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the Navy Network

There was also a shed load out there 2008-2009,stokers, chefs, SAs,reggies MAs WE Tiffs and thats just the ones I heard of.

When I talk to people about the Navy, very often they don't realise our boys and lasses are out there.

Originally Posted by tommo

When I talk to people about the Navy, very often they don't realise our boys and lasses are out there.

Well stop talking to these people - they're clearly morons...

Navy Diver to Counter IED Threat in Afghanistan

Originally Posted by RN website 7 Oct 2009

A Royal Navy Petty Officer (Diver) has swapped the icy waters of Scotland for the desert and mountains of Afghanistan, making him the first Royal Navy explosive ordnance disposal operator to conduct bomb disposal in the region. Petty Officer (Diver) Jay Gardner is an expert in bomb disposal both at sea and on land and will be deploying with a team of three divers from the Fleet Diving Squadron in Portsmouth to work alongside colleagues from the Army's Royal Engineers and Royal Logistic Corps. A member of the Northern Diving Group since November 2008 when he joined from minehunter HMS Walney, Petty Officer Gardner has been conducting intensive pre-deployment training for the last six months...

And more recently:

Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Team Deploy To Afghanistan

Originally Posted by RN website 4 Mar 2010

Four more Portsmouth-based Royal Navy bomb disposal experts are heading to Afghanistan to play a vital part in the counter explosives effort. The quartet, from the Fleet Diving Squadron based at Horsea Island, will leave on Monday (8 March) and spend six months in Helmand Province.

Predominantly based at Camp Bastion, they will work in support of the British Army’s 21 Field Squadron Royal Engineers and also deploy to forward operating bases in Sangin, Banji and Kajaki. There they will carry out offensive search and clearance of insurgent-laid improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and conventional munitions and also accompany regular foot patrols. They will also train the Afghan National Army (ANA) in explosive ordnance recognition, search and disposal skills...

Royal Navy Specialists Train for Operations in Afghanistan

Originally Posted by RN website 4 Jan 2010

Highlighting the tri-Service effort in Afghanistan, as well as the versatility of today's Royal Navy, a group of 80 sailors have recently swapped the high seas for dry land to train for a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Tucked away in the heart of HMS Nelson, Portsmouth Naval Base, a group of 80 sailors listen intently as their lecturer points out the differences in the various explosive devices displayed before them. The lumps of tangled metal may look conspicuous in the classroom setting, but, when the group is deployed to Afghanistan in a few weeks' time, they will be carefully hidden away by insurgents in a deadly game of hide and seek. And in a bid to gear them up for their impending six-month deployment to the operational theatre, this group of logistics, administrative, intelligence and operations personnel are being put through their paces at the Royal Navy Pre-deployment Training and Mounting Centre in Portsmouth...

Royal Navy Sea Kings - flying over Afghanistan for two years

Originally Posted by MOD website 9 Dec 09

It's a long way from their natural stomping grounds over the world's oceans but after two years of successful service in Afghanistan Royal Navy Sea Kings are showing they are more than at home in the hot and dusty conditions of Helmand province. For two years the green Sea King Mk4s of the Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) have been heavily involved in flying operations in Afghanistan as part of the Joint Helicopter Force. Mainly based at Kandahar Airfield, with elements also based at Camp Bastion, they regularly fly missions over the volatile Helmand region, 80 miles (129km) to the west of Kandahar...

Lest we forget...

First Royal Navy female awarded Military Cross for Afghanistan bravery

Originally Posted by Daily Telegraph 11 Sep 2009

A female medic who saved the life of soldier while under enemy fire has become the first woman in the Royal Navy to be awarded the Military Cross. Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt was among more than 100 service personnel who were recognised for acts of heroism during 3 Commando Brigade's deployment earlier this year. The rating was recognised for outstanding gallantry after she went to the assistance of a soldier from 1st Bn The Rifles who had been shot in the neck during a gun battle with the Taliban. AB Nesbitt, 21, dressed the wound and kept the soldier from losing blood while Taliban bullets and rockets flew overhead during the battle in Marjah district in Helmand, close to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in March...

Logistics HQ deploys to Afghanistan

Originally Posted by MOD website 30 Jun 2009

Tri-Service Headquarters staff of the Joint Force Support deployed to Afghanistan recently where they will be ensuring that troops on the front line have all the support they need to do their job. The Headquarters, which is formed around HQ 8 Force Engineer Brigade, normally based at Headquarters Land Forces in Wilton, will be responsible for providing approximately 9,000 British soldiers, sailors, airmen, and embedded troops from coalition partners, with everything from buttons, bullets and food to medical care and welfare support...

...Captain Andy Kyte, from the Royal Navy Logistics Branch, is the Deputy Commander of the Headquarters. He said: "It's a very different environment to the one a Naval Officer normally goes into, but working with the Army and RAF as a Naval Logistics Officer is nothing new. Although it is predominantly a Land campaign, in theatre the whole delivery of logistics is joint - we have experts from all three Services with deep specialist knowledge."