Meet The Military Personnel Living In Afghanistan | Warzone E7 | Our Stories

in the Hostile Plains of Southern Afghanistan lies Kandahar Airfield NATO's HQ for the war against the Taliban it's packed with air power and it's home to the lethal unmanned Reaper the future of Air Combat but this is the story of the men and women behind the military hardware Ordinary People just doing their jobs in an extraordinary place [Music] the Harrier jump Jets play a crucial role in Afghanistan [Music] they're based at Kandahar Airfield ready to bomb the Taliban when Ground troops come under attack the Squadron in charge of the Jets is the Naval Strike wing they're on alert Round the Clock three harriers are already in the air five are still on the ground [Music] and in the optimum of gcass short for ground close air support the pilot known as Tremors is up next essentially what's happening today is all the assets that our Airborne appeared to be fighting so as duke has we know that if any more fights crop up or if any of them run out of Munitions or fuel or both then we're obviously the next to go so we're sat here on tender hooks waiting for the call to scramble Harry is travel in pairs so Tremors his fellow pilot Nick standing by Tremors and Nick have got to get to their Jets a mile down the runway the only time they're allowed to break the 10 mile an hour speed limit what'll be happening bucket Ops is that um they're putting together the mission park for us so as soon as we switch on the airplanes all we've got to do is fill up on the frequency and they will give us who it is where we're going who we're talking to and uh what the nature of the fight is and obviously sadly real world events like helicopters passing in front of you I have to be sort of factored in it's a busy airstrip full of Civilian and Military aircrafts the Harriet Engineers have got the planes primed and ready to go thank you Air Traffic Control clears the runway fighter jets always take priority they head for Helmand 140 miles away it'll only take them 15 minutes to get to the Battle Zone [Music] now the Harrier Engineers just wait for the planes to come back but they have a few things to keep them amused like their pet hedgehog Dave oh it's partial to a bit of fruitcake as well fruit cakey yeah the vowels in the bottom men he just comes out and sits around here until someone sees a meal I'll try them on a Boston cream yet no not yet engineer arches painting a mural to Mark the squadron's tour of Afghanistan before go for a nautical theme including some nautical tattoos get a bit of identity back for the Navy some days it's really quiet and you've got nothing on so today's not been really that much at all there's just been a few sources going up it's just waiting around for jets to come down other days it can be manic Eternal just non-stop all day just trying to get the jet serviceable [Music] get ready to go is 30 year old Lieutenant Simon Rawlings his dad was a pilot and his mum was an air stewardess so it's in the blood I'm very very lucky because the only thing I ever wanted to do was fly airplanes flying Harry is pretty cool it's a nice deal I really really enjoy it and there's an expression that Pilots use that your worst day in the air is always better than your best day on the ground so I tend to subscribe to that this is the highest state of Readiness that we can get the airplane in without physically applying power to it so in the morning we check in and we get into the cockpit we put all the switches in the right place where we need them to be and hang our kit on the on the side of the airplane such that when the Call Comes we can literally from a stationary start we can be gear up within about 15 minutes on a good day the harriers carry a seriously scary payload the gr7 that we've got here we've got a thousand pound laser guided bombs so um you know it has a fairly devastating effect uh on the ground these are our Rockets we carry 19 of them in in each pod say 38 in total and we can fire them in a variety of modes either a couple at a time or all 38 at once if required these bombs can wipe out whole compounds should they ask you when you join the Navy it is would you be prepared to push the button and uh I remember when they asked me I kind of thought we were doing peacekeeping at the time it was Bosnia it was never really an issue and I kind of just glibly said yeah of course I would uh it kind of brings it home when you're actually out here doing it uh but ultimately if you couldn't do it you're probably in the wrong job I personally don't take any satisfaction out of dropping bombs on people or hurting people however the only time we employ these weapons is normally in defense of British lives say guys in the Army in the Marines or Coalition guys on the ground and it's a last resort thirty thousand feet up Tremors and Nick are above the village where troops have called in air support but before they attack they need to follow strict rules of engagement if there are children or crowds on the ground they're not allowed to bomb user large there's a sniper targeting pod powerful lens gives the pilot a close-up