We all love to have a laugh when it comes to Prince Harry, whose nicknames include Party Prince and Dirty Harry. Unlike big brother Prince William, Harry gravitates towards the let-your-hair-down side of life, and has been at the center of a handful of juicy scandals, most recently in summer 2012, when he got drunk and naked during a party in Las Vegas. But Harry has a respectable side, as he’s proven during his latest deployment with the British Army. He’s spent roughly five months in Afghanistan working as an Apache helicopter pilot, and is due home this Wednesday.
As it is an issue of national security, the palace refuses to comment on Harry’s duties and location while deployed, but reports on the Prince’s actions have come forth, and one in particular warned that Harry was being especially sought after Taliban forces. Since then, Harry’s spent nearly 20 weeks working at Camp Bastion, where he is part of a two-man helicopter crew. While there, he’s found a new motto: “Take a life to save a life.” In an unprecedented new interview, Harry’s opened up about life in the army, and has confirmed what we all suspected: he’s killed Taliban insurgents.
“If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game, I suppose,” Harry explained. “Essentially we’re more of a deterrent. But occasionally we get taken on, the guys get taken on, even when we’re in the overhead.” That’s when it comes time to squint into his “slave to the eye,” a gunsight that responds to his eye movement to adjust “surveillance and weapons sensors in the aircraft to follow his field of vision,” explained Daily Mail.
Harry’s life at Camp Bastion sounds like his constantly on call, and that he “never really know[s] until you get into the aircraft” what the mission will be. “We get to the craft as quick as possible and six and a half, seven minutes is the quickest we’ve got it going.” The Apache helicopter will already be fueled and armed. “When you fire, you still get the cordite smell, which is bizarre. The whole floor vibrates and when you fire a missile the whole aircraft shudders.”
Though Harry’s admitted he loves flying the Apache, which is worth over 45 million pounds, his choice “would have been back on the ground with my regiment. It’s a weird reality, being stuck in Bastion. For me, I hate it, being stuck here.” Harry’s interview is a chilling reminder of the harm that he and his comrades face while deployed. He may have history as a party prince, who regrets his wild night in Vegas, but time seems to be maturing him into a dedicated, loyal, and mature adult and asset to his regiment.