First drink on leave - Peppermint Tea!!

Well, what an outstanding RnR that was!

I managed to get home a day early, which was a great bonus to start my leave off. My leave was to be a fun packed one, which started off the day after I landed. My wife had previously booked a 5* Spa Day, at the Hilton in Heathrow, as a treat for her and a close friend, and as I got back early I tagged along. What a day! It was probably the most relaxing day I have had in a long time. Such a nice change from the dust, cold and rain of Afghan. I soon forgot about it all while I enjoyed the hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room and a water massage bed! Pure bliss! Sadly they didn't have beer at the health spa, so peppermint tea was all I got! ha

The next day was Christmas Day! Yep, on January 17th we had Christmas in our house! Seemed so weird, but so nice that my wife had organised this for me. Wine, Turkey, presents, more wine and maybe a bit more wine. The weirdest thing about it all was using real cutlery, plates and glasses as opposed to paper and plastic in Afghan. Really freaked me out! Stainless steel cutlery seems so heavy after 4 months using plastic.

 Christmas day was followed by a packing/admin day. I was off on a surprise overseas trip. Mrs B had arranged a nice relaxing break in the sun for the two of us, but where were we going? Everyone knew apart from me! 

After a night in a Gatwick hotel we were Benidorm bound. Brilliant, some sunshine at last. We had a fantastic four day trip there, which was just what the doctor ordered. We were met at the airport by my parents, who are currently on a nine week holiday there. The joys of being retired eh? Then it was sun sun sun. Oh.........and lots of beer too!!

No sooner had we got back from Benidorm, we were packing another bag for an overnight stay in East Sussex, where I would be collecting my Son for a long weekend. My little boy, who isn't really that little anymore, was ecstatic to see me. Along with my wife, we had a 'sleepover' with him, I got to see him open his christmas presents from me, and see the look on his face when I gave him a dead Afghan Scorpion paper weight!! Hilarious!

Well the travelling continued............

After driving home from collecting my son, I unpacked and repacked! For about the 4th time. This time we were Newcastle bound for my Step-Daughter's wedding. The drive up was a slightly emotional six hour journey. Most of the family and friends had arrived by the time we got their, so we all went off to dinner together to catch up before the 'Big Day.'

It was great to see everyone, and everything for the wedding seemed to be going to plan. Being the step-father of the bride, and also a photographer, I spent the day capturing images of the happy occasion for them as a bit of a gift. No pressure then! Gladly, they both love the pictures.

The day started off with a bit of a hitch, luckily it was the only one all day. That was when the fire alarm at the hotel went off, just as my step-daughter had got out of the shower, prior to getting her hair and make-up done! Needless to say we were all in hysterics seeing her outside, with a towel wrapped around her body, one on her head, and a fag in her mouth, in -2 degrees! Brilliant!

The rest of the day was fantastic, cracking service and an amazing reception. I don't think my son left the dancefloor all night, after declaring that "the sitting down bit was boring dad!"

Then that was it, RnR was almost done. An eight hour trip back home, dropping my son on the way, then uniform ironed and prep for the flight back the next day!

Phew, busy two weeks, but loved every minute! Got to see my amazing wife, kids, dogs and close friends and family. 

As expected, it's been hectic since we arrived back in theatre, but unfortunately I can't share anything about that with you at this point.

I will leave you with some images of a heavy weapons range day that I shot prior to leave.

Until next time..............

Afghan and Brit Flying Machines

As Christmas was over, the CCT were off, straight after boxing day to Kandahar, in the East of Afghanistan. One of our main focuses was on the Afghan Air Force (AAF), and an open day they were planning. This was their 3rd annual open day, that hoped to draw the attention of around 700 local children and elders. 

Their aim was to highlight the cooperation between NATO and Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) and also to illustrate the capabilities of the AAF. This was done in hope that the youngsters would one day join the AAF or another part of the ANSF and work together for a peaceful Afghanistan.

On Parade

The whole of the AAF were on parade, awaiting the arrival of their Commander. Once that was over, and he had briefed his men, it was inside to await the arrival of the locals.

Afghan Military Police

At first, we thought no one was coming, until we remembered that we were on Afghan time. Before long, the locals arrived, first in small groups, then in bus loads.

A small group of Afghans arrive at the Kandahar Air Wing (KAW)

The opening ceremony was led by AAF Commander Major General Wardak. He welcomed all visitors to the Kandahar Air Wing (KAW) and from there, the visitors explored the Afghan and Coalition static aircraft that were parked on the flight line.