view of what's Happening below and it's clear they are not the enemy picking the other airplane quickly spotted the fact that quite a few other moving people in this in this Village were half the size of the others which obviously means they're children it's a great spot from him so they have bought the mission the Jets head back to base [Music] [Music] the switch on the ground when we got there was basically it wouldn't have been appropriate to for us to have waited on in turned out that there was a fairly busy road with a big traffic jam on it um quite close as well so the ground troops moved in through the village and as far as I can tell they didn't actually find any of the bad guys the bad guys as is their wants simply melted away like they tend to around here March downtime when you're living in a war zone but when you are off duty you might as well do something useful like raise money for charity at the British gym the Naval Strike Wing are competing in the triathlon officers versus Engineers it's all in a good cause help for Heroes pilot Tremors is leading the officers team to be honest there's anything we can do to help our own wounded um the boys will always pitch in and also it gets some Lads versus officers rivalry going so that'll be good as well yeah they've got to run three miles row a mile and then cycle 27 more over at the RAF regiment Corporal Jim Fowlers come up with a less energetic way to raise money but it might be an idea to get a calendar put together and why not help somebody else out as well but Jim's got his work cut out he has to find 12 volunteers who'll get their kit off for a charity glamor shoot I don't know if Nikki's told you about what we're looking to do a calendar as she explained how we're looking to do it yeah something about health Heroes yeah yeah yeah improvise adopt and overcome is something that's taught to every Gunner and plugins a big part of that as well a bit of smooth talk and seems to work dividends with people so you'd be happy to do that then as soon as she's explained it yeah yeah no problem whatsoever obviously managed to get a really tall dark leggy girl in which is always a good bonus Jim's January girl is posing as a heroine Lara Croft yeah you won't see that you won't see that I wanted to do the Lara Croft thing so we're going to try and replicate a bit of a pause oh look at these look it's slowing down another good look look at this it's not my best side it's not your worst side even it's not every day I get to travel to nice exotic locations and photograph women it's great in it we should thought of it sooner Jim's next stop is the garage where he's found a candidate who's not your usual Grease Monkey if you're under there that's all you're working on someone under there right and then you're just going to sort of push yourself out from underneath a little bit all right right um yeah because everyone right a female mechanic stripping off is pulling quite a crowd there's a load outside I think [Music] so just keep looking here all right and then Joyce will just snap away you're all right that's it we could do it a couple of blocks to be honest yeah that would do a photographer women only make up about tubes in the army they must make about 90 of the photographs yeah yeah yeah your activities are big muscly bloke so do some posing photographs yeah spannering hasn't been robbed in now is he yes yes two birds with one stone really that's another one to add to the to the block side in the military you've got to be prepared to take some stick if ATM here I come right yeah you Kevin even if it is for charity right just just look look I'll be in a bit mate that was a good formal actually I initially thought we were going to get told off by the boss one but he came more on side which was quite good and managed to rope in one of his other Lots how many is that we got today three so far yeah RAF admin Clark Kate Aziz is taking some photos of her own have you not got any phone Ebola for the beer you're sending them to school children from the UK who have been writing to the forces in the front as well Kate's nearly at the end of her first tour in a war zone and her best friend Shelley's just arrived we know each other so well it's like having your family will be ready because you miss home so much that having someone out there that you're close to and you already know was really nice cool yeah I can't go I'll see you tomorrow all right all right yeah all right see you later he so likes you know what yes he does [Laughter] A1 Associates Duke and I went through training together and we were in the Falklands together in zero six and we came here together as well there's plenty of eye candy to keep the girls amused wow wow yeah and there's other distractions hello like the fishing pond hello Padre how are you okay [Music] we've been teaching other people to cast as they've been oh my God yeah yeah 10 o'clock two o'clock nobody could do this you'll feel it you're wrong oh that wasn't really good [Music] hope you catch something soon but there's one thing Kate is good at and that's shopping today's market day where the local Afghans sell