Brave hero pulled bullet from his own arm and carried on fighting

A SQUADDIE picked out by a Taliban sniper in a gun battle pulled out the bullet and carried on fighting.

Heroic Lewis Coulbert did not even realise he had been hit in the intense midnight fire fight.

It was only when he glanced down and saw his arm covered in blood that he realised he could be in trouble.

But he did not want to let his comrades down as they tried to fend off enemy fighters in the lawless area of Nad e-Ali, Helmand.

Courageous

So the courageous soldier plucked out the AK47 round with his FINGERS, picked up his gun and continued shooting at insurgents.

The modest Guardsman, 22, said: "It felt like being jabbed in the arm really hard.

"But it was not until the end of the contact that I noticed my arm was covered in blood.

"I pulled out the bullet, treated it and carried on."

Lewis, just a month into his first tour of the Afghan badlands, was on a patrol near the Taliban stronghold town when he was shot.

He and his 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards comrades were protecting Royal Engineers building up a vital patrol base.

Crouching in a compound the enemy sniper got a lucky shot as the bullet ricocheted off the walls before entering his upper arm.

The soldier, from Derby, added: "The idea was to move in and create a buffer around where the engineers were working so that anything would have to come through us before it got to them.

"When we got to this compound it was quite exposed.

"Within two minutes of getting into the compound and taking over the roof we started getting incoming and returned fire.

"We were getting automatic and single shot that was pretty accurate, bouncing around the walls and the roof."

The young guardsman added: "Our sniper identified their firing position and we started rattling at it.

"I got down and a round came through the wall and ricocheted into my arm."

Mum Julie Coulbert, 48, and his Royal Marine brother Chay, 21, and two sisters Esme, 25, and Maisie, 14, were proud to hear about his bravery.

Mrs Coulbert said: "I am really proud of both of my boys in the Army.

"But as a mother you also worry that every day they put their lives in danger."

Brit heroes win Afghan race - The Sun

A PAIR of hero Brits proved Our Boys are the world's toughest — after hammering all other nation's soldiers at the forces first Afghan marathon.

More than 300 super-fit servicemen from the US, Denmark and Estonia turned out for the race around fortified US and UK bases, in Helmand.

Hardy US Marines organised the endurance challenge to prove their superior mettle — but it was Lynx chopper pilot Captain Alex Lockett and Lance Corporal Jon Rogers who triumphed.

Capt Lockett, 30, from 652 Squadron, 1 Regiment Army Air Corps, said: "Everyone was out to beat the Americans and we all love to take the mick of them in their matching sports gear.

"There were plenty of 'Run Forest , Run!' comments, but they took it in good spirit."

L/Cpl Rogers, 22, from 7 Signals Regiment, said: "The US Marines organised the marathon so beating the Yanks at their own race felt pretty sweet.

"Everyone knows the Marines are double hard but I can assure you it wasn't a case of me running scared. I just happened to run faster after calling them a bunch of school girls!"

The race was organised so the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could blow off steam between battling to bring safety to war-torn Afghanistan.

More than 400 spectators turned out to cheer the Brits to victory. Capt Lockett clinched first with L/Cpl Rogers taking second — winning his age category.

The gruelling 26 mile race started at 7am when the normally soaring temperature was a mild 30 degrees.

But in the build-up runners had to train from 2am to 4am in the morning in pitch black conditions wearing head torches as the burning sun made it impossible to train in the day.

Astonishingly both men's regular army fitness regime is so advanced neither put in much extra effort ahead of the race.

Capt Lockett — who had never attempted a marathon before — only started training a month before the big day and L/Cpl Rogers didn't do more than his usual fitness regime.

Capt Lockett, said: "I had no idea what the competition would be like and certainly didn't expect to win.

Read more on the Sun website here:

Stabilising Afghanistan

A high-ranking Army chief has heaped praise on the professionalism of a tri-Service operational group dedicated to helping the stabilisation process in Afghanistan.

Major General Bruce Brealey, General Officer Commanding Theatre Troops, commended the work of the Military Stabilisation Support Group (MSSG) as the team's flag was raised at Gibraltar Barracks in Camberley, Surrey.

The MSSG, formally known as the Joint Civil-Military Co-operation Group, has been expanded to encompass the work of the military assistance to civil effect and stabilisation teams.

The group was set up with Afghanistan in mind and its aim is to help bring stability to the war-torn area by assisting with education, water supplies, businesses and health clinics:

"What we have got now is an organisation with a unified identity, something to be extremely proud of - it gives us focus," said Maj Gen Brealey.

