The soldiers were part of a mixed team of soldiers from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards and the Royal Military Police. Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, both of the Royal Military Police, were also killed in the attack.
WO1 Chant was born in Walthamstow on 5 September 1969. He completed his basic training at the Guards Depot, Pirbright, in 1986 and was deployed to South Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1993.
After an attachment to the Pathfinders Platoon from 1997-1999, he returned to the 1st Battalion before being posted to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) as a Colour Sergeant instructor until 2003. At Sandhurst WO1 Chant quickly made a name for himself with his straight talking, no nonsense approach to training and soldiering.
After two years at Sandhurst, WO1 Chant rejoined the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. As the Company Sergeant Major of the Inkerman Company he deployed to Bosnia from September 2004-June 2005 as part of the NATO and latterly European Union's peace keeping operation.
On return from Bosnia he was posted back to RMAS as a Company Sergeant Major from August 2005 until December 2006 where he met his future wife. After a year at RMAS he returned to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, firstly as a Liaison Officer for the Battalion while deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 6 in 2007.
On return to the UK he took post as Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (Technical). In the summer of 2008 he was appointed Sergeant Major and moved the 1st Battalion to London and on to Pre Deployment Training. In September 2009 he deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 11 as The Sergeant Major 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
WO1 Chant was the senior Warrant Officer within the Battalion. In this position he was a natural figurehead for all Grenadiers and was unflinching in his pursuit of the highest possible standards. WO1 Chant was carved from the very rock that forms the foundations of a Regiment.
He was a role model for those beneath him and was an invaluable colleague for anyone that worked alongside him. The day before WO1 Chant was killed it was announced that he had been awarded a Commission in the Grenadiers as an Officer. It is a tragedy that he was due to be informed of his success on the day he was killed.
WO1 Chant leaves behind his beloved wife Nausheen 'Sheenie'. He also has three children from a previous marriage, Connor, Victoria and Adam.
WO1 Chant had risen to the highest possible level within the Regiment. After the tour it was his aspiration to go to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as Academy Sergeant Major. It was then his intention to commission and join the Grenadier Guards Officers' Mess.
WO1 Chant's wife, Mrs Nausheen Chant, said:
"I am devastated by the loss of my husband. Our unborn son will never meet his father, but he will know him through his legacy. For whether in uniform or out, his incomparable courage and selflessness humbled all those who knew and loved him.
"His famed sense of humour lightened any situation. I will miss my best friend and nothing will fill the void he has left, my darling Darren. A natural born leader who led from the front. I am immensely proud to say he was my husband."