their goods you're right first a quick Security check my picture it's not long till the girls are bartering 45 a hard bargain what's up thank you very much Kate wants to get souvenirs to take home to Wales I've got to get um some pashminas that's nice 50. yeah 25 25 how much did you pay 20 she paid 20. this time around she bags herself a bargain thank you banana bye the market gives Kate a chance to practice her Arabic because although she's from Wales she's half Iraqi I never used to tell people when the Iraq War picked off a few years ago because some people didn't react very well to it some people just don't believe me or they're just shocked because I don't look out of it they just don't expect it and other people will laugh and say you're being security cleared it's just a good laugh just bad doing things how much are these five for ten the market is the only chance most of the troops get to mix with the locals how old is he six six [Music] even though it's cheap you know like five for ten dollars how many people in Afghanistan's gonna have ten dollars to spend on pashminos it's not they're really really nice people out there they're so friendly he's lovely how much for him [Laughter] the whole War thing was hard really because I don't think my view one has changed from when I come out yet to now I don't know how much I really even still being out here now and which I actually agree with us being you but we are so you've just got to do what you've come out here to do I think maybe it'll improve and then really come out and then just go back to all of us again because people have tried to do it so many times before we have [Music] at the other side of the camp feign nuns part of the 12 strong RAF armorers team she works at the bomb dump with so much Weaponry on base it needs to be stored somewhere away from the main camp this is basically why we keep all the bombs that are built up ready to go over to the Squadron we build the weapons from scratch basically we put them all together people are quite shocked a lot of time probably mainly because obviously I'm a girl so it's not really a sort of um female orientated job she's the only female Raf armorer in Kandahar and it makes a change for the rest of the lads I think they quite enjoy having a girl around most of the time so yeah it's good it's good fun it's good fun do you miss a bit of female company every now and again [Music] some people find it quite exciting some people find it quite disgusting in a way you know it's been occasions when you're you know you tell people what you do for a living and they don't seem too impressed about it but at the end of the day saving lives really in a way you know in a way we're killing people but it's our troops that are on the grounds and we're going in supporting them and you know saving their skin basically in the hangars Harrier pilot Simon Rowling has been called into action to help some Danish soldiers in Helman province foreign [Music] out here quite a few times now I've got quite a few hours on the Harrier and there is not a single time that I engage a Target that I am not nervous [Music] [Music] Simon's heading to a village 90 miles west of Kandahar the Danes are coming under heavy enemy fire they urgently need air support so he's got to get there fast the other three and a half miles north of the target heading away at the bomb dump FaZe had a call to head to the airstrip with The Replacements in case Simon drops his load she's got a laser-guided Paveway bomb on board and a two vehicle escort just in case you know a Tri-Star which is a bit daunting at first so that's what scares me about driving down a taxiway with a bomb on the trolley serving behind you and then you've got this massive perk just coming coming at you I'm not gonna play chicken with my Hercules [Music] phase come up against another snag these days just give me a little beat so uh I think the straps might be a bit loose jump out and have a quick look whoops see women drivers you shouldn't shouldn't leave us in control of the vehicle okay all right good to go again Faye continues her cautious Journey 145 miles away in Hellman Province Simon's now above Enemy Lines when people are getting shot at you can hear the fear in their voice sometimes and their voice goes up an octave people start screaming down the radios and that's the time when you need to be really really careful make sure you're talking about the right target but then crucially get your weapons down as quickly as possible consequences of getting it wrong are massive Simon's using the sniper targeting pod that allows him to strike with deadly accuracy once he's released the Paveway bomb the Pod fires a laser signal at its Target which bounces back and the bomb locks onto the laser readjust its position and strikes this all happens in a Split Second Simon reaches the battle scene as soon as he gets the go-ahead from the troops on the ground he drops the bomb and the sniper targeting pod does the rest the bomb travels at four times the speed of sound the call for help the target's been engaged and destroyed mission accomplished Simon heads home minus one