The Reality Of Military Life Inside An Air Base | Warzone E8 | Our Stories

this is Kandahar Air Base the lifeline for the combat zone in southern Afghanistan outside the wire a vicious war is escalating but inside it's a break from reality do you know what I could be in the High Street back home we've been here for the past four months giving a window into a surreal world there's been highs and lows we've taken a ID strike with one man trapped underneath that vehicle not to mention a few surprises Kandahar is the biggest NATO base in the world [Music] with a billion pounds worth of hardware and 14 000 people behind the fence it needs to be protected and that's down to the RAF regiment the Infantry of the royal Air Force am an a-flight have been on call all night in uniform when Boots ready to go at a moment's notice young Gunner Nathan Jules was fresh out of training when he was sent to Afghanistan I don't really talk much in the morning not a morning person whatsoever shift over they're off to get some breakfast [Music] I like about being here I've got to see American mess you're getting pancakes for breakfast that's brilliant especially when you feel like [ __ ] in the morning how much sleep did you have quite a bit actually about four and a half hours I'll find out on my day off if I have like morning towel asleep I feel like I've overslept yeah four months ago Charles's Squadron were getting ready to leave the UK [Music] he'd never been abroad before it's my first holiday known as Afghanistan it's really brilliant his boss Sergeant Bennett Jones had to keep a close eye on all the brand new recruits I'm pretty much their dad and I think any dad would agree with me having a child is very stressful all right now imagine having 30 kids to look after at once it's a massive learning curve for them and you'll see the difference from now to the end of the tour uh massively grown-up people get on the bus now right Jonesy was about to become a dad for real leaving behind his fiancee Lucy who was pregnant with their first baby it's just a bit nerve-wracking now because I'm not going to see him until he gets back after the baby's born so very exposure [Music] now the squadron's two-thirds of the way through their tour of Duty and Jonesy's just got some news the phone call from my Mrs family saying Lucy's water broke spoke to her about probably about two hours later and she was actually very quiet on the phone and I asked why are you so quiet and she said because she was in a hospital Ward and then she said obviously I've just you know just given birth to our little daughter so yeah so it's quite exciting and I haven't really slept since then I've just been walking around and pacing around and just doing stuff and just trying to keep busy he can't get on a flight for a couple of days so won't be able to see his new baby just yet I wish I wasn't I got it I missed it in a way I'm but it still doesn't stop what I'm doing here he's got to lead a fact-finding mission Outside The Wire he and his Lads get kitted up for a two-day Patrol s is on top cover this road here leads all the way to Kandahar City it's one of the main Transit points it's one of the ones who keep an eye on the most [Music] this is one of the most dangerous roads in Afghanistan you go past someone to make sure they've stopped and on the side of the road if the drivers don't stop they get a warning a little firearm we just fired it into the dead ground beside him the regiment finds some suspicious holes by the side of the road improvised explosive devices or IEDs are one of the regiment's biggest threats five of the Squadron have already been injured by these roadside bombs there were the three holes even when they spread apart they plant IDs for this time the holes are empty they continue their Journey but there's a taxi that isn't stopping as it should I don't like Vehicles follow me any driver could be a suicide bomber we would like to keep him at 100 meters [ __ ] stupid it's not even nothing better to do with a lot I've ended I would love to know how they think they're really good to know why they just bought a killer the suspect vehicle stops to let the regiment pass but the stress is getting to tools it does drain immensely and emotionally and physically you just [ __ ] basically proper drain I don't know how I'm going to feel the end of this six months the Convoy is heading to a summer house belonging to the brother of the Afghan president hardly ever goes there but the regiment wants to check it out that's where we're going over there the building in between the two lights on the lower ground because nobody knows what goes on in there nobody knows what's in there that compound is within our air responsibility and so even though it's pretty much owned by you know the president car's life probably we still need to know about it we will try diplomatically gaining access just getting there take place this place you've got to get information on stuff like this security Force how many people are having that certain