A SOLDIER'S DIARYThe tides of war have washed over Sangin, our Afghan home for the next six months, writes Lieut Paddy Bury
WE TOUCH down. Within seconds the helicopter has disgorged us and our supplies and is soaring back into the bright blue sky.
As the dust clears the Irishmen of Ranger Company, 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, get their first views of their home for the next six months.
We have landed in a converted Afghan compound, a ramshackle fortress of ancient Afghan buildings combined with modern military engineering.
As we move off the massive dirt heli-pad we have to cross the Sangin canal. This fast-flowing, green-blue river, eight metres wide, runs right through our base, known as Sangin DC (District Centre), cutting it in half. We cross the footbridges quickly, eyes on the torrent below that will only increase as the mountain snows melt in the summer. Directly in front of us is a medieval castle four storeys high, built of concrete and rock, from which you can observe for miles around. On the roof is piled sandbag after sandbag.
On a flank I spot the thick mud walls and low ceiling of the accommodation block where most of us will sleep on cramped camp beds until the tour ends. We pass a field kitchen, solar showers and wooden latrines.
All of these are surrounded by thick Hesco bastion walls, a concrete and iron protective barrier, each piece several times as thick and tall as the concrete barriers that divide the motorways back home.
The Hesco is what keeps us safe. Twelve feet high, it rings the camp in its entirety, and out from its protective shade jut our sangars. These are specially designed military towers, not unlike the bunkers of the second World War, that allow the guarding troops to maintain watch on the surrounding areas.
Across the river are the Afghan National Army quarters, where these brave men, from other parts of Afghanistan, reside. They are generally a likeable lot, hardened and experienced soldiers. They provide protection to the governor who lives in our base, man many of the vehicle checkpoints in Sangin town, and come on patrol with us when we move out into the Green Zone. They are integral to our mission of ensuring a security zone around Sangin.
Sangin is a bustling market town of 50,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Pashtuns.
The tides of war have washed over it many times and there are still ruined buildings, testament to the Russian war in the 1980s and the battles between the British and the Taliban in 2006, in which men from 1 Royal Irish played a vital part. The Helmand river runs west of the dusty town and flows south, providing water for the surrounding countryside for a two-mile radius. This lush strip is a green tangle of man-high crop fields, irrigation ditches, small canals and trees known as the Green Zone.
Impassable by vehicle, and heavy going on foot, the Green Zone is where much of our contact with the Taliban occurs. With local knowledge of the ground, prepared firing positions and covered escape routes, the Taliban feel superior here. It is perfect ambush country, yet we must dominate it to ensure the security of Sangin town.
And so, every day, we leave our safer, dusty base and venture out into the damp, hostile greenness.
Lieut Paddy Bury is from Wicklow