No Medals for "Strap-On Marines" in AFG Apache Rescue

[The Bread Guy]

Remember "Strapped onto the wings of an Apache - RM rescue fallen comrade under fire" from earlier this year?

The latest:  no medals the strap-on Marines - shared with the usual disclaimer....

Marines tied to helicopters snubbed in rescue medals
Michael Smith, Sunday Times (UK), 9 Sept 07
Article link

THREE Royal Marines who embarked on one of the most daring rescue missions of the war in Afghanistan – by strapping themselves to the sides of attack helicopters – have been denied medals.

Their treatment is at odds with the decorations handed out to airmen and soldiers on the same mission. The pilots received the Distinguished Flying Cross, their co-pilots the Military Cross and an army officer also strapped to a helicopter the Military Cross.

This weekend army officers suggested that the marines were the victims of double standards, and had been snubbed because their superiors had written less glowing citations.

The decision has sparked a caustic debate among service personnel on Army Rumour Service , an internet forum. A number suggested such heroism was nothing out of the ordinary for the marines. One former sailor calling himself “Ancient Mariner” wrote: “I believe it’s covered in week 7 of the [Royal Marines’] course at Lympstone [Devon], just after the ‘leaping over tall buildings in a single bound’ module and before they learn to make bullets bounce off their chest.”

A former marine, posting as Old Booty, added that the medals were unimportant. “What is worth more, to become a corps’ legend and go down in history as ‘one of those nutters on the Apaches’, or a medal?”

The MoD used the operation in January to demonstrate how brave British troops in Afghanistan were, with one commander describing it as a “heroic leap in the dark”. “It was an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Rory Bruce.

But while the airmen and soldiers received full recognition, the three marines – Warrant Officer Class 1 Colin Hearn, Marine Gary Robinson and Marine Chris Fraser-Perry – received nothing.

The rescue occurred after Lance-Corporal Mathew Ford was wounded in an attack on Taliban leaders meeting in Jugroom Fort, south of Garmsir in Helmand. The attack was repulsed but Ford was left behind.

The Apache attack helicopter pilots suggested they could fly in, but with room for only a pilot and co-pilot on each helicopter the rescue team would have to be strapped to the sides.

Despite the danger, there was no shortage of volunteers. Hearn, a regimental sergeant-major, insisted he go. “I’m a Royal Marine, he’s a Royal Marine – there was no way we were ever going to leave him.”

Captain Dave Rigg, 30, an army engineer, was also one of the first volunteers and Fraser-Perry, 19, from Southport, Mer-seyside, said: “I felt it had to be done. I would expect the same done for me.” The fourth volunteer was Robinson, 26, from Rosyth, Fife.

They knew the Taliban would be waiting. They were disorientated when they jumped off the helicopters and one of the Apache co-pilots, Staff Sergeant Keith Armatage, ran to help, brandishing his pistol.

The five men now on the ground managed to find Ford, but he had died of his wounds. The Taliban fired on the two Apaches on the ground and the crew tried to fire back while a third Apache provided covering fire.

The team brought back Ford’s body strapped to the side of one of the helicopters, but had no time to strap themselves back on. They clung to the wings all the way back to Camp Bastion.

Rigg received the Military Cross, but the failure of the three marines to get a medal for their bravery was raised in a letter to Navy News this month by Lou Armour, a former marine.

The MoD refused to comment.

 

[geo]

Harumph...

Would seem that someone spent more time writing up the commendations of the Airmen & Officers than they did on the ORs.

Would nbe most appropriate for all concerned that they return all the hardware issued to date - as a matter of principle.

IMHO!

 

[Fraz]

Yes, but won't their CO get a 'coin'? ahem

 

[geo]

... it would all depend on who wrote out the commendations.
The fact that he has so many heroic people willing to face the devil & death reflects well on him....  doesn't it?

 

[Good2Golf]

Harumph...

