Week 15 – Because it was there

So the patrol ended up being pretty good, except for the fact the guy we were looking for wasn’t even in the area at the time. Like looking for a needle in a haystack and discovering you’re looking in the wrong haystack. The section I was with for the task was originally FOB security. You know, guarding the officers, sigs and medics. This lasted all of three hours before we were tasked with climbing a big fuck-off hill. One which nearly took me out on the first day. We are talking 70 degree slopes at times to a height of 250m on the first leg. After overnighting in a clearing on a ridge we continued on to the top of the hill 510m which, although at times as steep as the first leg and with little usable track, was a lot easier as we started early in the morning and we were relatively fresh. We took a break at the top and then went down the side. This was a bad idea, 80+ degree slope that was wet with moving rocks and little hand holds. We met one of the other sections heading up and eventually stopped for the night down by the river. Understandably we were all pretty tired at this stage.

The next morning we walked up the river to meet up with another section to act as a communications relay with the FOB. This proved to be a waste of time as that section split and did it themselves. Instead we spent the day guarding a pleasant piece of river and jungle. The fourth day saw us heading back towards base along the river. However just before we got there we were placed as an OP and then saw a group of people that may have included our person of interest. We gave chase up river for about 3 kilometres before we called it off (Those islanders can move fast) as we were spread along the river and it was getting dark. That night we set up an OP in a different place and settled in for an uncomfortable night. The final morning we walked down the river and caught a waiting chopper back to Avu avu. Not bad work for a security section aye.