JOC:
Joint Operations Cell - the functioning control centre of operations in the Helmand province
JTAC:
Joint Terminal Attack Controller (Jaytac) - soldier responsible to his commander for the deliverance of air ordnance from combat aircraft onto a target. The airspace controller for a battle, normal callsign is Widow
KAF:
Kandahar Airfield
KIA:
Killed In Action
Klick:
military slang for kilometre
LAV:
Light Armoured Vehicles. Canadian 8x8 wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier
Leakers:
Taliban that are attempting to escape (leak) from a target area
L-Hour:
The moment the first helicopter lands on an LS during an operation
Lima Charlie:
Phonetic alphabet for LC - air speak for Loud and Clear
Loadie:
Loadmaster responsible for passengers and equipment in military troop-carrying helicopters or transport aircraft. Often mans one of the crew-served guns
LOAL:
Lock-On After Launch (low-al) - missile is launched then it acquires a laser lock
LOBL:
Lock-on Before Launch (lobel) - the missile locks onto the laser energy when it is still on the Apache
Longbow:
The Longbow radar is the Apache’s Fire Control Radar. It looks like a large Swiss cheese and sits on top of the main rotor system
LOS:
Line of Sight
LS:
Landing Site - any unprepared Helicopter Landing Site
LSJ:
Life Support Jacket - survival waistcoat - escape jacket
LWRS:
Laser Warning Receiving System
Lynx Mk7:
British Army anti-tank helicopter armed with missiles on each side
ManPADS:
Man Portable Aid Defence System - shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile
MAWS:
Missile Approach Warning System
Max chat:
As fast as possible
MC:
Military Cross - awarded in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.
MIA:
Missing In Action
Mission Net:
An encrypted frequency used to coordinate the mission during operations
MoD:
Ministry of Defence
Monocle:
The pink see-through glass mirror over an Apache pilot’s right eye that displays green symbology and images from the onboard computers and sights
Mosquito:
Taliban slang for the Apache
MPD:
Multi-Purpose Display - one of two five-inch screens on the console in each Apache cockpit
MPOG:
Minimum pitch applied to the main rotor blades when on the ground
MPSM:
Multi-Purpose Sub-Munition
Mujahideen:
Afghan opposition groups - fought the Soviets during the Soviet invasion and each other in the Afghan Civil War - plural for the word mujahid meaning ‘struggler’
Multiple:
A Northern Ireland patrol consisting of two or more bricks
MWR:
Moral, Welfare and Recreation. Large US facility in which to unwind with the freely provided games, refreshments, TVs, Cinema, computers, gaming stations, DVDs and the internet
NATO:
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Negative:
Air speak for ‘no’
Negative Lima:
No laser
Nimrod:
A long-range maritime patrol aircraft modified for surveillance
NVG:
Night Vision Goggles - night sights that magnify light by 40,000 times
OC:
Officer Commanding - major in charge of a squadron or company group
OP:
Observation Position
Ops:
Operations - as in Ops tent, Ops room, Ops Officer or literally an operation
ORT:
Optical Relay Tube - the large console in the front seat with PlayStation-type grips on either side
Pairs fire-and-manoeuvre:
One static soldier aiming or shooting whilst his buddy manoeuvres to a position forward or backwards of him. They swap roles and do this continually manoeuvring with one foot on the ground at all times
Para:
Nickname for a soldier from the Parachute Regiment or the Regiment itself
Pathfinder Platoon:
a small unit designed and trained to fight behind enemy lines; 16 Air Assault Brigade’s equivalent of the SAS
Pax:
Official military term for people
P-check:
Northern Ireland term for checking the details of a car from its number plate
PFL:
Practice Forced Landing - practising landing without the use of any engines
PID:
Positive Identity
Pinzgauer:
Small 4x4 all-terrain utility truck
PNVS:
Pilot’s Night Vision System (Pinvis) - the thermal camera that sits above the TADS on the Apache’s nose
Port:
Left-hand side of an aircraft or vessel
PRT:
Provincial Reconstruction Team
PMI:
Power Margin Indicator
QHI:
Qualified Helicopter Instructor - flying instructor
RA:
Royal Artillery
RAD:
Ram Air Decelerator
Radome:
A dome that shrouds a radar head
RAF:
Royal Air Force
Rearm:
Reload the Apache with ammunition
Red Top:
Gazelles painted anti-collision Day-Glo red, flown by range officers whose job is to ensure that troops, vehicles and aircraft are within safety limits
Replen:
Military slang for replenishment
RF:
Radio Frequency
RIP:
Relief In Place - Apache flights handing over the battle between each other, maintaining support to the ground troops
RMP:
Royal Military Police - British Military Police
RoC:
Rehearsal of Concept
ROE:
Rules Of Engagement - law set by a country’s government laying down the rules governing how arms are brought to bear
ROZ:
Restricted Operating Zone
RPG:
Rocket Propelled Grenade - shoulder-launched rocket with a powerful grenade warhead on the front
RQHI:
Regiment’s Qualified Helicopter Instructor
RTA:
Road Traffic Accident
RTB:
Return To Base
RTM322:
Rolls-Royce engines for the Apache
RTS:
Release To Service - the document that details what can and can’t be done with the Apache regarding flight, firing, etc.