bomb [Music] rocks up on the scene and they were taking a lot of fire from a compound and so we ended up dropping on that compound I was trying to the job to stop the fire I didn't particularly enjoy blowing up compounds to be honest here it's not really what we're about but um you know I suppose ultimately of the day you know we help the Coalition troops stop the guys who are in who are in trouble so yeah mixed animations right FaZe arrived with a replacement bomb these laser-guided missiles cost 50 000 pounds each the guys obviously are now just going to reload the weapon on from the the one that was dropped earlier on so they're now reloading that as you can see the dirt very quickly and then this airplane will be ready to go again uh if required I think it's kind of all the hard work worthwhile really at the end of the day you've you've helped some of the troops that are out there on the ground you know that are you know they've been out there struggling in a fight or whatever and um and we've gone in and and helped them out which yeah it does make you feel good Andy Fryer's the commander of Kandahar Airfield also known as comcath an RAF man but NATO's put him in charge of overseeing troops from 28 different nations on the base it's a tricky job although there are close to 13 000 people only 650 of them actually worked for me so trying to trying to get get things lined up is a question of it's more negotiation than command almost every day a VIP to to host and then really series of meetings from the interesting to the Dell but today is an interesting one because and is going to meet one of his Heroes this morning we've got General Petraeus arriving as far as the Americas are concerned he is the the commander that runs this part of the globe so a very important person and and is leading the welcoming committee lovely here I'll find his Entourage we have got out there and found that the VIPs already arrived and gone so trying to find out exactly what's happening is a bit of a challenge okay I'll go out salute them welcome to kandahara as the commander that's my my role to do that and then quite often I'll just hand them over to their National representative which is what happened this morning one of the problems with meeting VIPs out on the ramp is know which part of the ramp the airplane is going to park in because it's huge what's the word on timing on time okay that's fine [Music] I haven't seen him yet but he'll be coming in from that direction that's almost certainly him let's see it's a C-130 military planes tend to come in one shade of gray so it can be a bit confusing actually that's Canadian aircraft [Music] that's us see that's American see the flash on the tail the outlet buses you don't see one for an hour they're easy two two within five minutes Andy's big moment is near but he's feeling confident Junior Marshalls they're just people Ralph you ready to come off the front of the back I don't know okay we're worse for him General Petraeus is one of the most important soldiers in the world he's in charge of over 200 000 U.S troops in the Middle East and was responsible for the big surge into Iraq in 2007. hello sir thank you very nice me very well I'm Comcast very well very warm welcome here well thank you very much good to be here it is warm follow me sir you will yes sir okay well we'll follow you then General Petraeus is on route to London where he'll be meeting Andy's boss the air Chief Marshal you'll have met before no doubt good so more helicopters of all kinds so yeah all right sir it's nice to see you okay what's up I did feel a bit nervous actually after all that um yeah that's quite an honor really I mean he's uh he'll he'll be a man whose name will be known for years so to have met him uh in Afghanistan that's quite a privilege yeah it's one for the uh one for the album there I'll try and get Andy to take a picture of anybody that sort of uh historic so and not often you get to meet General Petraeus the base is home to some classic military aircraft the Harrier the Chinook and the Hercules have all been around for over 40 years but there's a new kid on the Block raf's latest addition to its Fleet the Reaper it's an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV a remote controlled warplane that's operated from the ground by a real-life pilot [Music] foreign has a small Fleet of uavs in Kandahar and the guys responsible for them are well aware of their controversial reputation one of the biggest problems we have to deal with is perceptions I think people have a view that this is some sort of robot machine some Airborne killing drone very negative connotations this is another war plane just like the Harrier is just like the Hercules is it flies to exactly the same rules the only difference is that the pilot isn't sitting in it he sat there relative safety on the ground Mike's the pilot who's in charge of taking off and Landing the reaper we've got a 12-hour day seven days a week for four months without a break unless we get bad weather once it's in the air Mike hands Over Control to another pilot seven thousand miles away at a U.S Air Base in the Nevada