times you know all the usual hurting questions the servants let them in very nice isn't it it's hilarious they get the layout and the contents of the house [Music] [Music] Jonesy wants to know what other guns are kept in the house what sort of weapons when he comes here does he bring his own security force with him more people like bodyguards thank you seriously does you know there was one room that was locked that's his sleeping quarters I haven't got the authority to you know obviously break into them because I'm not doing it you know an actual search it's just a normal rich person has also been in the area last night on Kandahar Air Base there was a rocket attack it hit the main airstrip injured a c a seat was damaged perk pilot Chris Phillips better known as chap has come to have a look the big gash in there where a piece of shrapna gone straight through the fuselage and into the cargo compartment the window up there has taken an impact and then there's two more big holes in the wing we're very lucky that we didn't get other aircraft damage because obviously they're all online the Hercules is the main airplane for transporting troops and suppliers around Afghanistan there are only four out here so they can't afford to be one hook down I know it's the major damage to the the front of the fuse large has already been fixed damaged out by the side of the screen and replace the screen the Bodywork experts got to be careful where he points his drill as you can see the repair is right behind the main air conditioning unit for the whole of the aircraft so um pretty dark in there and axis is pretty difficult to be honest ly don't understand yeah yeah shrapnels ripped straight through the wing and into the internal piping for cabin pressure I'll lead an edge yeah we were quite lucky with the fact that there was no one at the aircraft so easily it could have been a crew Crane in it could have been the engineers working on it and then we've been a different situation [Music] the attack was a near Miss for the res movers who load the planes with cargo boss man Sergeant Carl Eccleston better known as eki was on duty when the rocket hit it went off really loud you know you could feel the Pebbles this and everything anybody anybody who says they're not frightened is a liar they really are you know I've I've many many golf and that's you know you still check yourself when you get up to make sure there's no damp patches you know you do you do [ __ ] yourself eki and his movers have to shift around 100 tons of cargo a day to and from the aircraft they work for all the different NATO forces based here with one Hercules down the cargo's now piling up on the runway all right that was coming from from Bastion was it I'll be honest with you man everybody's kid is a priority one mate it's a logistics Nightmare and gets even more tricky when one of the bosses higher up the chain tries to call in a favor You've Got A ranked structure within the forces and a lot of people will try and use that all right they'll come on the phone straight away and it's kind of you know right I need this ham sauce I need this we're doing that you will do that you're like well I'm sorry but that won't happen though we can't do that and it's like wait do you realize who I am well you know at the end of the day I have a Coke and a smile do one I mean do one come back and tell me who's one it's just arrived on the runway and the Belgian Air Force when it moved to their compound we need a forklift okay it's just in front uh become a robot all right you always got Karen Roberts yes but they take it off and then take it up to count Roberts for him nice one big boy [Music] the movers have a fleet of forklifts and they're going to need the biggest one they've got to shift some flat pack accommodation blocks so they'll bring a little loader down I will pronounce a little louder let me follow him back in the cat and then and then do the offload for him spread it out much just a little bit nice one big boy we just make it happen you know what I mean it's just the way it is you know sip of a British lip and all that you know with the Lorry loaded up they start their slow Six Mile Journey over to the Belgian camp eki has to deal with requests from 28 different countries French Italian whatever sometimes there's a language barrier where do you want it mate one piece okay yeah we do that we can do that here you can always get by you can always understand what they're all about and then it might take a little bit longer perform stop that Mill you'll tell me when to stop mate yeah [Music] nice one big boy yes good very nice it's a good service in typical Belgian fashion they offer the movers a beer gardening beer milk and beer can't do beer mate we try try we can't drink beer no we can't drink beer we can't drink beer meat we're dry uh a soft drink you have a soft drink soft drink please yeah I am good I tell you I am really good I'm telling Down Beer Emily Fanta please fancy family [Music] um thank you thank you very much thank you