Vital IED role for Charlie (From Salisbury Journal)

Vital IED role for Charlie

12:40pm Thursday 19th July 2012 in News By David Falcke

BOMBARDIER Charlie Lambert, of Tidworth-based 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, is currently attached to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal & Search Task Force (EOD & STF) and is playing a vital role training comrades to deal with insurgent IEDs in Afghanistan.

The 37-year-old is part of a small team which provides counter improvised explosive device (C-IED) training from Camp Bastion to all the new soldiers arriving in Afghanistan.

The EOD & STF is present in all major locations in the British Area of Operations (AO) in Helmand Province. As Advance Search teams and Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) teams, they deal with all the bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that get found or reported in theatre.

“We have given refresher training to more than 8,000 soldiers since arriving in theatre,” said Bmdr Lambert. “And we still have three months left of a six-month tour. We teach, to a high standard, all the current drills and skills to combat the threat of IEDs. It’s also a good chance for the girls and guys to have a shake out and bring them up to speed before they go forward.

“With IEDs leading to the highest casualty rate in Afghanistan, it’s very important that they receive this training and they become compliant with the right drills before they get on the ground.”

“We get quite a lot of people coming through with questions about counter IED drills, as they will be doing this stuff for real. We also get guys coming through who have been taught drills which aren’t quite current for theatre. I think it’s better that all these mistakes can be ironed out in a safe environment before the guys go forward.”

Charlie Lambert joined the army after school and has been with 19 Regiment RA since 1999. He is on his third tour in Afghanistan.