The Prince in Afghanistan [Updated]
I shy away from big-media stories, but here I had a few comments. An Australian magazine and German Newspaper recently leaked that Prince Harry was fighting in Afghanistan, and the news quickly spread to the Drudge report and beyond.
Last year, the Ministry of Defense formally announced that Harry would not deploy to Iraq with his unit, which I felt was a bad decision at the time. After all, why waste time and money training an officer if you won't let him do his job, unless the Royal's only purpose now is tabloid fodder instead of cannon fodder (I would prefer the cannons myself). Besides, British royals have usually gone to war throughout their history. But I understand that the unwanted attention this brings to the unit is not helpful, and is a nightmare for that unit's commander. At the same time, if you don't send him, you are misusing a trained officer, and showing the world undue favoritism toward the Royal family. I thought at the time that the best thing overall would be to send him there secretly. They did so, but to Afghanistan instead. Great minds think alike.
Apparently, Prince Harry works as a "JTAC" Joint Terminal Attack Controller, an officer inside an infantry unit that works with forward deployed troops and coordinates air strikes from the ground. This improves target accuracy and reduces the danger of friendly fire. The term "JTAC" is also used in the US military, and the job is exactly the same, although it actually goes to an Air Force liaison officer who is attached to an Army unit [correction: a JTAC is actually an enlisted soldier; ALOs are different - see first comment below]. This goes a bit outside my area, but in my experience, this is usually an officer of lieutenant grade (like Harry) at the Brigade or Division level, or with a Special Forces team, but it belongs to an enlisted soldier at the battalion level or below (when needed). There are exceptions. During my first deployment, our Cavalry squadron had helicopters that were organic to the unit, so one of our pilots (usually a warrant officer) filled the role. Since we were in a city, air strikes were rare, so the job was not terribly demanding at that time.
I wish Prince Harry all the best. After watching a few of his taped interviews there, he looks and sounds pretty much like every other soldier I've ever seen, British or American.
There is only one thing I'm jealous about:
Prince Harry was due to complete a four-month tour without the standard two-week R&R break other soldiers enjoy.Four months?? That's it? In the current war, US Army soldiers have to go for 12-15 months at a time with a two-week break, and US Marines deploy for 7 months, with no break. A four month tour with a two-week break is scarcely enough time for someone to thoroughly learn their job. By the time they're just settling in, it's time for vacation, and before you know it, they are going home!
Trivia time: Bet you didn't know his real name is not Harry, but Henry Charles Albert David, and his official title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales.
UPDATE 29/02/2008 03:07:00 PM:
The Ministry of Defence has officially announced that Prince Harry will be withdrawn from Afghanistan back to the UK. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he will be secretly redeployed elsewhere in Afghanistan or even Iraq.
Their reason:
BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said it was "inevitable" Prince Harry would have to leave because of the risk the Taleban would increase attacks on British forces in Helmand due to a royal being in their midst.I understand that risk, but I still think withdrawing him would be a mistake. First of all, it looks like they are giving in to threats, and in any case, if the Taliban don't attack his unit in Helmand, they will simply conduct their attacks elsewhere. The Prince would be safer but overall the safety doesn't increase or decrease. Secondly, his unit can be augmented with additional forces to handle the problem, and in fact, this situation can be used to draw elusive enemy forces out into the open to be destroyed. They also shouldn't ignore the positive effect his presence can have on troop morale.
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3 comments:
"The term 'JTAC' is also used in the US military, and the job is exactly the same, although it actually goes to an Air Force liaison officer who is attached to an Army unit."
Sorry, but that’s not quite correct. A USAF JTAC at any level is enlisted and is not an officer or an ALO (Air Liaison Officer). ALOs are pilots (sometimes navigators) and are not trained to do tactical air control as a JTAC is. The TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) field in fact has no officer component. You can get a bit more information at www.romad.com. Some of the details you mentioned seem to describe a FAC (Forward Air Controller) who usually works from the air or TOC (and often in conjunction with a JTAC). The JTACs work directly on the ground with the Army units or at a TOC. In the USAF the ALOs are not trained in terminal control or, for that matter, in ground combat ops as JTACs are.
It’s interesting that Prince Harry is a JTAC because it is a very dangerous job. In Afghanistan the Taliban actively try to kill them because tactical air controllers are their greatest threat. Likewise North Korea has “hunter-killer” teams whose job is to search out and kill all tactical air controllers in the event of an invasion of the south.
To Don:
Thanks for the clarification; I thought the terms ALO and JTAC were interchangable.
I can add though, then when using Army people in that role (as in our unit) he was simply referred to as the G3 Air officer.
No problem, John. Since my son is a JTAC, I found it necessary as a father and just as a curious person to learn about the TACP field. It's interesting that the people most familiar with it are soldiers (or as my son says, "Joes"), but they are really the only people who get to see them work up close.
For information about tactical air controllers there is a good book about them called "Danger Close" by Steve Call. As far as I know it's the only book about them since the Vietnam War. It covers the modern evolvement of the field, how it is seen by the USAF and Army, and most importantly a lot of action from the early parts of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as recounted by the JTACs themselves.
BTW and most importantly, thank you for your service.
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