desert weighing in at just half a ton the reaper has a wingspan of 64 feet and a v-shaped tail for extra stability it's driven by a turboprop engine giving it a speed of 250 miles per hour underneath the nose is a powerful camera that means clear images of the ground from 20 000 feet we can look from many miles away and look at individuals and give us the advantage of knowing what the Insurgent is up to before he knows where we are the weapons are tucked under each Wing there's a mix of Hellfire missiles and gb12 laser-guided bombs [Music] the previous crew got clearance versus rtb final 200. the Reapers come to the end of its Mission so the pilot in Nevada hands over to Mike in Canada for the landing we're just about to pick up the aircraft get something all right that's just uh just taking the aircraft from Nevada [Music] it looks like a simulator but he's Landing a 10 million pound plane I do think I'm flying you get absorbed you've flown a mission apart from you're not pulling G that's the only difference heart rate's up the adrenaline's going um you know the implications if you get it wrong are severe because there's a lot of riding on it obviously Mike's relying on monitors to guide him in [Music] so 2D image is difficult to get a feel if you're sinking or whether you're drifting so yeah that's probably the biggest challenge is landing it safely [Music] just trying to keep your speed dealing with Hub drafts downdrafts changes of air speed you have to be quite proactive with the throttle it's lightweight design it means one wrong move can spell disaster [Music] it's really unforgiving they have the accidents that have happened they haven't looked too dissimilar to a normal approach and then suddenly you're in trouble that's why we're so apprehensive every time we're on the approach [Music] but it's not home and dry yet the second hardest thing to Landing it is taxing [Music] and that is it done paperwork lunch gym bed and so the routine continues [Music] it's certainly the future and we're looking at all sorts of other Concepts as well whether it's the end of the man Jet's time we'll tell [Music] [Music] Jim Fowler's on a mission he's been putting together a calendar for charity and there's no shortage of muscly blokes on base what we're after is you were you in a mid pause basically [Music] firstly I've talked in one of the most freed officers in the Richmond talking one of the big Gunners to do a pose a few girls our girls have watched him working out like get him game so we've got him for health Heroes isn't it and we lost a couple of lads last year we do a lot of good work there so we can get a few more facilities and that's a good thing now it's a bit talking cheek in it word spread about the project and a few more volunteers have come forward including Kate Aziz and her mate Shelley right so you all know what you've got in your own mind picture for what you want done yeah can I have a Kate Moss body we've got a Photoshop expert here get all your blushing out the way now all right oh my God the girls have come up with a plan for their photo and they're creating a stir on the airstrip [Music] oh look at the size of my magazine to yours the high winds and helicopter downdrafts are causing problems oh my God [Music] oh my God good oh that was really really well done to be honest I'm pleased I'm pleased [Music] there were 14 000 people living on the base so making sure there's enough food for them all is a major operation we probably go through per meal something like 250 300 kilos of potatoes always chicken chicken always everywhere anywhere you like you know we can cook it 240 ways and they'll eat it to 140 ways 5 000 chickens are eaten every day and they all have to be transported here they're stored along with the rest of the food in a massive Warehouse the size of three aircraft hangers it's run by a private contractor and Andy fryers come to have a look we store over two and a half thousand pallets of product here all kept at a constant temperature of 18 degrees there's enormous amount of cocoa actually it's amazing actually how much how much fizzy Potter is here almost everywhere I can see at this level yes do we buy anything locally no no product is purchased locally it's all the product has to be EU approved they try to cater for every nation's taste sauerkraut Tabasco and loads of ketchup I've never seen so much ketchup in all my life and always plenty of baked beans yes oh yes in the middle of the desert you need the mother of all fridges so what have we got in here then a lot of fresh eggs a lot of cheese some chocolate bars and any and you go get some custards an Englishman always needs his custard the workers in the freezer section are limited to 45 minute shifts because in here it can get as cold as -23 degrees sitting here we are in the middle of Afghanistan to be able to uh to have the variety and quality of food that we do is just just extraordinary most of the food gets to the base by truck 1200 mile route the drivers take is one of the most dangerous in the world they pick up the loads from the porting Karachi in Pakistan and then drive via pesoir and