From day job to war zone
It was as the lights went out to signal the approach into Kandahar, plunging the Tristar’s cabin into darkness, that the chairman of Newark Business Club knew he had really arrived in Afghanistan.
Wearing body armour and with helmet securely fastened, Dean Hyde began to question what he had let himself in for.
It was a far cry from his comfortable office at The Beacon business centre, where he is managing director of Accident Liability Management.
Mr Hyde spent four days in Afghanistan representing the East Midlands with Sabre —Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers.
He employs a captain in the Territorial Army, Captain Darren Knight (41) a former Army regular, as a lecturer in fraud and claims investigation.
Mr Hyde was invited by Sabre to see first-hand the role that reservists, who make up 25% of the British Armed Forces’ strength, play in supporting regulars in the fight against the Taliban and their allies.
A Hercules shuttle flight took Mr Hyde to Camp Bastion — the main military base the size of Hereford and growing daily in southern Afghanistan.
“We were in bed by 4.30am, having to rise at 8am,” Mr Hyde said.
“There was a huge explosion half an hour after I got my head down and 20 minutes later a voice over the Tannoy saying: ‘The mine has been neutralised’. It was not conducive to sleep after that.”
Mr Hyde and his fellow business leaders were briefed about their worth as hostages.
They were shown footage of Improvised Explosive Devices going off that demonstrated the Taliban’s disregard for civilian life.
They were warned to do as they were told at all times.
“The holidaymaker mentality was gone from that moment on,” Mr Hyde said.
“We were told that if you fell to the dirt because of a sound no one was going to laugh.”
The group toured Bastion and was told what it took to manage a camp of its size and population.
They visited the Force Protection Group, responsible for camp perimeter security, and the Medical Emergency Rescue Team, the helicopter-borne medics who evacuate battlefield casualties.
Several casualties, one of whom later died, were taken into Bastion while Mr Hyde was there.
Mr Hyde said he was thoroughly impressed with the skill and professionalism of the TA medics.
He was told a body would usually take a transfusion of ten litres of blood, but at the Bastion hospital one casualty with severe injuries had 172 litres during efforts to keep him alive that were ultimately successful.
At Bastion the group attended a vigil for the repatriation back to RAF Lyneham of a British soldier, Private Robert Hayes (19) who died in action.
Mr Hyde said: “Private Hayes was 19, a year younger than my daughter.
“It was very poignant to hear the tributes of his commanding officer and his mates.”
From Bastion it was on to the capital, Kabul, where they spoke to Afghan National Army soldiers being trained by British reservists.
They set out on a patrol in heavily-armoured vehicles but had to turn back after a convoy quarter of a mile ahead was hit by an IED.
One soldier was killed and three others were wounded.
Mr Hyde said he believed the battle for Afghanistan needed winning more than ever.
He said he found that Afghanis particularly embraced the education they were now receiving, recognised that infrastructure and stability were coming, and largely supported the presence of coalition forces, whom they viewed as supporters rather than occupiers.
