For our Mates

Living in the this part of Wiltshire its not possible to avoid the war in Afghanistan, for me that’s compounded by working for a defence contractor who manages the training infrastructure. The conversations in pubs are exciting, fascinating and moving.

A number of the conversations take me back to a dinner many years ago in Monmouthshire. I was having one of those getting to know you sessions with a chap who I hope I would be doing a lot of work with. I had come across him when he led a training course for charity trustees at the Directory for Social Change. His session was unusual as it was laced with quotes from the likes of Karl Albrechts The Northbound Training to the inevitable Balanced Scorecard. Business books in a charity seminar was then unusual, especially when talking to Trustees not Executives. His style, pulling together a wide range of ideas to create a primeval soup from which charities governors could evolve an approach, resonated with me. Not only was he widely read, with an amazing power of recall, but he was proving that the sum of knowledge is greater than its parts.

Over dinner we did that whole dance of getting to know each other, probe, answer, probe some more, follow an interesting idea up and then start all over again. I was really interested in how he ended up in management consulting and coaching. He had started life in 3 Para and been with them in the Falklands as a young officer. At some point he took the option of leaving and moved into business education and worked for the Ford group developing managers and leaders from the shop floor through to the board room.

Some where along this road we got on to the subject of motivation and why we do “it”. He recounted that he found the same motivations on the production line in Hailwood as he had witnessed at Goose Green with 3 Para. They all did “it’ for their mates. Why turn up to work and do a decent job?

“Because I don’t want to let down the guys I go for a drink or play footie with”

The same much quoted reasons that most soldiers get out from behind the safety of the stone wall or trench to help out a fellow warrior.

One of the many conversations in my local about the Op Herrick as with a regular drinking buddie just return form a tour in Bastion as a aircraft commander on Chinooks. This guys is starts of a rare example as he is a loadmaster, commissioned from the ranks and now commanding one of the most valuable assets in theatre for the armed forces of all cap badges. He was talking about a hold range of near misses, difficult landings, the amazing survivability of the `Chinook and a whole bunch of other stuff. The thing that stood out was the tone of the discussion about the IRT’s. These are the immediate response teams who at the drop of a hat get on board an aircraft and fly out of the safety of camp bastion to help a unit in trouble. By the vary nature of the task the job is dangerous. No one asks for help if its all going well. The guys on the flight deck as well as the self loading cargo in the back now that what’s waiting for them at the other end of a low level seat of the pants/nap of the earth flight are some mates who need help and some bad guys who want to do harm.

I refer to the tone as at no time was one member of an IRT seen to hesitate as they strapped on their gear and ran up the loading ramp of the aircraft or prepared their weapons for a “hot and hurried landing”. My drinking companion had seen many IRT go out to help their mates but they were not there mates, well the likelihood that those in need of immediate response were well know to the team members would be remote. The IRT’s are made up of starch teams from any unit that is not deployed. So the RAF regiment will be going out to help the Marines. Signallers to assist Infantryman and Paras to support the artillery. Do not misunderstand me they are all professional soldiers and medics, trained and equipment to do the job but they are not elite troops or US style Para Rescue Jumpers, just run of the mill Tommy’s. The bond is that of there but by the grace of good, and tasking, go I.

Or

“If it is me hold up in a FOB or hunkered down in a irrigation ditch with RPG’s streaming over my head I hope they will return the favour”.

They do it for their mates, we all do it for our mates. What is it about friendship that inspires us to do out best no matter what the circumstances? From production line to getting the sofa up the stairs; from IRT’s to turning out on a Sunday afternoon for the village eleven we do it for our fellow man and women, the people were share a common bond with. It in large part to have fun and if nothing else the bragging rights in the bar

I have no idea but I am glad that I both have mates who will help me and that I have mates to help.