Royal Marine Families Praise Naval Support Service After Afghanistan Deployment

Royal Marines give their lives for their country in Afghanistan – but, as the old cliché states, they also serve who only stand and wait.

That is where the Naval Personal and Family Service (NPFS) come in. Mums, dads, wives and children don’t have to wait alone.

The organisation’s Community Team, based in Helensburgh, has recently received plaudits from the families of Royal Marines serving in Afghanistan with 3 Commando Brigade.

Running from March to October last year, the latest tour saw Marines from 42 and Arbroath’s 45 Commando – all of which form the Brigade – head to Afghanistan as part of a tri-service and multi-national force.

While away the troops were involved in over 37,000 patrols averaging 270 per day, the detection of over 400 Improvised Explosive Devices, and the destruction of more than seven tonnes of homemade explosives.

The Royal Marines also helped improve conditions in the war-torn country, working with partners to lay 47km of roads, refurbish 11 schools and three bazaars, and train 1,300 Afghan uniformed police.

For those at home news of their loved-ones’ work protecting our nation’s interests was often sketchy. The hundreds of miles separating them and the difficulty of communicating with an operational theatre understandably lead to uncertainty.

“A deployment is a very difficult period for families,” explained Sophia McArdle, NPFS Community Worker.

“Those at home undergo stress, anxiety and practical problems.

“We recognise that our families were dispersed throughout the UK, so sometimes they didn’t have the same level of support as those in areas where there were military bases.

“The NPFS Community Team helped support them during the deployment by creating an outreach project.”

The team held dozens of events across the UK, including Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool. Families were encouraged to attend at the start, halfway through and at the end of the deployment. There was also a families’ day held at 45 Commando’s headquarters in Arbroath which attracted around 2,000 people.

One family who benefited from the outreach project were the MacKenzies from Erskine. Gordon (49) and Kim MacKenzie (50) have 21 year-old son, Mark, currently serving with 45 Commando.

“Mark is our only son and completed his Commando training back in 2010,” said proud dad, Gordon.

“It didn’t come as a surprise to us that he joined; he’s been telling us he wanted to be a Royal Marine since he was eleven.”

Gordon and Kim attended the Arbroath families’ day where they met hundreds of people from all around the UK who were in the same situation – watching their loved-ones go abroad to fight while they were left behind.

Gordon said:

“Afterwards, when we got home, we started to feel very much alone.

“If your neighbours or friends are in the same situation it might be different, but for us the common attitude, even among friends, was ‘he knew what he signed up for’.

“To us this entirely missed the point. It was Mark that signed up, we didn’t.”

When the NPFS Community Team invited the couple to attend one of their events in Glasgow the parents jumped at the chance. Gordon said:

“We met the team on the day and they were there to listen and provide information for us. It was so helpful and we realised that we are not alone.

“During Mark’s deployment Kim and I went through ups and downs and many sleepless nights.

"Anyone who has had a son or daughter far away from home and has gotten a phone call from them at five in the morning only for the line to go silent will know the feeling of dread that you experience.

“To have people to turn to close by was a great reassurance.”

The NPFS’ Lorna Austin said:

“During the project we covered practical things like making sure families had contact information and the correct address for parcels, but a lot was helping them understand what their loved-ones were experiencing.

“At events we had mums who were worried because their sons had been to Afghanistan before and returned a couple of stones lighter.

"We arranged for Marines from 45 Commando to meet with them and explain what a deployment was like.

“When the guys showed them the equipment – including a 60kg rucksack – and told them that they would need to carry it every day in 50 degree heat, they finally realised why their boys were shedding the pounds.”

“A lot of the troops don’t talk about their day-to-day experiences; they just get on with the job. But this can make those at home anxious.

"They want to share what they’re going through. By giving them the information we can bring them closer and get rid of that uncertainty.”

One woman who knows about this uncertainty is Joanne McMurdo (28) from Helensburgh. Her husband, Jim (30), is a Royal Marine Corporal with 45 Commando.

Jim has been on operational tours all around the world, but for Joanne, his latest deployment to Afghanistan was particularly difficult. She said:

“We now have two small children – Andrew and Callum – aged three and six-months.

“No matter how much you try to prepare yourself for them going, when it comes to your husband leaving it is the worst and most emotional time.

“I remember the morning that Jim was leaving for Afghanistan. All of us were crying into our cereal bowls. That first week was the worst of the whole deployment.”

Joanne and the kids were given support by the NPFS Community Team, being invited along to regular events at Royal Marine Reserves in Govan. She said:

“The kids really enjoyed going as they got to meet the children in the same situation.

“The events became important milestones for us. With each one we knew that Jim was closer to coming home.

“Eventually we started getting into a routine. Every night we would make Jim a video and send it to him so that he wouldn’t miss any of the key parts of the boy’s lives, like Callum’s first steps and words.”

The project saw the small Community Team’s workload double; the workers travelling the length of Scotland and Northern England and go above and beyond the call of duty. But for those involved they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The only way I can describe it is as a privilege,” said Lorna Austin.

“To meet so many of the families and to be part of the outreach project meant we felt as though we had become a small part of their family.”

Sophia McArdle continued:

“It was about bringing people together. I remember one father who came to an event and suddenly realised there was someone there from his rugby club who also had a son serving in Afghanistan.

“Up until then he didn’t have a clue this person he’d regularly chat with was in the same situation. After that he knew he had someone to talk to and who would understand.

“To be able to take part in this project was an incredibly rewarding experience.”