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Meindl Desert Fox on Patrol
BLOG 3: 19th August 2011
With June/July done and dusted the tour is going fast and furious!
Last month was packed with CLP's (Combat Logistic Patrols) and QRF OP's, including having to pick up a Chinook that had made a "Hard Landing." This job was going well until a vehicle decided to over take the convoy on the way back to Bastion and hit the underbelly of the Chinnock causing even more damage than that of a hard landing.
.JPG "Chinnock")
Some of the other exciting things that have happened include:
- Sorting out traffic when a USMC cougar had shed its mine rollers on Highway One. This took several hours due to lots of angry locals wanting to drive through the scene and my Trep (Interpreter) bumping into some old chums.
- Receiving a bit of SAF (Small Arms Fire) on an OP in a Wadi and having a tyre shot out.
- Getting hit in the face by a fist sized rock that was throw by some children whilst on top cover driving along the Neb canal.
- And finally..... seeing all the local lorry drivers drive into the same hole, on the same bridge, in the same day..... Remarkable!!!!
.JPG "Hole in Bridge")
When this phase of CLPs came to an end we had a quite patch of six days! After Op Fix and the first two days of down time things can get a bit boring strange as it may seam. We managed to keep ourselves busy with filling Jamie the Radio Operator's bed and sleeping bag up with empty water bottles.
.JPG "water bottles")
A rare sight!!!! My boots not on my feet!!!!!!
The boots themselves during this time are doing fine with some serious wear and tear, they are still very comfortable and have only scuffed slightly, but its not like I will be gracing Horse Guards Parade Square for a Trooping any time soon.
BLOG 2: 21st July 2011
Picture 1 Meindl Desert Fox at work
Picture 2 going through the Green Zone
Picture 3 Rope bridge near Lash-na-Gar
Picture 4 A Merlin landing at a FOB
Picture 6 Local painted lorry
Well so far things have going well the weather has stayed hot, extremely hot. The unit has completed a few CLPs (Combat Logistic Patrols) and is settling into routine well.
After a phase of CLPs we carry Op Fix, this is when we regenerate for the new phase of CLPs. The Mastiffs and the Ridgebacks take quite a battering from the terrain and everything that is not strapped down will shake loose. Once all the repairs and servicing have been carried out we spend a day test firing the GMG (Grenade Machine-gun) HMG (Heavy Machine Gun) and GPMGs (General Purpose Machine-gun) and before you know it we a into the next phases of Ops.
So.... with all this going on I have spent a lot of time filling my boots, so to speak and testing them out in normal working conditions; I have found them to be a lot lighter than than previous issued boots and for standing in while on top cover they have been really comfortable with good ventilation. When we are being bounced around on the mad roads of the Green Zone good grip is particularly valued.
With the poppy season coming to a end and the wheat season also coming to a close we will be carrying out quite a few more Ops which will give me plenty of chance to test the boots in different terrain.
BLOG 1: 20th June 2011
Meindl Desert Fox Boots on Patrol in Helmand Province Afghanistan
Bramwell International supply working boots to the armed services, we wanted to know what happens to those boots once they have left the factory and found their way onto a pair of feet in the working environment they were designed for.
We will be receiving updates from an operational tour of duty over the coming months as a pair of Meindl Desrt Fox boots are put through their working paces. The pictures below show some of what the boots do in a day.
1, The boots standing on a Mastiff (Look between the leaves)
.JPG "Boots on Patrol")
2, Mastiff with mine rollers attached at the front of a CLP formed up ready to leave Bastion
.JPG "Mastiff")
3, Group picture of Force Protection and the High Risk Search Team
.JPG "Force Protection")
4, CLP Crossing the Western Dash
We are supplied with no less than 3 pairs of boots, gone are the days when you were given just one pair of black Combat Assault Boots.
First I will explain what job I'm doing out here, I'm a Section Commander of Force Protection Troop for 45 Sqn working with Mastiffs and Ridgebacks. This means my job is to protect Combat Logistic Patrols (CLP) that travel through out the whole of Helmand resupplying all the bases and Check Points.
Hang on I may hear you say why would someone who is in a Mastiff or a Ridgeback do a blog on boots if they are not patrolling around Helmand on foot? Well as a Mastiff/Ridgeback Commander I'm normally in the capola as top cover so I can have a 360 view, this is not a sitting position it's standing. Most CLPs are over a 24hr period and most of that is spent on the roads whether that be the tarmac of Highway One, Crossing the Western Dash or the mud roads of the Green Zone as well as travelling along the NEB.
So I'm on my feet for quite a few hours a day getting bashed about standing on a platform. For this blog I will write a general over view of my activities and the how my feet have coped as well as the boots. More to follow!