From classroom to warzone

7:00am Tuesday 19th August 2008

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Paratroopers in Afghanistan are making the most of language skills they learnt in a Colchester classroom.

Eleven soldiers from the town’s 2 Para were given ten months training in Pashtu before their mission to Helmand province.

Their skills have proved “a great success story” in helping the troops talk to local people and go on patrols with the Afghan army.

Private Jason Cutler is one of B Company’s linguists, based at Forward Operating Base Inkerman, and said his skill “goes towards our hearts and minds idea”.

“I interact with the locals and have a good chat. This is good as it puts a face on the British Army that they can relate to,” the 23-year-old said.

“When I first got here the locals were surprised I could speak their language and I got a lot of attention, especially from the Afghan soldiers. They were very enthusiastic that I could speak Pashtu.”

Company commander Major Russell Lewis said having Pashtu speakers among the paras “really shows a commitment to the locals on our part. and the value that they add has been superb”.

The soldiers were chosen after aptitude tests and could drop out after the training and role was explained to them.

Before they left Colchester, teacher Ali Kishwar, from the Defence School of Learning, said the soldiers’ language skills were “quite good” and would be treated “as a sign of respect” by locals.

However, the public face they provide for patrols puts them in the Taliban’s sights.

When the Gazette spoke to the soldiers before they deployed, none would be named or photographed.

That caution was sadly proved correct when Private Daniel Gamble, one of the 11 linguists, was blown up as he was speaking to a man who turned out to be a suicide bomber.

Privates David Murray and Nathan Cuthbertson were also killed in the blast on June 8.

Major Lewis said: “He died walking towards a local, smiling and talking to him – and that is why it was so desperately sad.”

A total of 2,600 soldiers from Colchester-based 16 Air Assault Brigade went to Afghanistan in late March for a six-month tour.

All were given training on the basics of Afghan language and culture before they left.

Minister praises troops’ courage

Colchester's paratroopers have been praised for “the courage, professionalism and sheer hard graft” they are showing on their second tour in Afghanistan.

Defence Secretary Des Browne visited troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade in Sangin, where the town’s soldiers took part in “epic fighting” in 2006 as they began to probe the badlands of Helmand province.

“What I saw in Sangin brought home to me how far the situation on the ground has been transformed since then,” Mr Browne said.

“Two years ago that same district centre was under daily attack, and the town was half opium bazaar, half war zone. Today, you can see a bustling market with stalls and local farmers trading livestock, and kids playing in the Helmand River.”

Mr Browne said that the deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan – 115 in total, including 15 based in Colchester – “have not been in vain”.

“There is still work for our forces to do, and that work remains hard and dangerous,” he said.

“When you talk to our people, they are very clear what they are doing, and why they are doing it.

“Despite the tough conditions, morale is high – they are doing the job they joined for, and doing it superbly, using an awe-inspiring range of technical skills.”

Some 2,600 Colchester-based soldiers are among 8,000 British troops in Afghanistan, and they are due to return to the town in October after a six-month mission.

Mr Browne concluded: “Let’s wish them luck in the rest of their tour, and make sure they know we are all behind them.”