Francis Ingleston, Installation & Service Technician at Midlands based vehicle engineering consultancy MIRA, was recently honoured by the MOD at an awards ceremony in Ireland for his involvement in Operation Herrick 16 – the British Forces’ codename for the sixteenth deployment of UK troops during the war in Afghanistan.
Based in Camp Bastion for three months between March and May this year, Francis (a.k.a. Frank) worked as a Field Service Representative, training military personnel how to use and maintain advanced MIRA equipment such as Panama – an advanced Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) used for IED detection, which has already saved the lives of countless soldiers since its deployment in 2011.
Speaking at the event Frank said,
“My deployment in Afghanistan was a valuable life experience for me and it was great to see how the MOD work and operate in hostile environments. I’m proud that I was able to support the guys over there through the maintenance and training that I provided, and I look forward to working with them again in the future.“
Captain Chris Stafford, 25 Field Squadron RE commented,
“Frank was a pleasure to work alongside in Afghanistan. He integrated well and quickly became one of the team doing the jobs we needed to do to keep the line moving. He was motivated, enthusiastic and always looked at the negatives as just another problem to be solved. Frank was a joy to work with. We would like to thank Frank for all his commitment and support.”
