# Navy in Afghanistan



## Scott 1988 (18 Jun 2008)

I was reading somewhere that something like 60 navy personal are posted on shore in Afghanistan. I know there are some divers doing bomb disposal, I was wondering what other jobs there would be for the navy there. Do they volunteer for it? What sort of additional training is involved?


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## jollyjacktar (18 Jun 2008)

I was there last year.  I volunteered.  There was extra training involved.  My primary task involved welding on vehicles.

There were other Naval personnel there doing many different tasks.  Many more are there now, or are training to go there.

I have my name in to go back again and at present I am waiting to hear about it.  Should my name be selected, and dependant upon the tasking it may involve substantial training.


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## muffin (18 Jun 2008)

I have a friend there who's a Lt(N) doing CIMIC.


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## Scoobie Newbie (18 Jun 2008)

I think some where even doing EOD stuff.


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## CallOfDuty (18 Jun 2008)

.............yup..the EOD is done by many Navy Clearance divers......as well I know some Naval electronic techs working on radar systems over there.


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## medaid (18 Jun 2008)

Don't forget the guys and gals who makes the munchies!


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## Scoobie Newbie (18 Jun 2008)

and medics I would gather


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## dimsum (18 Jun 2008)

Int officers, people working at staff in HQ...


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## Pelorus (20 Jun 2008)

Does anyone know if any MARS personnel are posted to Afghanistan (perhaps the Lt(N) noted above?), and what types of jobs they're generally doing?


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## medaid (20 Jun 2008)

boot12 said:
			
		

> Does anyone know if any MARS personnel are posted to Afghanistan (perhaps the Lt(N) noted above?), and what types of jobs they're generally doing?



Already told you. They were doing CIMIC... MARS pers don't generally get to go on missions on ground. Something to do with lack of experience commanding section, platoon level. No amount of time spent dealing with Divisional system can teach you how the army works. 

Other Navy pers are Nurses, Doctors, MedTechs, PAs, Other health care, MPs, cooks, Log types.


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## Gunner98 (20 Jun 2008)

boot12 said:
			
		

> Does anyone know if any MARS personnel are posted to Afghanistan (perhaps the Lt(N) noted above?), and what types of jobs they're generally doing?



Volunteers as Staff in RC(S) HQ, Liaison officers between ISAF and RC(S).  You will even find MARS officers who work in CSOR and have deployed with them.


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## daftandbarmy (20 Jun 2008)

What about Landing Party gun slingers? They'd be useful in arrest ops etc. Then we could put ina good argument for creating a Canadian Royal Marine Corps!


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## medaid (20 Jun 2008)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> What about Landing Party gun slingers? They'd be useful in arrest ops etc. Then we could put ina good argument for creating a Canadian Royal Marine Corps!



The phantom MCR... 

The NBP members are funny enough made up of majority ex-army grunts who re mustered.  I think that says something  ;D


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## jollyjacktar (20 Jun 2008)

There was a call for NBP qualified personnel.  They are doing work in camps, security details and such.


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## Ex-Dragoon (20 Jun 2008)

MedTech said:
			
		

> Already told you. They were doing CIMIC... MARS pers don't generally get to go on missions on ground.* Something to do with lack of experience commanding section, platoon level. * No amount of time spent dealing with Divisional system can teach you how the army works.
> 
> Other Navy pers are Nurses, Doctors, MedTechs, PAs, Other health care, MPs, cooks, Log types.



True...but saying that MARS officers lack experience in commanding personnel is not correct.



> The NBP members are funny enough made up of majority ex-army grunts who re mustered.  I think that says something


While we do have some remusters on our teams I would disagree with such a bold statement. I have been involved with the NBPs on 4 ships now and I can attest that your statement is not true.


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## jollyjacktar (20 Jun 2008)

Ex-Dragoon said:
			
		

> While we do have some remusters on our teams I would disagree with such a bold statement. I have been involved with the NBPs on 4 ships now and I can attest that your statement is not true.



I have to agree with you as well.  From what I have seen at times the NBP has been used as a dumping ground for some departments to pawn off those individuals they would like to see a little less of.  Some of the people involved did at times give me pause and thank my lucky stars I was not going to be near them and their personal weapons in possible threat environments.  That being said, there have been others who are switched on and should be involved with the NBP.  IMHO, this is too important a task to leave to mischance.  There should be a cadre of dedicated personnel who are trained and meet with standards one would expect of such a team vs what we have in place now.


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## medaid (20 Jun 2008)

Ex-Dragoon, didn't mean MARS Os don't know how to command, rather the environment and way to command would be different, methods would change and taskings would also differ. They can command great! Just might have toruble on the Army side o things, same thing if you dumped an Army officer into a Navy position.

With regards to NBP that's my bad for speaking out of lane. The majority of NBP members I've met were all ex-green types and are all rather switched on. From their mouths to my ear that quite a few are ex-army on the team. Bu again, my bad.


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## Ex-Dragoon (20 Jun 2008)

I would hope that should a situation were to arise on the ground or at sea the respective officer would use his/her noggin and turn over command to the person most qualified to do so.


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## copecowboy (21 Jun 2008)

I start training in august along with 2 others from my ship.


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## Monsoon (21 Jun 2008)

In any event, there's loads of opportunity for MARS to deploy "on the ground", especially these days. I personally know at least five MARS types in A-stan right now, to say nothing of the guys on various UN missions. Obviously they're not leading infantry section attacks, but there's a lot of ATR work at the HQ in Kandahar and at ISAF in Kabul.


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## daftandbarmy (22 Jun 2008)

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but Navy medics and int folks are first class, and can add value within their own specializations while working with the army without too much extra training.


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## Gunner98 (22 Jun 2008)

Let's be factual here - there is no such thing as a Navy, Army or Air Force medic - they all take the same Qualification Level training.  In my experience, you are likely to find just as many Navy in a Field Ambulance as you will aboard ship, same goes for PAs.


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## Eye In The Sky (22 Jun 2008)

Ex-Dragoon said:
			
		

> I would hope that should a situation were to arise on the ground or at sea the respective officer would use his/her noggin and turn over command to the person most qualified to do so.



That didn't happen after Hurricane Juan....


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## Ex-Dragoon (22 Jun 2008)

I don't recall any ground or sea combat taking place around the Halifax area during Juan either... :

If you have a specific instance how about talking about it instead of being vague.


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