21 Engineer Regiment is currently deployed on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force and Task Force Helmand.

The 3 armoured squadrons are located throughout the area of operations performing tasks that Royal Engineers are trained to do, under the banners of survivability, mobility, counter mobility and general engineer support.

Currently the emphasis is on building and improving forward operating bases (FOBs) and patrol bases (PBs), including erecting sangers, constructing Hesco bastion walls (gabion walls) and building shower and toilet facilities.

The squadrons are also out on patrol with their Infantry colleagues to give engineering support, such as access through and over walls and providing boats and boat operators for water crossings.

Constructing bridges, another skill of the engineers, is proving useful, both in the short term for operational use and in the longer term to aid the local population. The Construction Supervision Cell (CSC) are also working towards the reconstruction of the country by designing infrastructure (including roads and culverts) which the squadrons will then be tasked to construct.

The REME LAD (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Light Aid Detachment) has been out and about recovering vehicles and plant equipment which have either broken down or become stuck in order to get them operational again.

Officers and soldiers from Royal Monmouthshire Militia, a Territorial Army unit, have been attached to 21 Engineer Regiment for the tour and are deployed along with their regular counterparts throughout the Regiment.

All in all, spirits are high and everyone is excited to be putting their training in to practice.

21 Engineer Regiment has 15 Field Support Squadron (15 FSS) attached to them, the Talisman Squadron.

Talisman is the latest tool in the Corps of Royal Engineers' arsenal against the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The IED represents a significant threat to life in Afghanistan and has dogged movement across theatre, affecting resupply and logistic movements. As a response to this, 15 FSS were tasked with developing and fielding the Talisman system in order to provide another form of defence.

Talisman is a system created to provide route proving and clearance support to the task force. 15 FSS soldiers have been trained on the use of an array of technologies from camera system to unmanned aerial vehicles as well as equipped with the most secure vehicles on the battlefield at the moment. But Talisman is not just equipment; it involves significant dedication from the soldiers who are trained on the search and clearance techniques traditionally held by explosive ordnance regiments, placing the engineers in potentially high threat environments.

The Talisman system of vehicles and equipment allow 15 Squadron soldiers to find enemy devices, attack the component parts and enable supported units to continue with their mission in a safer manner.

This deployment represents 18 months of hard work on behalf of the soldiers and has seen them pushed to their limits. However, their confidence in the equipment and their training has carried them through without issue.