mate thanks a lot thank you no problem no problem see you later big boy take it easy man all right see you later mate thanks a lot all the supplies that are flown into the base are stored in warehouses everything the troops need in Afghanistan from uniforms to ration packs [Music] NATO employs a hundred gurkas to run this part of the operation Corporal Yogi limbo is one of the supervisors when we pack it we checked it again yeah we check it again so that the guys get right quantity nothing exactly the right not less yeah he's got to make sure his team's got the right order for a delivery that's going out on the next Hercules we have everything here for about eight thousand soldiers clothing kid boots jacket trousers safety jackets camel pack inner thermals everything here basically Jay Frost is Yogi's boss so it's all of this yeah most of them are going to last ago yeah yeah that's all the best way that I've managed to get my head around it is to think of the place a bit like the Amazon warehouse or perhaps you know somewhere like Argos if a shopper comes into the store that kit will be sorted and placed into a lane for them the gurkhas are dedicated soldiers in the combat zone and their work ethics just the same in the warehouse they work together very very close-knet teams and sort of second-guess each other a lot more I'm not saying that British soldiers can't do that but gurkers more so remember we were walking inside of the fence we walk for the guys in the outside so we're giving our best to support them [Music] when he's not working Yogi finds time to be goalkeeper for the gurkhas football team they've made it into the inter-service Cup Final and they're up against the Marine Expeditionary Force whatever it takes if we are going to win this but the gurkhas are fired up uh [Music] the gurkas have got a reputation for being tough as Nails both off and on the pitch foreign but this time they're well and truly beaten 9-3 to the opposition [Applause] about the different yes to get into final we have to win each and every single matches so it was hard to get there but we did well I think yeah back at the runway pilot chap has come to visit the injured Hercules and finds is all fixed up and ready to go again it's a time really that's impressed me you know I I thought this was going to be out for a long while yeah and yeah here we are so they've replaced all the glass resealed it fixed the wing on the inside there where the shrapnel went through the Leading Edge there were two big cuts in the fuselage I wouldn't be surprised if this aircraft spends the rest of his life flying with these two little panels on uh it'll have its own War Story Cruise next mission is to make a delivery to the front line but just when they thought it was good to go they found another problem the tires was quite worn so the last thing we need is a blowout on Landing we'll get it changed here it'll only take 45 minutes [Music] no mean feat when your tire weighs over 30 Stone and you're jacking up a 50 ton plane it's not a job for a pilot I'm going to have a cup of tea Inspire them put them around over to the loadies worst case scenario it could be 70 tons it's not quite that would be to me it looks strenuous work I'm slightly out of breath but I'll recover soon it's just the jacket but obviously the wheel he always uh a couple of kilos itself but it's all about technique a true pilot Fashion City we just pitch up a cup of tea bacon roll everything all right yeah great work a bit of motivation the raf's movers arrive with the herx load a spare engine for a stranded Chinook that's broken down at a forward operating base this is the uh the engine some other bits and Bobs assorted Freight hard keep going Joe the herc Lodi guides it on board just jamming you'll never get it on I'm gonna pan it onto the ramp here and hopefully we'll be gone our way way mate yeah a Hercules is a large and valuable Target for the Taliban they try to attack them on a regular basis so loaded Joe is on the lookout for anyone launching a missile but five minutes into the flight The Honorable defense mechanisms are triggered flares are launched to divert any heat-seeking missiles and pilot chap prepares his crew for a possible hit you assume the worst straight away and you want to get eyes out to make sure that there isn't something coming towards you so that's why we've got The Observers down the back Joe confirms it's a false alarms because I know it works the Hercules crew are 80 miles north of Kandahar Air Base dropping off a new engine to a chinook that's broken down at Taran count pilot chap has to land the plane on a patch of desert in hostile territory speed is 20 knots of us [Music] drip is rough ground that's been demined cleared of debris and rolled it's quarter of the length of a normal Runway so Chap's got to land right at the front in a marked out area the size of a tennis court [Music] s several hours the big difference with this strip is we have to ensure because it's shorter it's narrower that we land when we need