An AAF Commander

An Afghan elder enjoys some shade

The visitors that day, consisted mainly of children, ranging from about 10 to 16 years of age. As with all Afghans, guessing their age can be difficult. We also had a school teacher accompany his pupils, which came in handy for those not very good at English, which surprisingly, was very few. 

Freedom!

Within the area that the AAF operate in Kandahar, the hundreds of children enjoyed a fun packed day. They were able to climb over the Afghan Aircraft, as well as see several American and British fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

Wing Commander Jim Frampton (OC 12 (Tornado) Squadron) talks to the Afghans

After their time on the flight line was over, they all went back to the AAF hangar for lunch and a few lectures before leaving. By the looks on the kids faces, they all had a good time.

Shortly after this job, we departed Kandahar for Bastion. We had a couple of days editing and admin before our next jobs rolled in.

As the first part of this blog is about aircraft, I thought i'd follow on the theme throughout.

This job was about Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) (JHF(A)) who are based out of Camp Bastion.

Merlin leaving Bastion

The pilots, ground crew and engineers do a round-the-clock job, in order to keep our aircraft moving, which in turn, keeps our troops operating, our mail getting through and our vital supplies getting to the front line. This role often goes unrecognised, so it was our job to update their image library, and provide suitable material for an up and coming story in the national press.

Desert bound

The main focus was to be on the Merlin and Lynx helicopter.

We went for our morning brief, collected our flying helmets and were set for the off. We had six drop off to do across Helmand, some stores, but mostly troops returning to their Patrol Bases (PBs). We started in the Lynx for the first three, before changing to the Merlin.

The vast desert that is Helmand

The Lynx was very cold and windy, so sticking your lens out of the door trying to photograph the accompanying Merlin proved interesting. We provided overwatch for them while they landed at the locations, giving us scope to get some images of them static on the ground too.

Once the first three drops had been done, we had a quick trip back to Bastion to change aircraft. With the rotors still running, and fuel going in, we loaded into the merlin, put our harnesses on and got ready to go again, much to the confusion of the boarding soldiers.

On the Merlin we had more room to move, allowing me to get onto the tailgate for some close-ups of the gunner while he does his thing. Another three drops offs done, it was time for the final part of the day.........dust landings. 

Afghan desert......somewhere!

We headed to a well known area to the flight crew to perform the landings, which is a bit of an art in itself. Once you start to lower the aircraft and the dust starts churning up, you lose visibility in the cockpit, making things tricky. You have to rely on your two loadmasters to guide you down, and give you some indication as to how close to the ground you are getting, otherwise landings can be very hard, and potentially damage the undercarriage mechanics.

The Lynx leaves us

So we land, with other passengers onboard who probably wondered what the hell was going on, and run off the tailgate into nowhere. The Lynx departs just before the Merlin leaving two of us, alone, in the middle of the desert! Weird feeling I can tell you, quite surreal and peaceful.

Dust storm brewing

By the time the aircrafts return, they must have done a mile or more round trip, to get the right heading for the landing. The Lynx landed first, in a big dust cloud about 40 metres away. Not too bad. But then Merlin headed towards us and started to lower about 20 or 30 metres away. All seemed fine, but then, the dust starts rolling, and before you know it, we are covered from head to toe. The down draft is bigger than the Lynx, and boy could we tell!

Ready to go?

Once the Merlin loadmaster gave us the 'thumbs up' we ran back on and headed back, doing some awesome tactical flying the whole way in. At this point, the lads in the back were still as confused as when we first ran out the tailgate some 30 minutes ago. Hilarious! I bet they thought something was wrong. If only the aircraft wasn't so noisy, or we could have told them.

Cracking scenery

On the way back, the crew on both aircraft popped some flares for us. We were lucky they could. The ones currently onboard were about to expire their serviceability date, so that meant everything had to get used, or sent to the 'controlled explosion people' in Bastion to be destroyed, which is no fun!

So, that was it, job done! A cracking day out, and some great images in the bag. Sadly their isn't room for them all here, but I hope you like the ones i've selected for you.

Well, this will be the last post from me for a couple of weeks, as I head home for my Rest and Recuperation (RnR) leave soon.

With several good jobs already planned for our return, I look forward to updating you with all our news!

Steve

Chai with the Royals before Secret Santa arrives

Well, today is Boxing Day. For most of you, the festive season is still in full swing, but for us, the Christmas rush, and it's festivities are over.

The last week has been a manic one. With several key visits all before Christmas, there has been no rest for the CCT.

The first visit, which was not done for media publicity, was the Earl and Countess of Wessex. They both flew out to Afghanistan for a two day programme. The first day was in Helmand, before heading to Kandahar for the second day.

