Marine given award for ‘relentless pursuit’

Captain William Goodman, aged 28, was given the commendation in the Operational Honours and Awards handed out at the start of the month.
He was given the award following his final tour of Afghanistan which lasted seven-and-a-half-months in Nahr-e-Saraj in the Helmand Prov-ince from last September.
During the tour, he coordinated the activity of the 2,300 UK and Danish troops and was also responsible for coordinating the emergency evacuation of casualties, and providing support with attack helicopters and surveillance when troops were engaged with the enemy.
A large proportion of his time was also spent conducting surveillance of the enemy and either providing intelligence for Afghan forces to conduct raids on to insurgents or strikes against key insurgent commanders.
During one of the attacks by rogue forces in December, five marines and soldiers were killed.
Capt Goodman grew up in Newbury and attended St Bartholomew’s School and sixth form, finishing in 2003.
He was heavily involved with the rugby team and was in the Air Force cadets at school, having originally wanted to be a pilot.
He was also a member of Newbury Rugby Club for many years, playing throughout part of his marine career.
After receiving his award, Capt Goodman, who has been a marine for nine-and-a-half-years, said that he had been privileged to receive it.
He said: “The key point that I wish to emphasise is that, while I am hugely grateful and humbled by the honour, it is really a reflection of the highly-capable 52 men and women that worked with me in the operations room, who all tirelessly supported those on the ground.
“Their efforts undoubtedly saved lives and the credit of this award belongs as much to them as it does to me.”
The citation of his awarded stated that Capt Goodman had been “highly successful in his relentless pursuit of the insurgents” and that his efforts following the December 2012 attack would have a “significant and lasting impact”.