【每日快报】PRINCE WILLIAM: I WANT TO FIGHT IN AFGHANISTAN

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PRINCE WILLIAM: I WANT TO FIGHT IN AFGHANISTAN
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/108521/Prince-William-I-want-to-fight-in-Afghanistan
Friday June 19,2009   
By Richard Palmer


ADAMANT: Prince William doesn't want to be 'mollycoddled'


PRINCE William is keen to fight on the frontline in Afghanistan alongside his brother Harry.

“I didn’t join the forces to be mollycoddled or treated any different,” he said.

“As far as I am concerned, if Harry can do it then I can do it.”

Senior officers and courtiers who have so far kept the future king from war zones were stunned by his desire to put his life on the line.

William, who will be 27 on Sunday, is training to be an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.

He was speaking in his first joint military interview with Harry, who is training to return to Afghanistan as an Army helicopter pilot.

Asked about his chances of serving on the frontline, William said: “You talk to everyone else and it’s impossible but I still remain hopeful there is a chance.”

He left the Army to join the RAF in January and is due to become an operational search- and-rescue pilot next summer.

Both brothers are training at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, where Harry, 24, is due to undertake his first solo helicopter flight next week.

If he survives the one in six drop-out rate, he could return to Afghanistan by early 2011.

But Harry, who has struggled with his maths and theory work, admitted that he might not be bright enough to fly Apaches and might instead pilot Lynx helicopters, which transport troops and carry out reconnaissance missions.

“Brain capacity? I don’t know if I’ve got it for the Apache but you never know that until halfway through the course when they judge you on it,” he said.

He is sharing a house off base with William and is due to get his Army wings in March and go on to specialist training.

Harry switched to helicopters after being told he could not serve in war zones on the ground again because of risks of assassination and danger to those around him.

“I’m really enjoying it and, as everyone knows, it’s my easiest way of getting back to the frontline,” he said.

“Maybe safer, maybe not, I don’t know.

“To get out to Afghanistan again would be fantastic and my best chance is to do it from a helicopter.”





He spent 10 weeks last year as a forward air controller fighting the Taliban.
His return will depend on what type of helicopter he eventually flies.

He had hoped to join the elite force piloting £46million Apache gunships which require an extra six months training.