"We are already seeing people having a much better idea of what we are trying to achieve and who with.

"Today marks an important step and recognises that this is a very important group within the Army."

The MSSG's remit covers everything from war-fighting to peace support and disaster relief operations. It will also assist in mitigating the impact of military operations on the civil environment and vice-versa.

The tri-Service body also works alongside civilian organisations in a mock forward operating base in Camberley to allow HERRICK-bound users to become familiarised with the Afghan environment and the way of life of the country's population.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Brasher, Commander of the MSSG, explained that his group ensures personnel are fully trained in different scenarios and are aware of their very important role:

"If MSSG was not there it would be an ad hoc process. Now we are bringing people together who have gone through formal training, to understand this way of operating," he said.

"With this we have much more in-depth training to achieve the task.

"I'm not saying that it hasn't been done before but now it's much better resourced and training has been much improved."

Maj Gen Brealey concluded:

"In the past we were enthusiastic amateurs. Now we are selecting people who have an aptitude and who are being trained for it."

This article is taken from the November 2009 edition of SOLDIER - Magazine of the British Army.

AUDIO: Rifleman Walton reflects on a hard summer tour of Helmand

Rifleman Robert Walton from Douglas in the Isle of Man is 19 years old and serving with 4 Rifles.

He has been deployed as part of 19 Light Brigade and has spent five months here in Helmand during some of the most intense fighting since the British arrived here.

The Rifles is the largest infantry regiment in the British Army and trace their values and heritage back to the Peninsular War and the time portrayed in the TV series Sharpe. Then, as today, independence of thought and action were prized amongst the specialist soldiers equipped with rifles who were known as Riflemen.

PICTURE of the day: 'Open fire'

Live firing on one of the ranges in Helmand

Reception, Staging and Onward Integration (RSOI) is the final stage in the intensive training that every soldier completes before taking on their tasks in Helmand.

Back in the UK and on exercises around the world, soldiers undergo months of training to prepare them for the rigors of Helmand.

RSOI is the final phase and brings everyone up to speed with the very latest developments.

Simulating a causality extraction

Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid killed in Afghanistan

It is with great regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Sean George Schmid, of the Royal Logistic Corps, in Afghanistan on the afternoon of Saturday 31 October 2009.

SSgt Schmid died instantly following an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion in the Sangin region of Helmand Province.

At the time he was commanding an Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) team who were dealing with a confirmed IED.

Working in concert with an Advanced Search team he was conducting a manual route search to clear devices in the vicinity of the Forward Operating Base and was defusing the device when it initiated.

Staff Sergeant Olaf Sean George Schmid

SSgt Schmid was born in Truro, Cornwall on 11 June 1979. He was married to Christina (Chrissy) and had a step-son Laird, aged five. They lived together as a family in Winchester.

An Ammunition Technician (AT) by trade, SSgt Schmid served much of his career at the Commando Logistic Regt and thrived in 3 Commando Brigade, the ethos there suiting his thirst for soldiering.

He sailed through the ranks and was selected for promotion to SSgt in April 2008. SSgt Schmid was posted to 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps as an AT Senior Non-Commissioned Officer at Alpha Troop providing close IEDD support to Special Forces and Police Tactical Firearms teams; an area in which he continued to thrive.

He had a natural aptitude for IEDD and made steady progress through the numerous courses that an AT has to go through to become a High Threat Operator. He successfully passed the High Threat IEDD Course earlier this year which qualified him to operate in Afghanistan which is considered very much the pinnacle of any AT's operational career.

SSgt Schmid arrived in theatre on Op HERRICK 10 in June 2009, thrown in the deep-end participating in Op PANCHAI PALANG during the summer. During the course of his tour, he attended 41 tasks, rendered safe 64 IEDs and attended 11 finds of bomb making equipment.

Christina Schmid, wife of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid said:

"Oz was a phenomenal husband and loving father who was cruelly murdered on his last day of a relentless five month tour.

"He was my best friend and soul mate. The pain of losing him is overwhelming. I take comfort knowing he saved countless lives with his hard work. I am so proud of him."

Lieutenant Col Robert Thomson, Commanding Officer 2 RIFLES Battle Group said:

"SSgt Oz Schmid was simply the bravest and most courageous man I have ever met. Under relentless IED and small arms attacks he stood taller than the tallest. He opened the Pharmacy Road and 24 hrs later, found 31 IEDs in one go on route SPARTA. Every single Company in 2 RIFLES adored working with him.

