
HQ:
headquarters
ICOM:
interim communications operations method
ID:
intradermal
IDF:
indirect fire
IED:
improvised explosive device
IM:
intramuscular
intel:
intelligence
ITC:
infantry training centre
IV:
intravenous
JTAC:
joint tactical air controller
KAF:
Kandahar Air Force Base
KAIA:
Kabul International Airport
KIA:
killed in action
LCpl:
lance corporal
LKG:
Lashkar Gah
LOCSTAT:
location with grid reference
Lt:
lieutenant
Lt Col:
lieutenant colonel
Maj.:
major
MARCH-P:
acronym for emergency medical assessment (
see
text for details)
MERT:
medical emergency response team
MOB:
main operating base
MOD:
Ministry of Defence
MREs:
meals ready to eat
NHS:
National Health Service
NVG:
night vision goggles
OC:
officer commanding
OMLT:
operational mentor and liaison team
ops:
operations
PB:
patrol base
PEF:
poppy eradication force
PF:
Pathfinder
PK/PKM:
Polemyot Kalashnikov machine gun
PMT:
police mentoring team
POW:
prisoner of war
PRT:
provincial reconstruction team
PSD:
personal security detail
Pte:
private
PTSD:
post-traumatic stress disorder
PX:
post exchange
QGM
: Queen’s Gallantry Medal
QRF:
quick reaction force
RAF:
Royal Air Force
RAP:
regimental aid post
recce:
reconnaissance
reorg:
reorganisation
resupp:
resupply
RI:
Royal Irish
RIP:
relief in place
RLC:
Royal Logistics Corp
RPG:
rocket propelled grenade
RRF:
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
SAM:
surface to air missile
SC:
subcutaneous
Sgt:
sergeant
Sgt Maj.:
sergeant major
sitrep:
situation report
SME:
subject matter expert
SNCO:
senior non-commissioned officer
SUSAT:
sight unit small arms trilux
TA:
territorial army
TAB:
tactical advance to battle
UAV:
unmanned aerial vehicle
VP:
vulnerable point
WMIK:
weapons mounted installation kit
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt
[AUTHOR’S NOTE: ‘The Man in the Arena’ is an excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s
Citizenship in a Republic
speech given at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on 23 April 1910. These are the words carried by my grandfather whilst serving in Korea in 1951 as a 41 Commando Royal Marine.]
The first explosion rocked the vehicle, smashing my head against the front of the wagon. I could hear rounds zipping through the antennas above me. ‘What the fuck?’ I shouted as an array of munitions continued to rain down on us.
I was in the same vehicle as LCpl Kevin Coyle, the signaller of the officer commanding (OC). The lightly armoured patrol in which I was travelling had turned into a Taliban shooting gallery; the noise from left and rear incoming fire was deafening. Our heavy machine guns roared into action as broken bricks and clouds of dust enveloped us.