to land if you bounce you've got to go around and believe it or not a big aircraft ice you can actually bounce it [Music] [Applause] [Music] if he overshoots the runway he could end up in a minefield he Slams on the brakes and puts the engines into reverse [Music] [Music] the Hercules is an easy target for the Taliban when it's on the ground so the delivery needs to be quick looking at the next step ahead and I'm thinking about where I'm going to park okay where people are on the ground whether we've got any threats so you never really switch off you can't in this environment you're okay okay [Music] the load is hand the Chinook engine over to the engineers to get the stranded helicopter back up and running [Music] so it's going to be a MOS departure and the hurt crew get more cargo for their next stop the capital city Kabul around Afghanistan there are lots of strips but it is not the norm for the way we operate the aircraft you never call a strip an everyday thing [Music] you're up please once they're out of the Hostile Zone they can relax a bit oh it's beautiful outside good time today to be flying isn't it not ideal though in terms of security the aircraft we find during the day but now we're obviously less conspicuous but uh so yeah we'll get to see beautiful views like this an hour later they arrive in Kabul they deliver their cargo and reward themselves after a stressful day we finally made it uh so that we can actually uh pick up some food per tie those most amazing curries good bit of morale boost really for the guys right in the middle of cabool's Air Base there's a Thai takeaway green curry please chicken please I have a cashew nuts with steamed rice please lots of chilies okay he did tell me I suppose I did warn him but now he wanted it [Music] after picking up their takeaway the crew head back to Canada [Applause] to get the grub Chapel chat leaves the flying to his co-pilot and plays trolley Dolly microwaving their in-flight meals [Music] how is yours you said you wanted a hole oh did he ask for it extra freshly hot [Music] it's hot it's actually consumable though yeah it's actually very tasty yeah do you want anything to round off a perfect dinner coffee's all round I'll just [ __ ] poured milk [ __ ] everywhere and the crap is poor is in the [ __ ] world perhaps he should stick to the day job [Music] on a busy Airbase there are plenty of everyday hazards that could injure the troops and civilians living here so there are strict rules that need to be enforced and one man is in charge of this the raf's head of safety Squadron leader Steve O'Neill well they started calling me a safety Steve because obviously a chief of safety Jordan Brew car I thought he never asked coming up mate coming up one of my key personnel is one officer Carl dowdell who who I call careful Carl now he's the explosive safety expert that's one of Carl's wife's actually my sister-in-law's oh I beg if I thought it was the wife they're rock hard and they are the new SAS of biscuits for dunking they cause you Dental damage again be again [Music] safety Steve and careful Carl are off to inspect the base their first stop the Rubbish Tip where locals are employed by a private contractor to sort through 60 tons of rubbish a day how much did Matt they do a fantastic job I mean and they all do it with a smile on their face which I don't know where else you would get that I don't think you'd find it anywhere in Britain that's for sure but it's not something I'd like to do the rubbish is put into separate piles food gets buried paper and cardboards burnt plastic goes into a toxic waste unit and there's one special burn pit as well as medical waste we actually do uh cremations for military dogs okay we created one last week that had was awarded two medals and uh the soldiers come back and collect the ashes right and Shepherd back in the States and that would just be for the military dogs you you know the wild dogs the wild dogs we put in the uh the big burners in the in the pit of Hades yeah okay and well I guess these dogs are considered soldiers right yeah they yeah I don't know how the US is I'm sure it's the same as us but uh that our dogs in the Royal Air Force are called Airmen you know air dogs are beg your pardon next job is to collect ammunition that's been dumped by the troops coming back to base the soldiers aren't allowed to carry any live bullets or grenades on them unless they're on duty so there are ammo bins around the camp and they fill up pretty quickly let's see what goodies we've got let's have a little look lovely Jubilee so we've got about uh three or four days worth in here lots of Eastern European ammunition I feel like a Mexican Bandit with this amount of ammo these are 40 millimeter high explosive rounds that are fired from the armored vehicles all can be fired from uh specially adapted weapons carried by the soldiers some high explosive rounds that are used on the um Canadian armored vehicles a couple of nice presents for us he's a high explosive frag grenades no longer needed