Afghanistan evokes negative emotions in the minds of most people. In the popular imagination it is a land of terrorism, extremism and mass migration. I first visited Kabul in 2002, not long after the events of 9/11. My abiding memory is of a city brutalised by war. Little did I know then how much of my subsequent military career would be dominated by that country.
In 2009, I became the commander in Helmand. My time coincided with the peak of the fighting and 64 of my comrades came home in body bags. In 2015, I left the Army to lead The Halo Trust. Halo saves lives and restores livelihoods. When the evacuation operation ended in August 2021, Halo had a choice: we could either leave or continue our humanitarian work. We chose to stay.
