BBC newsreader Jackie Bird joins Scots on Afghanistan's road to hell

Aug 24 2008 By Jackie Bird

BBC news anchor Jackie Bird has touched down in Afghanistan after a bloody week in which 14 soldiers - including a Scot - were killed as the Taleban stepped up their offensive.

Today she reports for the Sunday Mail as she joins the Scots heroes who escort convoys in the desert warzone and talks to them about the risks they face every day.

IN a battle where there is no conventional frontline, Andy Meek's job as a driver on a highway targeted by Taliban bombers is as dangerous as it gets.

A Force Protection Commander with the Royal Logistics Corps of 13 Air Assault, the 34-year-old Fifer escorts vital troop supply convoys across treacherous Afghan countryside where the threat of mines and ambushes is ever present.

The son of a soldier, Andy signed up at just 16. He knows the biggest danger lies in the increasing use by the Taliban of IEDs - improvised explosive devices.

These crudely modified mines have devastating effects.

Each time he leaves the sprawling desert army base of Camp Bastion, Andy is putting his life on the line.

He said: "You always go on a job with a level of apprehension. You never go out complacent but I'm proud of what we do. We're the Army's unsung heroes."

Getting supplies such as food and even ammunition to the small outlying FOBs - forward operating bases - is as crucial as it is perilous.

The Taliban threat is everywhere, from the minute the convoy leaves the base. Sometimes local people are paid to act as lookouts and, when they see troop movement, they call and cash in.

Andy said: "Usually we go out twice a week. We know the insurgents are opportunists so we never take the same route twice."

Among Andy's team are a group of fellow Scots - Lance Corporal Alan Russell, of Penicuik, near Edinburgh; Corporal James Howie, of Kilmarnock; Corporal Alan Rowe, of Edinburgh; and Private John jo Sheering, of Cumbernauld.

Alan Russell said: "There is lots of banter. Because we are a small unit, we're very close."

Andy leads each convoy in his giant Mastiff, a heavily armoured personnel carrier. He selects the route and is key in helping spot the IEDs hidden by the Taliban, who often use their local knowledge to travel just ahead of the soldiers, hastily laying their traps in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Andy said: "The pressure is huge - not just from the mines but getting the goods into the FOBs on time.

"We try to guess the danger areas by putting ourselves in the Taliban's position to find the vulnerable spots.

"Even when we drive through a village, we have to ask, 'Why isn't this place crowded?' Anything out of the ordinary has to be questioned."

The drives are long and arduous. As Andy and I chatted, the temperature was in the 40s. Often in high summer it soars into the 50s.

The meticulous process of mine spotting means a 2-3km stretch of track can take up to three hours to cover.

The team can find themselves on the road for up to 48 hours.

Corporal Rowe believes Scots at home have no idea of the conditions the soldiers work in.

He said: "When I tell my mates you can have a cup of tea without boiling a kettle, they don't believe me.

"The water we carry for ourselves gets so hot we take sachets of hot chocolate with us, bung it in the bottle and you've got boiling hot chocolate." The guys are close friends so when tragedy happens it's a devastating blow for the entire unit. Two years ago one of Andy's team was killed when their convoy was ambushed.

He said: "It's always a big thing when someone is lost. People don't expect it to happen to drivers. You get on with the job and get through it with the lads.

"Everyone is aware of the risks - if they weren't, they would be off their heads."

Lance Corporal Russell had a lucky escape on one of his treks.

He said: "We hit an IED and my vehicle was blown up, right under my a***. The first thing I thought was to check my legs.

"The place was full of dust and, after I had made sure the guys were all right, we burst out laughing.

"But that was just the shock. We found out later the device had only partially exploded. If the whole thing had gone off, I wouldn't be here today."

The role of the Logistics Corps is a far cry from the days when Andy's dad was an army driver. Now driving means a high level of technical knowledge and a familiarity with complex weapons systems, not forgetting the danger.

It is something Andy's wife Pauline is increasingly aware of.

He said: "This is my second tour of Afghanistan. During the first, Pauline was far more nonchalant but since all the stuff that's been in the press, she's had more reservations. This time she made me get my life insured." He smiles but the summer of bad news from Afghanistan has clearly had an impact on all soldiers here - 116UKtroops have lost their lives, most here in Helmand province in the south.

The multinational force had feared a big spring offensive by the Taliban which never came.

But the renewed intensity of attacks in and around the capital Kabul means the insurgents are ending the summer with a reminder that they haven't gone away.

Andy added: "I talk about my job when I'm at home on leave but I try to keep most of the details of what's happening from my son Jack - little things worry a seven-year-old.

"When I have to go back, he still says, 'Daddy, I don't want you to go'."

Jack will have his dad home for a while in September when Andy's tour finishes.

But does a daily routine that involves dicing with death make Civvy Street seem a bit mundane?

Andy says: "No way. It's great to get back to the norm and it has its own scary moments. On convoy we drive so slowly but the last time I was home we were picked up at the airport by a friend.

"She must have been driving the car at around 50mph but it felt like she was breaking the speed of sound. Every one of us was gripping the seats in terror."

And the good things about home?

"After a while here, you don't get wound up by the little things back home.

I look forward to seeing something green," he says, surveying the arid landscape.

Andy is based in Colchester but will spend Christmas at his parents' home in Hill of Beath, near Cowdenbeath.

As he prepared to go out on another desert mission, he said: "Can you believe I'm looking forward to a Scottish winter? Bring on the sleet."

See more on the lives of Scots soldiers in Afghanistan on Reporting Scotland on BBC1 this Tuesday at 6.30pm.

'We hit a bomb and it blew up 'our vehicle under my a***' LANCE CORPORAL ALAN RU

'People don't expect drivers to be killed but we know the risks' COMMANDER ANDY MEEKS

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