The memoir of a combat medic in Afghanistan
I'm not a professional reviewer or writer and this is just some random thoughts about a book I found fascinating.
This is not an autobiography in the sense that it follows a timeline through the subject's life. It does what it says in the sub-title and concentrates on a 7 week period when Sgt Chantelle Taylor is the senior of four medics in a patrol base supporting B Company, 5th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland. We learn a little about her life as she reflects during the long periods of boredom that war brings and we have a her mother to thank for persuading her to publish this book.
It's not a story about great heroics and daring-do, its a matter of fact telling of what war in Afghanistan was like at the front end, occupying a patrol base surrounded by Taliban fighters. There's plenty of heroics on an almost daily basis and they get a fair telling, alongside the daily grind. It is a story the daily lives of brave, professional people sent to do a job that they were ill equipped for, thanks to political parsimony, and how they coped both physically and mentally.
When I mentioned that I was reading this book to a good friend and that Chantelle had been the first female soldier to kill a Taliban fighter in close-quarter combat, he was somewhat surprised that a medic was fighting. For those who aren't aware the military law of armed conflict states that a combat medic can only fire in anger to protect themselves and/or their casualties and under exceptional circumstances. She encountered those circumstances on numerous occasions, becoming number 2 on the mortar when they ran dangerously low on manpower. As they say, they are soldiers who carry medical kits, not medics who carry guns.
Women have come a long way in the Army since I joined and this book adds support to the recent decision to allow women to serve in front line units. I don't believe anyone could read it and still think that the battlefield is no place for them. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when a gobby young officer she'd nicknamed Flashheart raises the subject of females serving in the infantry, I won't give her response away except to say the Flashheart came off second. It should be noted that Chantelle qualified as an instructor in urban warfare so she would understand how the infantry operates and identify casualty choke points. That's professionalism.
As you would expect from a combat medic, a lot of the book is about how they do their jobs and get causalities back to field hospitals as quickly as possible. She describes in detail the mnemonics and procedures for assessing causalities and then deciding priorities and treatments and when they should be evacuated. The senior medic not only advises the Officer Commanding the state of his men and their injuries, they must also resist his desire to get the highest priority for his troops. A medical evacuation, always by helicopter, risks not only the helicopter and crew but also the lives of those in other bases waiting for evacuation. Its a tough call to make when it could be your mates' life at stake.
Its well known that Taliban fighters are brutal, but not always discussed why. Chantelle describes how they were patrolling to find a new helicopter landing site and had to be careful of drug paraphernalia lying around. When you consider the Taliban fighters are drugged up and their commanders are not beyond shooting their own men to set an example, there's no wonder they're ferocious and dangerous fighters, although not as effective as if they'd been trained. In one incident they hear over the Taliban radio net that a special shooter who'd been sent to take out one of their incoming helicopters and missed was executed.
Whilst Chantelle was mostly confined to the patrol base, one of her medics, two women and a man, accompanied all infantry patrols. Their professionalism and skills are tested on a regular basis and they aren't immune from death, injury and capture themselves. The descriptions of getting casualties out to meet the evacuation helicopters is quite gripping. It not only the Taliban that posed a risk, the stones and pebbles thrown up by the down draught was also dangerous.
Mental health is something that is becoming high profile amongst the armed forces and veterans and to this day there are still PSTD linked suicides amongst Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (I read recently 16 in 2016 and already 4 this year). As medics they also have a responsibility for mental health and Chantelle discusses some of the issues at length. Most serviceman accept the injury and death are occupational hazards, but there are also added psychological pressures. In NI it was a fear of snipers. In Afghanistan it was made clear to soldiers that in the event of their capture they would probably end up on a YouTube video being beheaded. It is left unsaid what female soldiers can expect if they are captured, that really is psychological pressure.
Those pressures don't kick in when your in contact or coming under fire in one of the daily attacks on the patrol base, then training kicks in, they happen in those long down times when there's little else to do and the mind wanders. Strong soldiers push those thoughts aside, but they can surface many years later. Chantelle tells a nice story about how that good old fashioned cup of tea helps her talk to one of the soldiers who is struggling.
As is traditional with medics, their role is to treat the casualty in front of them. This meant not just their own troops, Afghan soldiers and civilians but also wounded Taliban. This led to some interesting encounters as males realised they were being treated by a woman and most seemed OK with it. It turns out very few people are fanatical enough to pass up the chance to live.
There are some tense moments as Chantelle describes what its like to be in a command post when the dreaded call "contact, wait out" comes in. This is when the coolness of commanders comes to the fore, as they asses situations and decide what support is needed to get their soldiers out of a fix. There's a horrifying incident caused by the fog of war that leaves many casualties from a missile strike from their own fire support helicopter. Dealing with that situation takes cool heads as does dealing with the aftermath of an Afghan soldier opening up on his own troops.
Personal hygiene is critical in all wars and the routines are described in some detail. From the drudgery of the food to how females deal with washing and drying their underwear without putting it on display for all to see get a mention. The joy of showering and fresh clean clothes is one of those things that only those who've been in those situations can understand, but she makes a good job of describing them.
The reader is left under no illusion that Chantelle has a lot of respect for the "jocks", as the soldiers are known. She has a deep friendship with many and tells numerous tales of the banter and gallows humour that goes on amongst squaddies under pressure. She gives as good as she gets and its obvious that the respect is mutual. There's a list of abbreviations and acronyms at the beginning of the book and it would have been nice to have a list of the dizzying array of characters, and I mean characters in both senses of the word, as I found it hard to keep up with the all the names, nicknames and roles. But that could be my advanced years.
There's so much more to this book that I haven't covered: The bravery of the helicopter pilots coming in to pick up casualties, the "bigger picture" (the reason they are there is to support a hearts and minds operation), shortcomings in their equipment, the vast difference in life between those at the sharp end at those at the rear and the constant battle with them that always goes on and how Chantelle deals with her own decompression as returning home is known and her own PTSD.
Throughout the book we get insights in to Chantelle's life and her past deployments. It is the story of an extraordinary woman who's also seen war in the Balkans, Iraq and Sierre Leone, where she had the harrowing task of treating child soldiers, amongst other places. This isn't a page turner in the same way as a good thriller, but it is a holds the attention nonetheless. The reader won't come away with anything other than respect for the women and men who gave and risked their lives in Afghanistan and the medics who helped so many survive harrowing injuries.
You can follow Chantelle: https://twitter.com/Altern8rv
