Prince Harry arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to start a four month military deployment. The 27-year-old who has recently been in the press for his partying antics in Las Vegas, is an Apache helicopter pilot.
Harry who is third in line to the British throne, is a captain in Britain's Army Air Corps and will be stationed at Camp Bastion with the 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps in the southern Helmand province which is considered to be an area where the Taliban are located.
The vacation he spent in Vegas where naked pics of him in a Vegas hotel room were plastered all over the media, turns out to be a pre-deployment to Afghanistan vacation.
Four years ago, Prince Harry served in Afghanistan briefly but was withdrawn for his safety when the news of his deployment to a forward operating base was leaked. This time around, the media were allowed to report on his deployment but no news of his deployment date were reported until the day of.
After training in Arizona and Nevada, Harry qualified to fly an Apache helicopter in combat earlier this year. While stationed in Camp Bastion Harry will be part of the Joint Aviation Group, which supports the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces in the region, which is NATO-led.
Royal Navy Captain Jock Gordon, Commander of the Joint Aviation Group, said according to the BBC: "Captain Wales, with his previous experience as a Forward Air Controller on operations, will be a useful asset. He will be in a difficult and demanding job. And I ask that he be left to get on with his duties and allowed to focus on delivering support to the coalition troops on the ground."
The Prince who turns 28 next week, is the first member of the Royal Family to be in active combat since Prince Andrew, his uncle fought in the Falklands War.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
