Advisor 40

Maj. Steve White

4th November 2011

Firstly, allow me to introduce myself, I am Major Steve White and most of you will never have heard of me before now.  However, on HERRICK 15 I have been brought in as an additional OC and have command of the Kandak Advisory Training Team (KATT) for the 4th Kandak. 

Advisor 40 is set up differently from the other KATTs in that we are a multi-capbadge KATT looking after a variety of different capabilities within the Brigade.  In addition to the recce and HQ Tolays (Company) that are advised by our very own recce platoon, the Kandak also has an Engineer Tolay (Company) that is advised by a team of Royal Engineers, predominantly from Paderborn, an Artillery Tolay, and their advisers are Gunners from Gutersloh, a specialist selection of EOD and C-IED troops, advised by our own EOD fraternity and I also have a US Marine Corps section here called an ANGLICO team that assists with helicopter and fast air support.

I am sure you have heard the stories, but we are living in a small PB compound with ANA compounds either side of us, and it is named PB JAHAN ZEB.  It is approximately 70m by 50m and at full manning I will have over 60 personnel under my command here, all geared to assist the ANA in fulfilling their mission and keeping us safe.  And to let you know how important this is, our Kandak has been given the first fully independent area of operation (AO) in the Brigade.  I have no other Battlegroup living here with us as a ‘partner’ so it is just us and our ANA!  Which has made for some interesting times already, as I am sure the stories coming home have already mentioned? 

Daily routine here revolves around firstly, meeting up with our ANA counterparts, getting out and about on the ground with them providing assistance, mentoring and advice as it is needed or asked for.  The other major aspect of our lives here in ‘Jay-Zee’ is to ensure we stay as safe as possible as a dislocated and un-partnered location and between these two efforts the majority of our time is taken up.  We have no chef here so meals are from the ration packs or every now and then a wee bit of ‘fresh’ donated by our American brethren or that comes through ‘the system’.  Having said that, one of the EOD mentors was a civilian chef before he joined the Royal Navy and he has provided us with some simply stunning food.  There is no running water here so all of it is brought in for washing ourselves and our clothes, cooking and drinking.  Thankfully we have moved away from the horrendous deep trench latrine toilet blocks and now operate with ‘wag bags’.  For those not conversant with the delights of these items, I will allow your other half to explain them to you!

Mail will only arrive here and be taken out on average once a week so please do not worry if your mail arrives in fits and starts, but please do keep sending it out to us as it is a huge morale boost.  If I can put an early request in, Christmas on tour is a surreal affair but could I ask you to all send one decoration out in order to make ours as festive as possible, thank you.  Do not send anything that requires plugging in because we are short of power but battery operated things are more than welcome.

I thank you for your continued support, our jobs would be infinitely harder without it, and please take care of yourselves for us.  The lads will fill in the details over the next few newsletters.

Steve White

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