And we have this account from HOK the Army Operational Command
Kronprinsen og to ministre på besøg i Afghanistan
About Frederik's visit to Afghanistan.
Most of the pictures released so far are of his visit to the tank squadron from the Jutland Dragoon Regiment, which most of the time operate away from the Danish main force, which is located in the noth of the Helmand province, in the Upper Geresk Valley and in the town of Geresk.
The tanks operate mainly in support of Afghan, British and American troops. And the operate mainly further south, where the terrain is better suited for tanks. (*)
The darkhaired lady often seen next to Frederik is Minister of Defence, Gitte Lillelund Bech.
They also visited a YMCA in Camp Price. In this camp, Frederik gave a very personal speech and thanked the soldiers on behalf of himself and the DRF.
After that he in the Defence Minister strolled about in the camp and chatted informally with the soldiers.
- And in case you are wondering, Frederik, and the minister's security was provided by FET agents. Not PET officers. - You will see them in the video clip.
ADDED: Two more pics of Frederik mingling with the soldiers:
http://forsvaret.dk/FKO/Nyt og Presse/INT OPS/Pages/HKHKronprinsFrederikpåbesøgiAfghanistan.aspx
You will notice that a number of sodliers have beards. Danish soldiers are encouraged to grow beards, as beards are seen as a sign of maturity in rural Afghanistan.
ADDED: Videoclip from HOK:
http://www.forsvarskanalen.dk/fmcPop.aspx?aid=4654&layoutfolderid=199
(*) DK is one of the few countries which have deployed main battle tanks to Afghanistan, indeed as well as tracked IVF's Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
The reason is somewhat peculiar. The politicians are more than eager to ship whatever the material the army wants, and material the army doesn't want as well! The reason is of course that they are fearful of high casualties because the soldiers did not have the best protection possible.
The relatively high casualty rate (DK has the highest number of fatalities per capity of the coalition forces) is accepted by the population by and large,
as long as the soldiers also get the best possible equipment. So the politicians overbid each other in that respect.