Apache (35 page)

Authors: Ed Macy

BOOK: Apache

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Longbow:
The Longbow Radar is the Apache’s Fire Control Radar. It looks like a large Swiss cheese and sits on top of the main rotor system

LS:
Landing Site

LSJ:
Life Support Jacket – survival waistcoat

Lynx:
British Army Light Battlefield Helicopter – used for movement of small teams

M230:
The cannon on the underside of the Apache; 30mm chain fed

ManPADS:
Man Portable Aid Defence System – shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile

MC:
Military Cross – awarded in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.

MI6:
Military Intelligence Section 6 – nickname for the British Government’s Secret Intelligence Service

MIA:
Missing in action

MiD:
Mentioned in Despatches – award for gallantry or otherwise commendable service

MIRC:
Military Internet Relay Chat

MoD:
Ministry of Defence

Monocle:
The pink see-through glass mirror over an Apache pilot’s right eye that displays green symbology and images from the onboard computers and sights

Mosquito:
Taliban slang for the Apache

MPD:
Multi-Purpose Display – 5-inch screen on the console in the Apache

MSR:
Main Supply Route – route for equipment and personnel

Mujahideen:
Afghan opposition groups – fought the Soviets during the Soviet invasion and each other in the Afghan Civil War – plural for the word mujahid meaning ‘struggler’

NAAFI:
Navy, Army and Air Forces Institute – a British military shop and café

NATO:
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – multi-national military force

Negative:
Air speak for No

Nimrod MR2:
Royal Air Force large-bodied jet that is used as a spy plane

NSA:
National Security Agency – US Government’s communications intelligence (same as GCHQ)

NVG:
Night Vision Goggles – night sights that magnify light by 40,000 times

OC:
Officer Commanding – Major in charge of a Squadron or Company group

Ops:
Operations – as in Ops tent, Ops room, Ops Officer or literally an operation

ORT:
Optical Relay Tube – the large console in the front seat with PlayStation type grips on either side

P Company:
Gruelling fitness tests used by the Parachute Regiment to test suitable candidates for parachute training and airborne forces

Para:
Nickname for a soldier from the Parachute Regiment or the Regiment itself

Paveway:
Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) – the laser guidance system bolted onto 500–2000 lb bombs

Pepper-Potting:
One patrol goes firm. The other passes it and goes firm. Then the original patrol passes and goes firm. On and on – one foot on the ground at all times advancing forward or backwards

Pinzgauer:
Small 4x4 All Terrain Utility Truck

Piss Boy:
The loser of a game who has to make the tea and coffee

PJHQ:
Permanent Joint Headquarters – located at Northwood; Commands overseas joint and combined military operations and provides military advice to the Ministry of Defence.

PK:
Soviet designed General Purpose Machine Gun – 7.62mm bipod machine gun

PNVS:
Pilot’s Night Vision System – the thermal camera that sits above the TADS on the Apache’s nose

Pongo:
Derogatory slang used by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force for Army soldiers

Port:
Left-hand side of an aircraft or vessel

Predator:
Large US UAV that contains sophisticated sights and radios similar to those on the Apache. It can be armed with Hellfire

PX:
Post Exchange – huge US Military shop that sells almost anything

QHI:
Qualified Helicopter Instructor – flying instructor

R and R:
Rest and Recuperation – break from combat

RAF:
Royal Air Force

Rearm:
Reload the Apache with ammunition

REME:
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

RIP:
Relief in Place – Apache Flights handing over the battle between each other maintaining support to the ground troops

RM:
Royal Marine/s

RMP:
Royal Military Police – British Military Police

ROE:
Rules of Engagement – law set by a country’s Government laying down the rules as to which arms may be brought to bear

Rocco:
Rocco Siffredi – Italian actor, director and producer of pornographic movies

RPG:
Soviet-designed Rocket Propelled Grenade – shoulder-launched rocket with a powerful grenade warhead on the front

RSM:
Regimental Sergeant Major – WO1 and the senior soldier in a Regiment

RTB:
Return To Base

RTA:
Road Traffic Accident

RTS:
Release to Service – the document that details what can and can’t be done with the Apache regarding flight, firing, etc.

RV:
Rendezvous – designated meeting place

SA7/14:
Soviet-designed Surface to Air Missiles – ManPADS

SA80:
British Forces Rifle – 5.56mm automatic

SAM:
Surface to Air Missile

Sappers:
Military engineers – slang for the Royal Engineers

SAS:
Special Air Service – an independent British Special Forces Unit of the British Army

Sausage Side:
A term for enemy territory dating back to the World Wars. The sausage loving Germans’ side of the battlefield

SBS:
Special Boat Service – an independent British Special Forces Unit of the Royal Navy’s Royal Marines

Scimitar:
British Army Armoured Recce Vehicle

SERE:
Survive, Evade, Resist and Extract

SF:
Special Forces – e.g. SAS and SBS

SIB:
Special Investigation Branch – detectives of the RMP

SigInt:
Signal Intelligence – intelligence gained from radio, telephone, texts and email intercepts

Small Arms:
Infantry light weapons – pistols, rifles and machine guns – weapons capable of being fired by a foot soldier on the move

Snatch:
Lightly armoured military Land Rover

Spoof:
Game played with coins to decide who has to do a task

Spooks:
Nickname for spies

SRR:
Special Reconnaissance Regiment – an independent British Special Forces Unit of the British Army, specialising in close target reconnaissance

Stack:
Fast Air that is queued up and held before being passed on to whoever is in need of its offensive capability