by the troops we have a couple of flash bangs there and smoke grenades the important aspect of this is the total amnesty so people know that they can put stuff in here with impunity there'll be no comeback and that helps us get rid of the stuff safely whereas if they thought I better not put something like that in there because questions will be asked then they wouldn't do it then we've got the problem hence the interesting array of goodies we're picking up look at that we've even got around with uh Bin Laden's name on it does that mean if he kept it in his pocket he'd be safe because everyone's got a bullet with their name on and so thank you safety Steve all the ammo needs to be blown up so Stephen Carl hand air haul over to the explosive ordinance unit my job today is just to dispose of all this unserviceable mission at the Coalition forces we're going to use the ammunition that we have in here it may not work because it has an old shelf life so we blow it up and take it off the street so the enemy can't use it [Music] the regiment Lads are heading back to base after being outside the wire on patrol future at night has dropped to -10 it's like getting up for more than that full softy suit on about a club at everything every bit of Wonka I had it was still cold but that's Frost yeah [Music] that's Frost hey is there any Frost there bit the [ __ ] frost right there right Barbara has gone down it's just the beginning of winter and I'm really hating it Charles's bus Jonesy is packing to go back to the UK he's got a month's leave because two days ago his fiancee gave birth to a little girl it still feels a bit weird at the moment because I haven't actually seen it I think when I actually see her for the first time pick her up then yeah yeah it'll be massively different so yeah looking forward to that one [Music] our journey flying the first leg on a C-17 globemaster [Music] [Music] for troops it's business as usual most of them spend at least four months away from home men outnumber women by 15 to 1. in this male dominated world the pinup girl industry thrives it helps morale lifts everybody's Spirits just reminds us what we're missing back home really hi everybody's got the favorite site mine's obviously my wife in London the Nuts magazine team are planning a trip to take the latest issue out to Kandahar are there other shots with him I've been actually like being in the bikinis Deputy editor Nick soldinger will be going Laden with presents for the troops getting together things like t-shirts and calendars that we're going to get signed by some of the glamor girls who are coming in today it's cold outside [Music] when I think that they've got our pictures on the wall I think it makes me feel really nice inside it's like yeah I don't know it's just like you're doing it a little bit at least because it could be anybody but it's all yeah you know what I mean it just means we'll bring you a little bit of sunshine to the day and it's like when they wake up first thing in the morning that's what they see big busted British ladies like ourselves Nick's going to be doing a story for the magazine about the RAF regiment we care about them you know these guys that have been writing to us since day one you know they've helped support us through the years you know this is us saying thanks very much guys and give it a little bit back [Music] at Raf Bryson Alton in Oxfordshire a TriStar touches down Sergeant Bennett Jones of the RF regiment is home after four long months away and he's about to be reunited with his fiancee Lucy and meet his weak old daughter Maisie for the very first time [Music] thank you [Music] lovely the first time I picked her up was actually quite scary you know honesty because um she just feels really delicate and now she's a bit like an uneasing on edge you know thinking my doing it right in my holding right or it's just quite a weird feeling it's quite nice though yeah when you come home it was just Maisie was in her court and he didn't know what to do he didn't know what to say he just looked a bit lost but in like a sweet kind of way he can stop smiling at her it was just instant sort of Attraction quite inner mouth fully in no she can't have that it's got to go all the way in that's it there you go this is the first time I've heard it um she seems to fall asleep at the moment it's just playing with it being hung from a war zone means a big adjustment for Jonesy and Lucy for seeing the stuff he sees it's a bit I don't know traumatic for him really in a sense so I don't think he likes to say much about it and then I feel like I missed out of his life so I get a bit with him so he just it feels like he's changed but then I suppose I feel like I've changed to him because we've spent so much time apart for me though in a month's time he'll be back in Afghanistan and Lucy and Maisie will be on their own again Bennett's got so much at stake at home you know if anything happens we're gonna be just lost you know that's that's the only word it's just a bit lost Jones is