Prince Harry has been deployed to Afghanistan - where he'll be putting the Apache helicopter training he got at Naval Air Facility El Centro to use.
British Army Capt. Harry Wales became certified as combat-ready on the Apache helicopter during his training last year at NAF El Centro and Arizona's Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Air Field.
As British Army Lt. Col. Peter Bullen explained to CNN in October 2011, the training was to prepare the Capt. Wales for a future deployment to Afghanistan:
"The environment here is certainly what you encounter in Afghanistan. You can't replicate that in England."
The prince has been in Afghanistan less than a week, but he has already grabbed the Taliban's attention. A Taliban spokesman told Reuters about the group's so-called "Harry operations":
"We are using all our strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping... We have informed our commanders in Helmand to do whatever they can to eliminate him."
But NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at a news conference he's taking the threat with a grain of salt:
"That's not a matter of concern. I mean, we do everything we can to protect all our troops deployed to Afghanistan whatever might be their personal background."
The Ministry of Defence insists the timing of Capt. Wales' deployment has nothing to do with the scandalous nude photos taken of Prince Harry in Las Vegas last month.