"I adored working with him. No matter how difficult or lethal the task which lay in front of us, he was the man who only saw solutions.

"He saved lives in 2 RIFLES time after time and for that he will retain a very special place in every heart of every Rifleman in our extraordinary Battle Group. Superlatives do not do the man justice. Better than the best. Better than the best of the best. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved family."

"It has been an honour to lead these men," says Lt-Col Cartwright.

Interview: Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cartwright, Black Watch commander

AS Black Watch troops prepare to return home from Afghanistan, their commander speaks to Stephen McGinty about the regiment's experiences
IN A corner of Kandahar airfield, amid the whop-whop-whop of Chinook helicopter rotors and the roar of the engines of Hercules transport planes, sits the headquarters of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. It is a wooden hut and when temperatures at the base, Camp Roberts, reach their highs of about 55C, the building is lost amid the shimmer of a heat haze.

For the past seven months this has been home to the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cartwright, from where he has planned mission after mission in the districts of Babaji, Zhari and Nahr-E-Saraj, exotic place names now as familiar to his soldiers, from Perth, Dundee and Inverness, as the names of their own towns.

But today the maps, once pinned to the walls of the planning room next door, are gone, the computers have been removed and the battalion is preparing to return home this week after a long, hot summer in which it participated in the bloodiest fighting for a generation. The troops have fought by the bodies of comrades killed in action and heard IEDs explode in the distance then listened to the radio crackle as medics try in vain to save a fellow soldier. They have hung to canvas straps inside Chinooks and flown through the Afghan night as part of the largest aviation assault in recent British history, and fixed bayonets in readiness for close-quarters combat. Along the way, a Black Watch sniper applied "the lead sleeping tablet" to a Taleban insurgent from a distance of 1.2 miles, and so claimed a macabre record.

"It has been an honour to lead these men," says Lt-Col Cartwright. "I am incredibly proud of their achievements."

For the full article click here for the Scotsman

Goldstars squadron takes to the Afghan skies

31 Squadron have now been at the helm of the Tornado detachment at Kandahar Airfield Base or KAF as it is known, Southern Afghanistan for 3 weeks. It is the culmination of 3 months of exercises, briefings, jabs, fitness tests and simulated rocket attacks preparing to take over from the Lossiemouth Tornado Wing who finish their own 4 month deployment after taking over from the Harrier Force in June.

Whilst 31 Squadron will escape the blistering heat of summer, they will be missing their families and loved ones over the Christmas and New Year season making the Christmas parcels and blueys all the more important. Fortunately, the welfare facilities at Kandahar are top notch and there are ample telephones and internet facilities to get in touch with the folks back home.The professionalism of the aircrew and engineers has led to a seamless handover between the Lossiemouth Wing and 31 Sqn. The true test of this came when within 3 minutes of calling “on-state” the Ground Alert was scrambled. Aircraft were airborne and providing armed overwatch of a developing situation on the ground less than 27 minutes later – 31 Squadron had started their tour.

Day to day life here became routine vey quickly, the engineers turn spanners 24 hours a day on 12 on/12 off shifts, whilst the aircrew plan, brief and fly sorties 7 days a week. 31 Sqn is also supported admirably by operational and admin support staff and a small home team are on call to provide welfare support for families at home.

The one thing that cannot be escaped here is the dust and the evening scent that drifts across the accommodation from the on-base sewage treatment works, affectionately known as ‘poo pond’.

Flt Lt Jim Harkin, 31 Squadron

Abdullah pulls out of Afghan vote

President Hamid Karzai's rival in the second round of the Afghan presidential election has announced in Kabul that he is withdrawing from the poll.

"I will not participate in the election," Dr Abdullah told supporters, saying his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election had not been met.

But he stopped short of calling for a boycott of next Saturday's vote.

Mr Karzai had rejected his demand that election officials who presided over the first round should be dismissed.

President Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar said the withdrawal was "very unfortunate", but the election should go ahead as planned.

"The process has to complete itself, the people of Afghanistan have to be given the right to vote.

Earlier, the US said a pull-out would not invalidate the vote's legitimacy.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in the United Arab Emirates: "We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward."

But the BBC's Andrew North, in Kabul, says Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal means this is uncharted territory, and it is unclear what will happen next.

For the full story click here for the BBC web site