Logistics HQ deploys to Afghanistan

Tri-Service Headquarters staff of the Joint Force Support deployed to Afghanistan recently where they will be ensuring that troops on the front line have all the support they need to do their job.

The Headquarters, which is formed around HQ 8 Force Engineer Brigade, normally based at Headquarters Land Forces in Wilton, will be responsible for providing approximately 9,000 British soldiers, sailors, airmen, and embedded troops from coalition partners, with everything from buttons, bullets and food to medical care and welfare support.

It will command 2,200 logistics troops based around Afghanistan in Kabul, Lashkar Gah, Camp Bastion and all the Forward Operating Bases in the British area of command.

The 35 men and women forming the core HQ, who come from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF, deployed last week (21 June 2009) and will join another 80 personnel from all three Services already based in Kandahar.

Commanding the Headquarters is Brigadier Chris Tickell, late Royal Engineers, who says there is a great advantage to having a Joint Service Headquarters of this kind:

"It brings a vast wealth of experience from different backgrounds which, if harnessed, will make a very effective organisation," he explained. "As Commander I have already learnt a huge amount from the Navy and RAF - they look at problems in different ways - so the trick is prioritising tasks across the three Services.

"We will be arriving at the time the national elections take place and the United States inflow is continuing, so the challenge will be to understand the dynamics of my own force elements, and making sure we have the right support in the right place at the right time."