{"id":5599,"date":"2014-05-12T20:09:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T20:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coopsy.co.uk\/thenews\/?p=5599"},"modified":"2014-05-21T18:00:40","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T18:00:40","slug":"defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/index.php\/news\/overseas-news\/2014\/05\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Defence Secretary in Afghanistan For Base Closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philip Hammond MP UK Defence Secretary<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"Philip
Philip Hammond MP (blue shirt) in Afghanistan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Philip Hammond MP, Defence Secretary, was in the country to witness the closure of Observation Post Sterga, the last remaining forward base to be used by UK troops. Its closure means the only UK troops remaining in Helmand are at Camp Bastion and locations in Kandahar and Kabul.<\/p>\n

Kandahar<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0Mr Hammond spoke to soldiers from\u00a04th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland<\/a>\u00a0(4 SCOTS<\/abbr>) who had been living and working at Sterga<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kabul<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mr Hammond said:<\/p>\n

\n

The closure of our last base outside Camp Bastion is another important step towards ending combat operations in Afghanistan. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the mission and the hard work and sacrifice of British forces.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sterga<\/strong> opened in August 2013 to enable UK personnel to observe a large and strategically important area of central Helmand<\/strong>. Troops based there provided vital assistance covering UK and US base closures and gave Afghan<\/strong> and coalition personnel a fuller understanding of insurgent activity.<\/p>\n

The majority of the personnel based at Sterga<\/strong> prior to its closure came from\u00a04 SCOTS<\/abbr><\/strong>, with specialist capabilities provided by other units such as\u00a05 Regiment Royal Artillery<\/a>,\u00a032 Regiment Royal Artillery<\/a>,\u00a03rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a014 Signal Regiment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At its peak, the base was home to 180 people, although by its closure only half remained.<\/p>\n

\"Soldiers
Soldiers from 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland board an RAF Chinook helicopter [Picture: Corporal Daniel Wiepen, Crown copyright]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Providing security for the redeployment was the UK-led manoeuvre battle group.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel James Roddis<\/strong>, said:<\/p>\n

\n

Providing a secure environment for the redeployment of a base is vital to ensure the safety and protection of our personnel and equipment.<\/p>\n

The soldiers of the cross-coalition multi-cap-badged manoeuvre battle group, led by\u00a04 SCOTS<\/abbr>, have once again shown their ability and competence in making sure the personnel and equipment from Sterga could return safely back to Camp Bastion.<\/p>\n

Alongside our coalition partners we also oversaw and provided security for the closure of Laskhar Gah Durai and Forward Operating Base Price in March earlier this year.<\/p>\n

As the last Scottish infantry battalion in Afghanistan it has been a challenging and rewarding job being part of the drawdown of British bases in Helmand and the handover of lead security responsibilities to the Afghan security forces.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More than 100 shipping \u00a0containers worth of equipment had to be removed from the base by air and road, with both UK and US forces involved in aviation, logistics and security.<\/p>\n

\"Military
Military vehicles transporting equipment from Sterga to Camp Bastion [Picture: Corporal Daniel Wiepen, Crown copyright]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Afghan National Army<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During his visit to Afghanistan<\/strong> the Defence Secretary also met Major General Sayed Malouk<\/strong>, commander of 215 Corps of the Afghan National<\/strong> Army (ANA<\/abbr>)<\/strong> based in Camp Shorabak<\/strong>. The pair discussed the development of the\u00a0ANA<\/abbr>\u00a0and Major General Malouk<\/strong> updated Mr Hammond<\/strong> on their training.<\/p>\n

Whilst at Shorabak, Mr\u00a0Hammond<\/strong> spoke to a number of British medics engaged in developing the\u00a0ANA<\/abbr>\u2019s medical capabilities.<\/p>\n

Captain David Watts<\/strong>, medical advisor in the\u00a03rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment<\/a>\u00a0brigade advisory team, said:<\/p>\n

\n

The\u00a0ANA<\/abbr><\/strong>\u00a0have made significant steps over the last 9 months, specifically with the development and delivery of the en route care course which has reduced mortality rates.<\/p>\n

They now have a growing paramedic capability to perform in-transit care from point of wounding to the hospital. I have found it a privilege to work alongside my\u00a0ANA<\/abbr>\u00a0medical counterparts as a medical advisor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Helmand Camp Bastion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The closure of Sterga<\/strong> means that the UK presence in Helmand<\/strong> is now centralised in the main operating base of Camp Bastion<\/strong> which is due to close at the end of the year as the British combat mission concludes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132,915,914],"class_list":["post-5599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-overseas-news","tag-afghanistan","tag-camp-bastion","tag-rt-hon-philip-hammond-mp"],"yoast_head":"\nDefence Secretary in Afghanistan For Base Closure - THE NEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/index.php\/news\/overseas-news\/2014\/05\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defence Secretary in Afghanistan For Base Closure - THE NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/index.php\/news\/overseas-news\/2014\/05\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"THE NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-12T20:09:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-21T18:00:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philip-Hammond-MP.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/781e3b7245bbf46930874cfd5d0ea415\"},\"headline\":\"Defence Secretary in Afghanistan For Base Closure\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-12T20:09:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-21T18:00:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Philip-Hammond-MP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Afghanistan\",\"Camp Bastion\",\"Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News-overseas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/the-news.uk\\\/index.php\\\/news\\\/overseas-news\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/defence-secretary-hammond-in-afghanistan-for-base-closure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Defence Secretary in Afghanistan For Base Closure - 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