From SAS to Blood Diamond Wars by Ross Hamish

Author:Ross, Hamish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Modern / General
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2011-07-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Air Wing

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;

They stood, and earth’s foundations stay;

What God abandoned, these defended,

And saved the sum of things for pay.

A. E. Housman, ‘Epitaph on an army of Mercenaries’

Hope having been fulfilled and the country’s democratic government returned to power, the scope and scale of the air logistical support for ECOMOG increased, as the force took the battle to the rebels up-country. It became a new ball game for Juba Incorporated in terms of assets, intelligence, combat role and movement throughout the country; and they relocated their base from Lungi to Defence Headquarters at Cockerill Barracks in Freetown. A problem for the returning civilian government was that the rump of the loyal elements of the Sierra Leone military had to have leadership − its Chief of the Defence Staff was among those of the junta in prison awaiting trial for treason −, and so President Kabbah appointed Maxwell Khobe, the ECOMOG task force commander, and now Brigadier General, to be CDS for Sierra Leone, although he was a foreigner.

Juba’s status with ECOMOG had been high, resupplying the force and acting as medicav during the period of the junta, and it rose higher. Throughout the period of the junta, Juba was the sole pilot keeping the air bridge open. This was known to the Liberian backers of insurgency in Sierra Leone, and Nigerian intelligence officers told him that that Charles Taylor had put a ransom of $80,000 on his head; they also warned the crew that there was a chance they could be ambushed in Liberia, travelling by road between Monrovia and Roberts International airfield; and they advised Juba, in particular, never to leave his glass unattended when he was drinking in any of the city’s bars in his off-duty hours. In the light of the Liberian security people’s attempts to entrap Chief Hinga Norman, Fred, Juba and Sendaba took these warnings to heart.

However, from the beginning of the company’s contract, there should have been two pilots for the aircraft, and although, on his own, Juba had succeeded brilliantly, the company, Juba Incorporated, was now to take on the role of Air Wing of the Sierra Leone military. There was no Sierra Leonean fall-back they could rely on: Victor King, the senior air officer and member of the junta, was among the military personnel awaiting trial. But Sandline, also with a presence in Freetown, stepped in, and in the third week of February, Neall Ellis, a South African pilot who had served in EO, ‘for a short period due to bad performance’,1 was flown to Sierra Leone to be Juba’s co-pilot.

ECOMOG senior officers learned lessons from Juba’s tactics in flying Bokkie in ways not conceived of in the Nigerian military manual. The CAO, Tijjani Easterbrook, pointed out to his superiors that the Alpha jet was not suitable for counter insurgency/guerrilla warfare in forested areas due to its speed; and in May, he was able to convince the Force Commander to raise a letter with President Kabbah about the urgent need to repair and service the Mi-24 gunship.

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