Published: Wednesday, 16th April, 2008 10:00
Old pals reunited
By Andrea Fraser
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UNITED: Steve and Mick
TWO former school pals who lost touch have been reunited — on the frontline in Iraq.
Steve O’Neill and Mick McConnell had not seen each other since high school, but after years apart they had a chance encounter in Basra.
The two mates — Sergeant O’Neill and Corporal McConnell — who like any soldiers on a tour of duty miss home, can at least reminisce about Clydebank to keep the homesickness at bay.
Steve said: “Mick does try and come in and see me when I’m on duty as a watchkeeper at nights and we get to meet up in the mess when not at work.”
The duo — who went to St Andrew’s High — had both been on courses at the Defence Animal Centre at Melton Mowbray, posted in Cyprus and at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire before meeting in Iraq.
Steve, who works for the RAF Force Protection Wing, is based at Basra Air Station as a watchkeeper and is responsible for protecting thousands of British troops from attacks by insurgents.
Mick, whose parents still live in Linnvale, works with the Theatre Military Working Dog Support Unit at the base and is responsible for patrolling the base perimeter with dogs to deter intruders.
But it is Steve, who missed his baby son Ewan’s first Christmas, who jokes that he taught Mick everything he knows as he also originally worked as a dog handler.
The work of both units is vital in ensuring the protection of the troops stationed in Basra.
Mick, who worked for John Brown’s before joining the airforce, said: “The advantage of a dog is that it is worth ten men on the ground.
“Even with all the advanced technology we have nowadays, thermal imaging equipment and night vision goggles are fallible, but a dog’s nose will always scent an intruder.
“If the dog is released at an intruder there is no way that the intruder will escape as the dog will chase them down.”
Steve’s work now revolves much more around general police duties, dealing with the movement of workers on and off the base and dealing with incidents as they happen.
He said: “A big part of the job is dealing with people and it’s important to build good relationships with the locals.I’ve even learnt a few words of Arabic, which makes a big difference when you can speak to people in their own language.”
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