Standby Standby:
Warning call to watch out for something

Starboard:
Right-hand side of an aircraft or vessel

Steering Cursor:
The rocket symbol used to line up the Apache so the rockets land on the target, also known as the ‘I’ Bar

Stingers:
US-designed Surface to Air ManPADs (Man Portable Air Defence system) missile. Taliban slang for any shoulder-launched surface to air missile

Sunray:
Callsign for a commander

SUSAT:
Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux – the 4-times magnification day/night sight that sits on top of an SA80 rifle or SA80 carbine

Symbology:
Flying and targeting information beamed onto the monocle

T1:
Triage Casualty Code 1 – needs to be in an operating theatre within an hour to save life

T2:
Triage Casualty Code 2 – needs to be in an operating theatre quickly before they become T1

T3:
Triage Casualty Code 3 – injured and needs medical help

T4:
Triage Casualty Code 4 – dead

TADS:
Target Acquisition and Designation Sight system – the ‘bucket’ on the nose of the Apache that houses the Apache’s cameras

Taliban:
Collective term used in this book for Taliban, Al Qaeda and Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)

Theatre:
Country or area in which troops are conducting operations

Thermobaric:
Enhanced blast Hellfire – thermobaric means heat and pressure

Topman:
Callsign for the British Harrier

Tornado:
Royal Air Force multi-role strike warplane

TOC:
Tactical Operations Cell

TOT:
Time On Target – the time until an aircraft is due over or weapon is due at the target

TOW:
Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided anti-tank missile – fired from the British Army Lynx helicopter

TPF:
Tactical Planning Facility – mobile planning room

TPM:
Terrain Profile Mode – the Longbow’s terrain mapping mode

Tracer:
Bullets that burn with a red, orange or green glow from 110m to 1100m so they can be seen

Tusk:
Callsign for the A10 Thunderbolt aircraft

UAV:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

UFD:
Up Front Display – an LED instrument that displays critical information to the Apache crews

Ugly:
The callsign chosen by 656 Sqn for the British Apaches – ‘Ugly Five Zero to Ugly Five Seven’

USAF:
United States Air Force

Viking:
Armoured amphibious tracked vehicle

VIP:
Very Important Person

VU Radio:
A VHF and UHF capable secure radio in the Apache

Widow:
Callsign for normal JTACs in Afghanistan

Wingman:
The other aircraft in any pair of aircraft

Wizard:
Callsign for the Nimrod MR2

WMIK:
Weapons Mounted Installation Kit – an odd-looking Land Rover with bars all over it to which weapons can be attached

WO1:
A soldier who holds a Royal Warrant is known as Warrant Officer – a WO1; Class one is the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army

Wombat:
Weapon Of Magnesium Battalion Anti-Tank – a huge wheeled or mounted rifle barrel

Zulu Company:
A company of marines detached from 45 Commando to the Information Exploitation (IX) Battlegroup for this tour of Afghanistan

ZPU:
Soviet Anti-Aircraft Gun – 14.5mm – ZPU 1 is single-barrelled, ZPU 2 has twin barrels and the ZPU 4 has quadruple barrels

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you, Emily, my soul mate, for the love and the freedom to catch my dream and for supporting me in my choice. Thank you also for finding and for pushing me in the direction of my friend and agent Mark Lucas.

Thank you, Mark, for believing that my stories were good enough to tell, and for priceless guidance and advice. Thanks also to Mindy for putting up with my calls at every conceivable hour, and to Alice for keeping me in check.

My sincere gratitude to Tom Newton Dunn for tireless dedication in helping me to tell my story, and to Dominie and Rebekah Wade for putting up with Tom’s absences. And huge thanks to wee Arthur for keeping Tom sane.

The groundcrew and technicians are the unsung heroes of the Apache squadrons and the JHF (A). Thank you for your unswerving professionalism.

Chris, Billy, Geordie, Carl and my fellow Apache aviators in 656 Squadron – my door is always open and for once words fail me.

Thanks to Colonel Rob Magowan MBE RM for taking the time to explain the bigger picture and, more importantly, for having the confidence to allow us to return Mathew to his family.

I owe a special thank you to the old DAAvn, Brigadier Thomson, for his support in the aftermath of the Fort, to the new DAAvn, Brigadier Short, and to Colonel Turner for supporting me in the writing of this book.

Arabella Pike, John Bond and everyone at HarperPress, I can’t thank you enough for your support, enthusiasm and sheer hard work.

To everyone in Mathew’s family, especially Joan, Bootsy and Ina, thank you for allowing me to tell my story.

I am eternally grateful to my wonderful Dad and the British Army for making me who I am today.

To my children, my little AAC: you are my world.

Thank you to my family and friends who have supported me throughout.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ed Macy left the British Army in January 2008, after twenty-three years’ service. He had amassed a total of 3,930 helicopter flying hours, 645 of them inside an Apache. Ed was awarded the military cross for his courage during the Jugroom Fort rescue - one of the first ever in Army Air Corps history.
Apache
is his first book. He hopes it won’t be his last.

‘You do not need to ask them about their contribution, you need to ask those on the ground who depended on them, day after day, to provide the crucial military edge over the enemy. They will leave you in no doubt about what the Apache achieved, and the praise of the praiseworthy is beyond measure.’ AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR JOCK STIRRUP, CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF

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INDEX

Afghanistan
19

British Army history in
65
,
166
–7

climate
14
,
181

landscape
15
–
16
,
63
,
64
–5

native population
22
,
63
–4

opium trade in
1
–
2
,
19
,
20
,
63
,
68
,
82
–4,
94
,
96
,
155
,
284