A CHESTER soldier who has recently returned from his first tour of Afghanistan has spoken out about how he deals with being on 48 hours’ notice to deploy again.
Kingsman Adam Clarke, 30, is a mortar man with 2nd Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, currently based in Cyprus on a permanent state of readiness to deploy to Afghanistan to support operations.
He is part of a group that spends 15 months with their kit packed ready, waiting for the call that they are needed on the frontline.
As a husband to wife Sarah, the former Queens Park High School student is acutely aware of the strain this puts on his family.
Having not long returned to duty from his honeymoon after his first operational tour, Adam’s kit has been packed and waiting for two and a half months.
He said: “It is hard to be on 48 hours’ notice to move. One day I could be sat here talking to you or doing general camp jobs, or mortar drills, and then the next day I could be told I’m going on Friday so I go home and tell my wife and she is worrying and panicking, and then I’m told I’m not deploying. So it’s on and off. It can’t be easy for her at all. She is a very strong woman my wife, my best friend, but it’s hard on her.
“She did know this before she married me, it is my job, but we get through it together because that is what it is about.”
The couple have also had to come to terms with the loss of a close friend who was killed in Afghanistan. Not only had Kgn Sean Dawson introduced Adam to his new wife, he was to be the best man at their wedding.
He added: “You don’t want it to happen to anyone but the fact that it was my best mate, and my best man was just horrible. Absolutely horrible.
“There is no special way of dealing with something like that out there, you just do. It was difficult, but I made a toast to him at the wedding.
“The registrar didn’t know, but during the vows he said ‘I would like to take a second to think about anybody who should be here who couldn’t be here’. Sarah looked at me and started crying, and I filled up as well. It was nice, but it was hard as well. It’s thanks to him that I met the love of my life.”
Adam, whose parents Antony and Lesley live in Chester, will remain at his Cyprus post for another year. The Battalion hands over the role of the Theatre Reserve Battalion in November, when Adam will come off the 48 hours notice to deploy.