through the Khyber Pass down to Kandahar in December 2008 the Taliban destroyed hundreds of trucks on their way here and most of the vehicles that make it to the air base have their Battle Scars if you look here if you can see bullet holes in the side of this container this is just a typical truck that ships up food from Karachi for us and if you go around to the front of this you'll see bullet holes in the front of the vehicle just below where the driver sits so the drivers risking their lives every day to live our food and feel but the drivers are prepared to take the risk because one delivery can earn them over A month's wages too dangerous what I do I have 10 guys in my family it is my duty and my responsibility to support all my family if I don't work so what I eat over 200 drivers have been killed in the last two years so there's a price to pay and the list at Kandahar Air Base the RAF regiment has been doing its bit for charity Corporal Jim Fowler's just received the package from the UK he's about to find out if his hard work has paid off I'm hoping this looks like it could be our proof it feels like a calendar I hope it lives up to the expectations I want it to be really good wow that looks all right I'm impressed with the quality of that that is good oh my God that looks brilliant this is uh the proof that we've had sent um have a look at that and tell me what you think [Music] oh yeah that's good really good brilliant photo the gosh she kept her clothes on she's a mechanic it's nice to see a finished result and I'm hoping it's received well I think it will be because they know that money's going to help for Heroes [Music] it's party night for the Naval Strike wing they're celebrating one of the most important dates in the Navy calendar the Battle of Toronto when the Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft Naval attack in history on the Italian Fleet in Toronto Harbor in 1940. Harrier pilot Tremors is hosting the show what we're going to have tonight is a Lads versus officers with a few guests as well sort of Toronto it's a knockout as it were with various events designed around the battle so they're all themed games but essentially it's just an opportunity for the guys to unwind first the officers get dressed up to tell the lads the story The Battle itself commenced at 2258 the flare droppers and the bombers hit the oil tanks on the Eastern side of the harbor which actually lit it up and allowed the following aircraft to home in through the torpedo Next Up pilot Bolly plays an Italian sailor complete with authentic accent well so off I think the only aircraft the British have is the swordfish it is a very very old bike lane so very slow now time for some fun the game's basically navigating to Toronto around various obstacles the boys going to be blindfold under far from other teams foreign believe it or not there's no alcohol on base so they're doing this Stone Cold Sober all right the final game of the evening is a reconstruction of the battle itself you have 30 seconds starting now foreign there's one other celebration it's engineer Archie's birthday but instead of the usual sing-along his mates have chosen his favorite song [Applause] [Music] admin Clark Kate Aziz has good reason to celebrate her time in Afghanistan has come to an end got told a few hours ago that I'm on tonight's flight so I'm just parking getting my stuff sorted oh I didn't even know where to start though because I've got so much crap lots of stuff for my family and your t-shirts and things for them perfume stuff off the market so they love something from Afghanistan to Mark every soldiers tour at Kandahar Airfield they're awarded a NATO medal as you see as he's took part in the health for Heroes charge cycle helping raise two thousand pounds slower for a worthwhile and diversity on the 24th of November accuses everything is so full-onal too that getting back and having time to relax and things like that I think that's going to be strange when you get in rocketed and they are getting closer than while they were when I first got out here and now people are getting hurt um and they seem to be a bit more on target it is a bit worrying so I'd be glad to get away from that you could just go to bed knowing that you're going to wake up and everything's going to be the same in the morning [Music] I suppose a feeling yesterday I've nearly four and a half months now when you do you get really close to people and I am going to miss it to probably cry [Music] thank you next time on Warzone a Hercules on a mercy Mission lands in the combat zone and the RAF regiment come up against a suspect's suicide bomber

Channel: Our Stories

Views: 226,944

Keywords: Our Stories, Documentary, Observational Documentary, Real Stories, Full Episode, Full Length Episodes, Full Documentary, Fly On The Wall, Yearbook, Real Life, Documentaries, Real Lives, Behind The Scenes, kandahar, air base, military, warzone, air force afghanistan, military documentary, war documentary, armed forces, afghanistan, military base

Id: LNRG9xwL8lY

Length: 42min 40sec (2560 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 29 2023