Member

I was not an officer; I was a rifleman. I was not even at that stage a lance corporal. I was a junior rank. Actually, some would argue that a rifleman is the most senior rank you can ever achieve! As a rifleman, I was following orders. I did not choose where we went, what we did or who we stopped. If we got told to set up a vehicle checkpoint so that nobody could go through that place, nobody did. That was the process I had to follow. I might be there with my multiple or my brick—my team—and somebody might have a coffee jar bomb, which was a coffee jar with explosives and junkyard confetti; a whole host of stuff designed to kill and maim. If they were throwing it, I knew—following orders—that while it was still in their hands, I could engage that person and use lethal force to stop them killing me or my friends. The moment their hand had opened and it had left, I could not do that. If you are playing with your kids in the park and you see someone throw a ball, you can see that it takes a split second. You watch that movement—it goes so fast.