Would seem that someone spent more time writing up the commendations of the Airmen & Officers than they did on the ORs.

Would nbe most appropriate for all concerned that they return all the hardware issued to date - as a matter of principle.

IMHO!

...or perhaps one could say, "it looks like the AAC spent more time writing up its four aviators and the and REC its own combat engineer, than the RM CoC did writing up its marines."

I'm sure you weren't trying to turn it into an officer/NCM thing, or an aviator/marine thing, especially given the fact that one of the aviators dismounted (the WO1 pilot of the #2 Apache) and led the disoriented three marines and engineering officer to LCpl Ford's position armed with only his Browning and 13 rounds.


Cheers,
G2G

 

[geo]

Me... officer bashing?... nope, never!
I have friends who are officers... really

 

[HItorMiss]

Leave the Officer bashing to me 

But this is more a case in my opinion that someone either did not write them up or wrote them up poorly and thus it was not enough to give those Commandos a medal for their obvious bravery. But like has been mentioned before what would be more important to you, a Gong or the be known as the crazy ******* who no matter what will be the guy to come and get you. I know which I would preffer.

 

[Good2Golf]

Leave the Officer bashing to me 

But this is more a case in my opinion that someone either did not write them up or wrote them up poorly and thus it was not enough to give those Commandos a medal for their obvious bravery. But like has been mentioned before what would be more important to you, a Gong or the be known as the crazy ******* who no matter what will be the guy to come and get you. I know which I would preffer.

HoM, no doubt that peer acknowledgment will always be more important to someone who is not insecure in themselves than a gong, but I agree with you -- I think the RM CoC let the marines down...

G2G

 

[geo]

However, given the high visibility of the event, I truly, truly would have thought that people further up the chain of command would have given the RM a swift swat on the back of the head (and other places lower) for them to clean up their commendations and give credit where credit is due.

But that's just me I guess....

 

[daftandbarmy]

I recall that the 'medals thing' has been a perennial issue with the Royal Marines.

Being part of the Navy, I seem to remember that they had to route the commendations through the Admiralty. This makes sense, until you realize that all the most senior officers making decisions about who gets what are all Navy Officers (someone correct me if I'm wrong here?). If you look at some of the actions they were involved in during the Falklands War and compare that with the awards they actually received, for example, you could argue that 'they wuz robbed'.

I had first hand experience with this in NI when we put a bootneck LCpl in for an MiD (a relatively low level award in the great scheme of things). I seem to remember that it was a nightmare of paperwork followed by a head banging against the wall experience with higher. He didn't get it, and it took us about a year to find out.

In any case, back in the day, it was said that a Royal Marine had to win a medal twice to get it once. Perhaps that is still the case?

 

[geo]

Daft,
Might be the case but, now that the story has hit the MsM, there should be a fairly loud roar of public support to get tha Admiralty to hoist anchor and get underway.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Update: Of course, in the Guardian, it doesn't look good.

Poor training, confusion and friendly fire, the real story behind brave Apache rescue

• Battle of Jugroom Fort Inquiry report reveals errors in attack
• Officer relieved of post during failed assault
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/16/military.afghanistan

