HRH Prince Harry is on his way back to Great Britain after a successful 20-week tour in Afghanistan. Before returning the third-in-line to the throne gave interviews that were published today about his experiences in battle while defense officials said he may get a chance to return to the front lines. The Prince was hesitant to discuss the number of missions he has flown or estimate the number of human casualties he has seen. Rather, the Prince explained that his role is to protect his fellow soldiers: "Take a life to save a life. That’s what we revolve around, I suppose." In fact, things for the Apache squadrons in general have changed over the years according to Harry:
"It used to be very much: front seat, you're firing the whole time. Now, yes we fire when we have to but essentially we’re more of a deterrent than anything else. Our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground.”
Throughout his time there Prince Harry undoubtedly saved many of his fellow soldiers lives and helped to train the Afghanistan National Army.
While Ministry of Defense officials are planning strategies to pull out ground troops from the conflict, that withdraw will need air cover in the form of Apache helicopters. Because of the needed cover, Apache flight crews may be some of the last soldiers to leave the war zone. Prince Harry now has experience, so defense officials were quoted by Express as saying that “he has been earmarked for possible recall,” reason being that “veterans like Harry know their stuff and are sure to be called on again.” With the service rotation the Apache squadrons are on it would be a “minimum of 16 months” before he could be back on duty in Afghanistan again.
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