British Army's crucial role in Libya operation
8 Sep 11
With political events in Libya moving quicker than ever, the British Army is playing a vital - if uncelebrated - role supporting NATO's intensifying airborne operation over the troubled country. Report by Joe Clapson.
Royal Air Force fast jets have dominated the airspace on Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR in a bid to end Colonel Gaddafi's reign of tyranny and what the United Nations has deemed 'crimes against humanity'.
But specialist Army knowledge and strike expertise are also ensuring lives are saved and that forces loyal to Gaddafi are pushed backwards.
Captain Mick Welborn, 9th/12th Royal Lancers, is the Ground Liaison Officer (GLO) at the Gioia del Colle air base in southern Italy. It is his job to serve as the font of all ground-based tactical knowledge for aircrews operating over Libya.
Airmen manning the impressive attack and reconnaissance aircraft explained how their colleague provides an important link between air capability and awareness of ground threats.
Flight Lieutenant Mark Tolman, a Tornado weapons systems operator, commented:
"The GLO is awesome for explaining to us how the Libyans will be using their tanks."
Speaking at the contingency operating base - from which UK forces typically send out 12 to 14 flights per day - Captain Welborn described his unique operational position:
"I am the only soldier attached to the RAF on the operation and I assess what the fast jets see and tell the crew what troops on the ground would do with what is there," he said.
"I brief the group that goes out, then they debrief us on what they actually see on missions, and 80 per cent of the time we get it right."
The lone serviceman works with the RAF's 2 Squadron (Tornado) and 3 Squadron (Typhoon) to create a fighting unit:
"I am fortunate that I have an armoured background from when there was a Berlin Wall and a Soviet threat," said the veteran of the Gulf War, Op TELIC (Iraq) and Op HERRICK (Afghanistan).
"Lo and behold the Libyans have got Soviet kit and tactics, so I can feed in information about how they will be configured and used.
"There have been times where I have sprinted onto the runway to give crews a piece of last-minute information and it has been critical to the point that lives have been saved."
Army involvement has also been crucial overhead, with the formidable Apache helicopter working alongside the Tornados and Typhoons providing attack, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities.
One recent offensive by the Army Air Corps asset caused devastation to valuable pro-regime targets.
Major General Nick Pope, spokesman for UK operations in the country, said:
"This was a sophisticated and highly effective raid by Apache crews deep inside Libya, some 40 miles [64km] inland, to hit Gaddafi's forces, including military vehicles and large-scale communications equipment.
"Former regime forces continue to threaten Libyan civilians and while they do so the message is clear - that this is the sort of action they can expect to face from us and our coalition allies."
Highlighting the requirement for the Army and RAF to link overhead, UK Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Gary Waterfall, added:
"The Apaches are much closer to the action than the fast jets in order to differentiate between people on the ground.
"It makes total sense to have these machines there and we can support them. It's a perfect synergy; what they can't do we can and vice-versa."
With no British troops patrolling the land, the vast majority of intelligence for the operation is gathered using cutting-edge equipment attached to the aircraft.
Detailed imagery is acquired through technology such as the Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado (RAPTOR) and the precision targeting system Litening III. Pictures are then passed to the intelligence cell for detailed analysis.
Flight Lieutenant Rob Phayer, 2 Squadron RAF, explained how pictures of pro-Gaddafi resources have led to effective strike missions:
"We could see that one of the regime's platforms of choice was indirect fire using BM-21 rockets which are completely unguided," he said.
"One of the main reasons we are here is to take out equipment like that because they were being fired on Misurata, a city containing half-a-million people."
As a result of pressure from NATO's 17-nation coalition, sanctioned by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, Colonel Gaddafi's troops have had their offensive tactics restricted.
Since the no-fly zone was implemented on 23 March 2011 there has been no activity from the Libyan Air Force.
However, Flight Lieutenant Phayer emphasised that aircrews still faced considerable danger and Army input was invaluable in understanding the enemy strategy:
"There are significant threats that remain in the country, such as the ground-to-air missiles - Libya has a sophisticated air defence system," he said.
"Having a GLO is vital because he has the Army knowledge of what certain things on the ground will be used for and how they will be deployed."
At the beginning of the campaign the number of dedicated pro-Gaddafi soldiers was in the region of 100,000 but this has diminished to mostly conscripts:
"He is running out of options but this man will turn to more extreme and inhumane tactics to achieve his aims," added the RAF officer.
The UN has reported that 636,000 Libyans remain displaced from their homes and the number of deaths attributed to the tyrant leader's actions increases daily.
But, armed with an arsenal of data, Captain Welborn is well-placed to give an assessment of the situation:
"When I look at the imagery and see that our guys are saving lives on the ground it is very difficult to suggest we should not be here," he explained.
"From the things we see, we know we are preventing people from being killed."
This article is taken from the September 2011 edition of Soldier - Magazine of the British Army.
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