SgtJim
12-31-2010, 09:06 AM
by ukforcesafghanistan
A young soldier on his third tour of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, is putting
the life-saving qualities of the new British body armour to the test – earning the nickname “bullet magnet”
9549
Gunner Carl Jordan
Photo: Sgt Rupert Frere RLC/MOD
Crown Copyright/2010
Gunner Carl Jordan (26) from Deal, in Kent, has twice been shot in the line of duty and both times
would almost certainly have been killed by the insurgent rounds, had he not been wearing
the British Forces’ latest issue OSPREY body armour.
In two separate instances Carl received gun shots to the body, once to his front and once
to his side – but on both occasions he walked away unscathed as his armour did the job for
which it was designed and prevented the rounds causing him harm.
The first incident occurred while Carl was manning the defensive sangars protecting his patrol base.
While monitoring an ongoing fire-fight, Carl felt a kick to his front as part of his body armour was ripped off.
He remembers using his radio to tell the Operations Room, where the co-ordination of battle takes
place: “I think I’ve been shot”, but after being checked out by the medic and having his damaged body
armour replaced, he was passed fit and carried on the rest of his shift in the sangar.
The second occurrence happened whilst Carl, a member of Colchester-based
7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, was deployed on the ground in support of the opening of a
new police station. On noticing that atmospherics had changed, and observing a build up of suspicious figures
in the distance, Carl moved away from his support vehicle in order to take a bearing and send a report back to the Ops Room.
It was at this point that a large gun battle began, with the enemy firing at Carl and his colleagues
from a number of different positions with a variety of weapon types. In the ensuing battle, Carl felt a kick to his side,
which he took to be his driver trying to get his attention. The COYOTE vehicle in which Carl was travelling was
riddled with bullet holes but Carl, despite having taken a bullet, remained unscathed.
Carl commented: “On returning to the patrol base I discovered the gunshot damage to the side plate of my body armour.
The situation on the ground meant that there was no time to think about what had happened. I had a quick cigarette,
even though I have actually given up, changed my side plates and deployed back out onto the ground again.
“I felt we needed to get back out there to show presence to the locals and insurgents alike – to show that we were
not defeated and not fazed – and I wanted to be part of that.
In the UK, Carl is based in the army garrison town of Colchester. Whilst deployed in Afghanistan, Carl works as part
of a fire support team with The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland battle group
in the Lashkar Gah region of southern Helmand.
The fire support team’s job is to coordinate and control the vast array assets now available to commanders on the
modern front line. This critical role is important in co-ordinating the fire support and surveillance assets that are
proving battle-winners on the front line in southern Helmand.
As part of his job, Carl routinely works with and helps coordinate assets that include mortars, artillery,
satellite-guided rockets, Apache attack helicopters and fast jets; he also operates much of the state of the
art surveillance equipment currently being employed in Afghanistan.
Carl commented on his good fortune saying: “I’m beginning to get a bit of a reputation; some of the lads call
me ‘The Cat’, but say I’ve only seven lives left now. Others have called me James Bond, saying I only live twice!
I’m just happy no one was more seriously injured in these incidents than was the case. OSPREY is a great piece
of kit and it’s very likely that I owe my life to it.”
Carl, who attended Laleham Boarding School, joined the Army in 2001 and has gone on to complete operational
tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. His mother and father, Susan and Wayne Jordan
and two brothers Steven (25) and Stewart (22) all live in Deal, Kent.
A young soldier on his third tour of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, is putting
the life-saving qualities of the new British body armour to the test – earning the nickname “bullet magnet”
9549
Gunner Carl Jordan
Photo: Sgt Rupert Frere RLC/MOD
Crown Copyright/2010
Gunner Carl Jordan (26) from Deal, in Kent, has twice been shot in the line of duty and both times
would almost certainly have been killed by the insurgent rounds, had he not been wearing
the British Forces’ latest issue OSPREY body armour.
In two separate instances Carl received gun shots to the body, once to his front and once
to his side – but on both occasions he walked away unscathed as his armour did the job for
which it was designed and prevented the rounds causing him harm.
The first incident occurred while Carl was manning the defensive sangars protecting his patrol base.
While monitoring an ongoing fire-fight, Carl felt a kick to his front as part of his body armour was ripped off.
He remembers using his radio to tell the Operations Room, where the co-ordination of battle takes
place: “I think I’ve been shot”, but after being checked out by the medic and having his damaged body
armour replaced, he was passed fit and carried on the rest of his shift in the sangar.
The second occurrence happened whilst Carl, a member of Colchester-based
7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, was deployed on the ground in support of the opening of a
new police station. On noticing that atmospherics had changed, and observing a build up of suspicious figures
in the distance, Carl moved away from his support vehicle in order to take a bearing and send a report back to the Ops Room.
It was at this point that a large gun battle began, with the enemy firing at Carl and his colleagues
from a number of different positions with a variety of weapon types. In the ensuing battle, Carl felt a kick to his side,
which he took to be his driver trying to get his attention. The COYOTE vehicle in which Carl was travelling was
riddled with bullet holes but Carl, despite having taken a bullet, remained unscathed.
Carl commented: “On returning to the patrol base I discovered the gunshot damage to the side plate of my body armour.
The situation on the ground meant that there was no time to think about what had happened. I had a quick cigarette,
even though I have actually given up, changed my side plates and deployed back out onto the ground again.
“I felt we needed to get back out there to show presence to the locals and insurgents alike – to show that we were
not defeated and not fazed – and I wanted to be part of that.
In the UK, Carl is based in the army garrison town of Colchester. Whilst deployed in Afghanistan, Carl works as part
of a fire support team with The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland battle group
in the Lashkar Gah region of southern Helmand.
The fire support team’s job is to coordinate and control the vast array assets now available to commanders on the
modern front line. This critical role is important in co-ordinating the fire support and surveillance assets that are
proving battle-winners on the front line in southern Helmand.
As part of his job, Carl routinely works with and helps coordinate assets that include mortars, artillery,
satellite-guided rockets, Apache attack helicopters and fast jets; he also operates much of the state of the
art surveillance equipment currently being employed in Afghanistan.
Carl commented on his good fortune saying: “I’m beginning to get a bit of a reputation; some of the lads call
me ‘The Cat’, but say I’ve only seven lives left now. Others have called me James Bond, saying I only live twice!
I’m just happy no one was more seriously injured in these incidents than was the case. OSPREY is a great piece
of kit and it’s very likely that I owe my life to it.”
Carl, who attended Laleham Boarding School, joined the Army in 2001 and has gone on to complete operational
tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. His mother and father, Susan and Wayne Jordan
and two brothers Steven (25) and Stewart (22) all live in Deal, Kent.