Prince Harry back on front-line in Afghanistan
Prince Harry has returned to combat duty in Afghanistan, it has been announced.
John Stillwell, PA Wire
He will be flying attack helicopters as a co-pilot gunner.
His tour of duty is expected to last four months.
The prince arrived on Thursday night at the main British base, Camp Bastion in Helmand.
Commander of the Joint Aviation Group, Captain Jock Gordon (Royal Navy), will be Prince Harry's commanding officer.
Captain Gordon said: "[Prince Harry] 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."
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "He's approached the deployment with a range of emotions like any other soldier and feels both pride and anticipation as he deploys for a job he's trained for, for so long. Prince Harry, like any soldier, considers it a great honour to represent his country in Her Majesty's armed forces wherever it chooses to deploy him."
Captain Wales, as he is known in the military, is serving as part of the 100-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps.
Having arrived in the war-torn country in the early hours under the cover of darkness, Harry spent his first morning at Camp Bastion checking over the state-of-the-art Army aircraft he has likened to a "robot".
He looked relaxed, if slightly tired, and gave a thumbs-up after a long journey on a standard troop flight from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The royal climbed up to peer into the cockpit of one of the helicopters he will fly and crouched down to inspect its weapons. He wore his combat uniform and was joined on the Apache flightline by another unnamed member of the 100-strong unit he is posted to, 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps.
After about 10 days of acclimatisation and training to hone his skills, the prince will be set to go out on operations in his role as co-pilot gunner. The Queen and Prince of Wales were both fully briefed about his return to operations.
Prince Harry first served in Afghanistan in 2007-08. His tour of duty was kept a secret and lasted just 77 days before he was pulled out, following publication of the story by the German and Australian media.
His return to Afghanistan has been months in planning, according to the BBC.
