British Army Military Book of the Year Award 2009

The British Army, through an online poll on ArmyNet, has voted James Fergusson’s A Million Bullets: the Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan as its Military Book of the Year. The author was at the Prince Consort’s Library, in Aldershot, on Wednesday evening for the award ceremony. Brigadier Miles Wade, the Commander of 145 (South) Brigade, presented him with the trophy.

Fergusson then talked about his book, which dealt with Op Herrick 4 in 2006-07, the current situation and prospects for the future of Afghanistan, to a library packed with soldiers. He took questions, many from soldiers who have done tours in Afghanistan or who are about to go. Richard Holmes’s Marlborough and Richard Connaughton’s A Brief History of Modern Warfare achieved second and third place respectively.

Fighter Control to dog-sled racing

The former RAF Fighter Controller Melanie Clegg will take part in four dog-sled races in the inhospitable terrain of the Finnmark plateau in Norway’s High Arctic, to raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund. Clegg, who retired from the RAF as a flight- lieutenant in 2005, decided to live in Norway after an exchange posting in the country. Declining to use a ready-made sled team, she has reared her own dogs from pups. The first of the races begins on December 15; the series ends with the taxing 500km Finnmark Race in March.

HMS Scott heads for the Antarctic

The Royal Navy’s advanced deep-water survey ship, HMS Scott, is on her way for the first time to the Antarctic, where it is hoped that work carried out with her state-of-the-art sonar will help to deepen understanding of the marine environment of this part of the world. Her deep-ocean survey capability was well demonstrated after the tsunami that struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand on Boxing Day 2004, when her survey of the fault zone was able to demonstrate exactly where the disaster had started, helping to provide a new earthquake early-warning system. Although, at 13,500 tons full load she is the sixth-largest ship in the Royal Navy, she can operate with a ship’s company of 52.

RAF medics honoured

RAF medical teams and support staff have been honoured by the civilian Ambulance Service Institute for services “beyond the call of duty” during a period of intense operations in Afghanistan. The RAF’s Tactical Medical Wing at Lyneham won the Military Award (awarded to the Operations and Logistics Squadron), the Air Ambulance Team Award (Medical Emergency Response Team) and the Special President’s Award (Critical Care Air Support Team).