RV:
Rendezvous - designated meeting place
RWR:
Radar Warning Receiver
SA80:
British Forces rifle - 5.56 mm automatic
SAL:
Semi-Active Laser
SAM:
Surface-to-Air missile
SAS:
Special Air Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the British Army
SBS:
Special Boat Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the Royal Navy
Scratcher:
Military slang for bed
SF:
Special Forces - e.g. SAS and SBS
SFI:
Senior Flying Instructor
Sitrep:
Situational Report
Starboard:
Right-hand side of an aircraft or vessel
Stinger:
US-designed Surface-to-air ManPADs (Man Portable Air
Defence System) Missile. Taliban slang for any shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile
SupFAC:
Supervisory Forward Air Controller
SWO:
Squadron Weapons Officer
Symbology:
Flying and targeting information beamed onto the monocle
T-33:
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. An old military jet built under licence by the Canadians and renamed the CT-133 Silver Star
TA:
Territorial Army
TADS:
Target Acquisition and Designation Sight - the ‘bucket’ on the nose of the Apache that houses the Apache’s cameras
Taliban:
Collective term used in this book for Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)
Tanky:
A member of one of the tank Regiments - tank commander, driver or gun loader
TFAD:
Task Force Availability Date
Theatre:
Country or area in which troops are conducting operations
Thirty mike mike:
Military slang for thirty millimetre or the Apache’s cannon rounds
Thirty mil:
Alternative name for thirty mike mike
TOC:
Tactical Operations Cell
Topman:
Callsign for the British Harrier
TOW:
Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided missile - fired from the British Army Lynx helicopter
Tracer:
Bullets that burn with a red, orange or green glow from 110 metres to 1,100 metres so that they can be seen
TSD:
Tactical Situational Display
UFD:
Up Front Display - an LED instrument that displays critical information to the Apache crews
USAF:
United States Air Force
Venturi:
A tubed duct that changes pressure to speed air up
VP:
Vulnerable Position
WAH-64D:
British version of the Apache
WI:
Weapons Instructor
Widow:
Callsign for JTACs in Afghanistan
Wildman:
British Apache callsign from May 2006 to October 2006
Wingman:
The other aircraft in any pair of aircraft
WMIK:
Weapons Mounted Installation Kit - an odd-looking Land Rover with bars all over it to which weapons can be attached
WO1:
Warrant Officer Class One - a soldier who holds a Royal Warrant is known as Warrant Officer; Class One is the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army
WO2:
Warrant Officer Class Two
Zero-zero:
A term used to describe a specific type of approach to land in a helicopter
I owe a great debt of gratitude to Captain Paul Mason, Army Air Corps, the Apache guru who (as he constantly reminds me) taught me all I knew. You were an inspiration to me Paul.
My sincere thanks to the Attack Helicopter Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Turner AAC, and the Director of Army Aviation, Brigadier David Short CBE ADC, for their support throughout, and for letting me tell it the way it was.
A special thank you to Paula Edwards at the MoD for her habitually elegant tightrope act.
The dedication, time, enthusiasm and friendship of the HarperCollins team has been nothing short of monumental. John Bond and Arabella Pike, thank you for believing in me.
I couldn’t have written this book without the guidance of Nick Cook and Martyn Forrester. You have helped nurture and shape my narrative in a way that I could never have achieved on my own. Thank you both so much.
Thanks to all my army buddies, friends and family for your continued support.
I owe my sanity to TFM’s Gary Philipson for letting me in the Zoo at night to talk to the Love Slug!
I’d always assumed an agent was someone who took money off you for licking the odd stamp when he could find the time. I now realise it doesn’t stop there. I can’t thank Mark Lucas enough-for your tireless promotion, advice and, above all, priceless edits. You’re my agent, literary scholar, adviser and above all friend.
Emily, you are my foundation. You support everything that I dream of and you always hold firm when times are rough. Without you I could never even begin to chase my dreams.
To my children, my little AAC: you are my world.
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.
Entries in
italics
indicate maps, photographs or illustrations.
EM indicates Ed Macy.
ABFAC (Airborne Forward Air Controller) 68-71
Afghan National Army (ANA) 145, 146, 168, 333
Afghan National Police (ANP) 145, 146, 168, 179, 188, 201, 299-300, 301, 333, 338, 339, 363
Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) 168, 339, 344
Afghanistan:
British Army bases in
see under individual base name
British Army objectives in 145-7
British Army operations in
see under individual operation name
climate 157, 165-6, 211, 214, 215, 357
map of
xiii
narcotics trade within 146, 147, 227, 333, 392
reconstruction of 145-6, 147, 154, 392
smell of 157, 158, 159
see also under individual area and place name
air support 200, 233, 341
A-10 166, 234, 236
Apache
see
Apache WAH-64D
B1B 4, 154, 166, 253, 254, 260, 355, 360, 362
B-2 95
C-17 161, 162
C-130 95, 156, 177
Chinook, CH-47 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 97, 129, 130, 132, 147, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 183, 194, 195, 196-7, 199, 200, 202, 203, 212, 226, 253, 255, 258, 259, 260, 265, 290, 292, 293, 295, 296, 298, 299, 300, 330, 333, 338, 340, 341, 345, 346