Quiet times for British troops in Basra
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British soldiers in Basra are experiencing a very different deployment to past tours, with time spent protecting the airport base just outside the city or conducting reconstruction missions rather than dodging rockets and bullet fire.
They are also learning to mingle with US soldiers who are gradually moving into the base with a view to taking over once the British military pulls out.
In addition, many British troops hope their trip will be cut short by plans to start withdrawing from March. Some, however, already want to be sent to Afghanistan where there is a greater potential for combat action.
Rifleman Martin Spencer, 22, is on his second tour to Iraq after spending six months at a hotel base in Basra in 2006.
“There was a lot more heat, a lot more indirect fire [rockets and mortars], trouble on the ground, that sort of thing,” he said.
At one point his unit was called out to help after a patrol boat came under attack and a group of Danish soldiers struck a roadside bomb.
“We secured the location and then all hell broke loose, a lot of firing from all sides,” said the soldier, from Cornwall. “There was quite a lot of tracer flying overhead. You could hear the rounds cracking over your head.”
This time around, he and other soldiers from The 5th Battalion The Rifles are living at Britain’s main airport base several miles outside Basra. 
admin @ December 18, 2008