Soldiers from The Black Watch are flying out to begin a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan this week.
He last visited Inverness 18 months ago to present campaign medals for the soldiers’ previous tour, and said he was aware of the amount of training they would have undertaken to prepare for facing the ”challenges and dangers ahead”.
Prince Charles said: ”I have no doubt that you are extremely well prepared, well equipped and ready. ‘The colours on parade will follow you to Afghanistan, along with, I can assure you, my constant thoughts and best wishes, and I hope they will serve as a continuing source of inspiration during your deployment.”
In recent weeks visitors to Inverness have been fully aware of the high-profile preparations by The Black Watch for the tour of duty. As well as soldiers in desert clothing becoming a familiar sight, large amounts of supplies were arriving at Fort George and the sound of gunfire from the training area has intensified.
Afghanistan’s political landscape has changed since The Black Watch’s last tour there. Working more closely with the Afghan army and police, the UK forces’ efforts to push back the Taliban have been ongoing.
Their goal is to pass control to the authorities without fear that the Taliban will regain their foothold.
Osama bin Laden’s death in May was a vital blow, but the conflict that has claimed servicemen for over a decade has yet to end.
The Black Watch has paid a heavy price in lives lost, with many victims coming from the regiment’s traditional recruiting grounds of Perth, Dundee and Fife.
As well as the five men lost in Afghanistan, the conflict in Iraq cost the lives of 10 Black Watch soldiers between 2004 and 2007.
Nearly 500 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, based at Fort George, Inverness, will play a part in fighting the Taliban and preparing for the handover of control to the Afghan authorities.
Flights from Edinburgh and Brize Norton began last week and the last member of the battalion will be in Afghanistan by the weekend.
”They have been training for six months and will be in Afghanistan for six months,” said an army spokesman. ”They will be based at Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province. It is their first time there as two years ago they were in Kandahar.
”They will be patrolling, maintaining a presence, training people and working with the Afghan security forces.”
Two years ago this month Black Watch soldiers returned from their last tour having lost five of their number.
While appreciating the dangers that a career as a soldier poses, battalion members’ families received a royal boost recently as they prepared to say goodbye to their loved ones.
Prince Charles flew to Fort George to meet soldiers and their families. Dressed in army uniform, he watched a parade of the colours which were presented to the battalion by the Queen earlier this year, before being led by Brigadier Michael Riddell-Webster to carry out an inspection of the soldiers.
The Duke of Rothesay spoke of his pride at his family’s association with The Black Watch which dates from the First World War and his role as the battalion’s royal colonel.
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