The young soldiers of Patrol Base Wahid 18.05.12
25Housed behind Hesco, Patrol Base Wahid is one of more than a dozen PBs and FOBS that ring the green zone, providing a base for patrols and security for local Afghans.
Wahid sits right beside the vital Neb Canal and was built around an old Afghan compound. Some of it was demolished but many of the original thick mud walls remain. Wahid is officially an Estonian base, but the majority of troops here are British.
As other bases around the green zone are handed over the Afghan forces British troops will collapse back to other larger bases and Wahid is one of them. It means the PB and the Afghan camp that is attached to it are expanding. Conditions are hard and it is dusty and hot. Despite the relative security there is always the threat of a Taliban attack.
A detachment of Royal Welsh and Royal Anglians are leaving Wahid and heading south to FOB Shahqat. For the engineers, going outside the base to repair a gully means body armour and a mastiff on watch nearby. Many of the troops here are very young. It is their first taste of soldiering in Afghanistan.
It is the small things make a big difference. The satellite phone, TV, computer games or books all provide a chance to escape for a while.
Outside Patrol Base Wahid the war goes on. These small outposts are in many ways a symbol of the stability it is hoped ordinary Afghans will one day enjoy.