It was hailed as a heroic operation. Four Royal Marines strapped themselves to the sides of two Apache gunships to recover the body of a dead comrade. Dodging Taliban gunfire, the pilots landed allowing the marines to pick up the body of Lance Corporal Mathew Ford before taking it back across the Helmand river to their base.
Yesterday, however, an official report on the circumstances leading to Ford's death revealed he had been killed by one of his own comrades in an operation carried out by poorly trained troops.
A devastating board of inquiry report released by the Ministry of Defence exposed a catalogue of errors. The report revealed how a request for more troops by the commander of 3 Commando Brigade was turned down, and how communications became confused as troops struggled to cope with unfamiliar equipment.
Amid the gun battle, a marine company commander, a major, was relieved of his post, the Guardian has learned.
Ford died on January 15 last year during Operation Glacier, an assault on Jugroom Fort, a Taliban base in Garmser, in the south of Helmand province. The idea, says the board of inquiry, was to show that the Nato-led coalition was "capable of operating anywhere it chose". However, "shortfalls in combat power", identified by the brigade commander whose request to London for more troops was refused, prevented British forces from succeeding, specifically in being able to "take and subsequently hold" ground, the report says.
Training was geared too much towards old-fashioned peacekeeping operations. The commando brigade "was forced to adapt to a fast-moving operational environment quite different to that for which they had trained ... lessons were learned the hard way", says the report.
"A lack of mutual understanding was exacerbated by the turnover of key staff," it adds.
As Operation Glacier began, Z Company, from 45 Commando, gathered close to the fort. They attacked shortly after dawn, storming across the river in a convoy of Viking amphibious vehicles. Apache gunships and armoured vehicles. Troops made for the fort walls, jumped out of the armoured track vehicles, and started a ground assault. It was then that things started to go badly wrong.
There was tension and strained relations between the commander and more junior officers in a new force structure "facing a task for which it was not originally designed". The problems were compounded by "a great deal of confusion, exacerbated by the weight of fire from multiple locations".
Amid all this, a machine gunner on one of the Vikings opened fire. "Thinking he had seen a muzzle flash [he] swung his weapon round almost 180 degrees and opened fire in the direction of the flash. Almost immediately the troops ... began shouting at him to stop firing towards the wall, as did his driver."
The board of inquiry notes that the machine gunner's briefing "had been hurried, that he was disorientated and that actions were spontaneous on witnessing what he believed to be enemy fire".
Four marines were evacuated. A head count revealed that the 30-year-old Ford was missing. An Apache pilot reported seeing a heat source by the wall of the fort. Ford was found with wounds to his head and chest.
"In hindsight, it is highly likely that L/Cpl Ford had already - instantaneously - died from his wounds," the report concludes. Both of his wounds, it adds, "were very probably caused by Nato rounds".
His fellow marines and the Apache's army pilots agreed that the quickest and least risky way of getting him out was by strapping him to a helicopter. This, they achieved, as a US plane dropped three bombs to distract the enemy.

 

[Good2Golf]

That all may be true, but it in no way diminishes the bravery of the marines to strap themselves externally to an Apache to rescue one of their own comrades.  Two related but separate issues.  Perhaps a stretch, perhaps not, but one could could liken this to not acknowledging New York firefighters and police deeds because the US Government on the whole failed to adequately prevent 9-11 from happening...

While the board rightly should identify problems and lessons learned, there should equally be no attempt to dismiss/fail to acknowledge the actions of the marines and aviators.

G2G

 

[Greymatters]

If they were 'just doing their job', thats a pretty high bar to set as a standard. 

Plus, I doubt these marines were deliberately not recognized due to rank, but the perception the story creates is just as damaging.

Even if they do get recognized and get a medal, its tainted by the idea that they only got it because of the press attention instead of the deed itself...

 

 

[daftandbarmy]

Unfortunately what we're seeing is the result of years of Labour rule in the UK where the military are seen a thugs and wasters by an overprivileged, underchallenged middle class. Those who discredit this kind of bravery should be the first to bear the brunt of an underappreciated and supported military but, as always, the gravel bellies wear it in the end.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Here's a link to the Board of Inquiry report (3MB .pdf).

 

[daftandbarmy]

Here's a link to the Board of Inquiry report (3MB .pdf).

Very thorough. Thanks for that.

What a nightmare: frontal assault/ river crossing on a defended fort. It's amazing that things didn't turn out even worse for Zulu Coy. Well done 45 Cdo. (Of course Yankee Coy would have done a MUCH better job!  ;D)

Good point about the Zap numbers though. The CSM had his in a book apparently. We used to write them on our helmets. I guess the CQ net must have clamped down on that.