It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lance Corporal James Brynin of the Intelligence Corps was killed in action in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Tuesday 15 October 2013.

Lance Corporal Brynin, an Intelligence Corps soldier attached to 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), deployed to Task Force Helmand in August 2013 as an intelligence analyst working for a Light Electronic Warfare Team (LEWT) within the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) of 7th Armoured Brigade.

In the early hours of 15 October, the BRF deployed from Camp Bastion into the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province to counter an imminent threat to both the Afghan population and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Towards the end of the operation Lance Corporal Brynin’s section became the target of enemy fire. Together with a sniper and machine gunner of the BRF, Lance Corporal Brynin returned fire, but while extracting from the area he received a fatal gunshot wound.

Click photo to read the full eulogy at GOV.UK

The troop rotation arrangements outlining the tour lengths for deployed UK personnel in Afghanistan between now and the end of UK combat operations in 2014 have been announced today.

British and Afghan soldiers pause during a patrol [Picture: Crown copyright]

Continues at: GOV.UK – Afghanistan tour lengths for deployed UK personnel

British and Afghan soldiers have destroyed a significant insurgent bomb cache in Helmand province.

Soldiers from 4th Mechanized Brigade maintain overwatch [Picture: Crown copyright]

The British soldiers are part of 1st Mechanized Brigade which took over from 4th Mechanized Brigade as Task Force Helmand on 10 April.

The operation was conducted jointly as part of a handover with the outgoing Brigade Reconnaissance Force made up of the Queen’s Royal Lancers and1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Acting on intelligence, soldiers from the 1st Mechanized Brigade Reconnaissance Force were inserted by helicopter at first light into a compound in the Nad ‘Ali region of Helmand.

Searching alongside Afghan troops they discovered over 200...

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British soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have handed Afghan security forces control of a checkpoint in Helmand province.

British soldiers load a Wolfhound vehicle with equipment [Picture: Corporal Si Longworth, Crown copyright]

The soldiers of 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (1 RRF) have been deployed in the district since March 2013, operating in support of their Afghan partners along the Helmand River Valley, key route Highway One and the Nahr-e Bughra canal.

Continues at: GOV.UK - Fusiliers hand Helmand checkpoint to Afghan Police

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Corporal William Savage and Fusilier Samuel Flint, both from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and Private Robert Hetherington, from 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, died of injuries sustained in Afghanistan on Tuesday 30 April 2013.

Clockwise from top right: Corporal William Savage, Fusilier Sam Flint and Private Robert Murray Hetherington [Picture: via MOD]

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:

I was deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of these soldiers, each highly praised and respected by their...

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A Royal Navy reservist has created a hit radio programme in Helmand province inspired by BBC Radio 4′s popular soap opera ‘The Archers’.

Lieutenant Jo Nicholson of the Royal Naval Reserve [Picture: Sergeant Barry Pope, Crown copyright]

Radio Tamadoon is a community radio station run by ISAF for the local people of Helmand, presented by local Afghan DJs.

Working as an Afghan Engagement Specialist in Headquarters Task Force Helmand in Lashkar Gah, 42-year-old Lieutenant Nicholson recognised the potential for a farming programme in Helmand, where the economy is based on agriculture.

Unlike ‘The Archers’, which has regular cast of around 60, ‘Crops and the Farmer’ has only 2 main...

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Senior British military officers described the progress being made in southern Afghanistan at a media briefing in London on Tuesday.

Afghan soldiers prepare to deploy on Operation Tuffan in Nad ‘Ali [Picture: Corporal Jamie Peters, Crown copyright]

It is, however, an important change in that it speaks of the progress being made there; perhaps even more eloquently than the statistics about the numbers of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol bases being closed or handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), or the fact that 40% of Afghans now have mobile phones or that, thanks to a fibre-optic link, there are 4 million subscribers to the internet.

Continues at: GOV.UK – Change in Helmand province

The Week in Afghanistan | British Forces News

The latest round-up of news from British Forces in Afghanistan. The Week in Afghanistan is shown on BFBS1 every Sunday at 0900hours UTC.

Military Cross winner Captain Michael Dobbin, from the Grenadier Guards, talks about his experiences in Helmand during Operation Herrick 16.

Captain Michael Dobbin of the Grenadier Guards has been awarded a Military Cross [Picture: Corporal Steve Blake, Crown copyright]

I’m single, 28 and from Reigate, if that’s my ‘Blind Date’ starter question.

But after the introductions he quickly gets down to business, explaining the events that singled him out in last year’s summer fighting in Helmand province.

He speaks as only a polished British officer can: clearly, factually precise and dispassionately. He would rather speak of the actions of his team than of himself, and, when he does, it’s with pride and admiration.

Captain Dobbin commanded the Reconnaissance Platoon of the 1st Battalion Grenadier...

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The Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade has taken command of Task Force Helmand in southern Afghanistan marking the start of Operation Herrick 18.

The handover ceremony at the headquarters of Task Force Helmand in Lashkar Gah [Picture: Sergeant Barry Pope, Crown copyright]

In a short ceremony in front of British, Danish, Estonian and American partners at the headquarters of Task Force Helmand in Lashkar Gah, Brigadier Bob Bruce, Commander of 4th Mechanized Brigade, formally handed over to Brigadier Rupert Jones, Commander of 1st Mechanized Brigade, officially marking the start of the Operation Herrick 18 deployment.

Continues at: GOV.UK – 1st Mechanized Brigade takes over in Helmand