Joint Force Harrier - Adrian Orchard

Helmand Province, October 2006: British soldiers are engaged in the most intense, sustained fighting they've faced since the Korean War. Against a tough, experienced and frighteningly motivated enemy, their lives too often depended on the success of danger-close, pin-point attacks pressed home from the air. When 800 Naval Air Squadron - callsign 'Recoil' - arrived in theatre, their Boss, Commander Ade Orchard, knew there could be no slip-ups. Day and night, the Fleet Air Arm crews were on constant alert, ready to scramble their heavily armed Harrier attack jets at a moment's notice in support of the men on the ground. The call wasn't slow in coming. Just fifteen minutes after getting airborne for the first time, Orchard and his wingman were in the thick of it, called in when an Apache helicopter gunship was forced back by heavy fire.