happy to be with his family but he can't help but think about his Squadron 4 000 miles away in Canada even though I was leaving for a good reason obviously to come back and meet my daughter and that it still felt rough leaving them behind because I mean I'm still worried now I still go on the internet so I can have a quick shot of him just make sure they're right but I can honestly say I think if something did happen out there to any of them I'd be trying to get back out there in Afghanistan Jones's lairs are getting ready to go out on patrol again before they head out they've got some visitors from the UK solding up the deputy editor of lads mag nuts and his photographer Alice arrived last night to do a feature on the regiment we love all kind of military stuff so this for us is sort of um it's a bit like a holiday it's our winter sun break this is Christmas is coming so Nick's getting into the festive Spirit would you reckon yeah have you been a good boy this year they're off to the RAF regiments compound why don't you sit on my knee [Music] I've built my very mediocre career out of doing stuff like this dressing up like an absolute book and going out in public but today hopefully it's for a good reason [Music] yeah after a few shots for the magazine article and hold it there for me the regiments got to get back to work we've turned up here just as they're about to leave the base and go off and start patrolling uh the sort of Hinterland over there and Beyond where they could be IEDs it could be mine to convince us to wait before and basically I feel crop really sure I've been able to turn off it and at that moment and see it will be around just like a bloody idiot but uh nothing's cheered him off a little bit next here to do a serious job too a few of the lads have stayed behind to be interviewed I'm Nick from that's magazine last year Gunner Ben Wharton was shot in the chest when he was providing cover for his mates who were under Fire I'll just let you go with it basically he was saved by his body armor and got straight back up and carried on firing at the enemy so we we the patroller moved off and we'd taken the vehicles off and then we got a radio message that we've got a man down he held his cover for over an hour allowing his injured comrades to be rescued I think it's important for the the story that soldiers have to be heard just to understand the magnitude of some of the things that we have to do it's pretty humbling to hear them you know talk about friends that they've lost so I mean this is this is this is real and dirty and smelly and hard and life and death and death you know and that's what these guys deal with every day and you know we don't understand that because we don't have to live it but if you're in London so I'm going to share with everybody yeah concerned a lot of boys a great story cheers I didn't think it would be possible but memoration for the people serving in these these theaters is uh is now you know tenfold probably was before I came on this trip so they're very very impressive young men one squadrons got another two months to serve in Afghanistan 21 year old Gunner Nathan Jules started his tour with such high hopes it was the best job in the world I'd even recommend it to my mother he and his mates trained hard to do a difficult job if you put your knees down you owe me a dollar now they've they've patrolled hostile territory in both 40 degree heat and freezing conditions day and night constantly on the lookout for an invisible enemy basically someone's signaling that they know what we're doing Nathan Jules got to see the real Afghanistan makes you think that your house that moment not really that bad doesn't make you think and with five of these mates wounded at the hands of the Taliban the reality of War has taken its toll I can't wait to go we really can't win the game actually counting down the days because mentally this [ __ ] you up I feel like I've aged like [ __ ] 20 years has a good night Charles's Squadron will eventually be placed by the Queen's color Squadron no end to the war in sight candaha Air Base will continue to grow NATO's presence will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future the Harrier Squadron supporting ground troops from the air there's a director I don't particularly enjoy blowing up compounds to be honest here it's not really what we're about but we help the Coalition troops stop the guys who are in who are in trouble so yeah mixed animations [Music] saving lives on the front line because you've got to keep your eyes out keep looking ahead and the Hercules Pilots dropping vital supplies into Hellman Province we are providing them with something that would cost lives if they got it there by Road thousands more young men and women will be sent out to serve their country in a war A Long Way From Home [Music]

Channel: Our Stories

Views: 178,622

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: Jwb3VDuARac

Length: 43min 7sec (2587 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 02 2023