CO 5 Rifles gives an operational brief

So on the first morning, after an initial 'meet and great,' we flew out to Patrol Base (PB) 2 in Nahr-e Saraj South

As the Regimental Colonel's for both 5 and 2 Rifles, it was key for them to see as many men from their Battalions as possible. So after a quick morning brief on the current situation within the area, they got a guided tour of camp.

The Regimental Aid Post (RAP)

The Earl and Countess had several key bits to see within the PB, including the Operations Room (Ops Rm), the Welfare facilities, and the Regimental Aid Post, or Medical Centre. After this, the Royalty split down into two, slightly different visits, where the Earl of Wessex got to meet soldiers from A Company, 2 Rifles, who had just arrived at PB2 from a nearby Check Point (CP).

The Earl studies the Improvised Explosive Device (IED)

With A Company fresh in off the ground, they were able to demonstrate their capabilities within their patrol. The Earl was briefed by the team medic, the lead man of the patrol, the patrol commander and the Signaller. This all highlighted key points about how they operate as a patrol, what kit they carry, how they carry it and so on.

Another part of the visit, was showing the Earl the latest Counter IED measures, showing him the kit used to detect IEDs, and also an example of an IED. Very eye opening stuff for him to see.

After the visit was over, and lunch was eaten, we flew back to Bastion. I think the RAF Chinook crew enjoyed their flight back, giving the Royals a real taste for 'tactical' flying! It was a real cheeky ride back, but quite a good one. Not sure the Countess of Wessex enjoyed it as much as the crew did though.

The Earl of Wessex meets Brigadier General Sheren Shah

That night, we were off to meet 2 Rifles, the Brigade Advisory Group (BAG) in Camp Tombstone. There first point of call was to meet the Afghan Commander of the 3rd Brigade, Afghan National Army, Brigadier General Sheren Shah.

The General spoke about upcoming Operations with the BAG, and the recent training they have undertaken. The General enjoyed a cup of 'chai' with the Royals, before presenting them with traditional Afghan gifts.

Then it was time for a spot of curry at the BAG before having a group photo at the end of the night.

A Royal Group Photo

A day or so later, Christmas preparations seemed to be going well. 

Christmas Carols

The Royal Regiment of Scotland Band, had recently arrived in theatre, with a master plan of visiting as many PBs as possible. The weather mucked up their plans a bit, but nevertheless, they put on a good show at the carol service.

Troops enjoy a bit of singing

The Chief of The General Staff (CGS) General Sir Peter Wall was in theatre at the time, so he was also in attendance. The hangar where the service took place was packed. Lots of people were getting in the festive moods, with Christmas hats, santa outfits etc, and believe it or not, they all seemed to sing, something squaddies are renowned for hating.

cheese!

With several multi national forces in attendance too, the night went well. We had a choir from the United States forces sing to us, as well as the Tongan Marines serenade us with a Christmas Carol, but sung in their native tongue.

The CGS addresses the troops

The CGS then addressed the troops, thanking them for their hard work and wishing them the best for the festive season.

Christmas day, was just another working day for the CCT. We had planned to get out to the PBs, but our plans fell through. We decided to cover the day with the BAG in Camp Tombstone, who were going to be hosting the Commander of the 3rd Brigade, Afghan National Army, Brigadier General Sheren Shah.

The day was relaxed, with the guys making the most of a day off, since completing an Afghan Operation just prior to Christmas.

Lieutenant Roz Ashworth surrounded by presents

The day there was good, despite not having a drop of alcohol in sight.

Christmas jumper

The BAG all had their presents from the charity UK4U to open among many others, with WO2 Kev Diggle dressed as Santa, on a quad bike sleigh, dishing them out.

Thanks UK4U

Ho Ho Ho

After the presents were over, the carol service began, with the padre leading the proceedings.

Christmas Carols

The Officers and Senior Non Commissioned Officers then opened their 'Secret Santa' gifts from one another before heading over to lunch. 

Lt Col Bill Wright - CO 2 Rifles opens his Secret Santa gift

Lunch, as you would expect, was the full trimmings you probably had at home. Homemade tomato soup, beef, turkey, ham, pigs in blankets, sprouts, carrots, gravy and some of the most amazing puddings and cakes imaginable.

Everybody got served and sat to eat. Probably the quietest 20 minutes of the day, as everybody tucked into a cracking meal.

The Afghan General enjoys the festivities

As mentioned, the Afghan General was also in attendance, which is something I am not sure has happened before. The day went well, and everybody enjoyed themselves.

For us, it was then back to the office to edit, making sure I got the pictures out for todays press. 

With the Christmas rush now over, work resumes as normal with my bags getting packed for an imminent trip out. 

Merry Christmas from Afghanistan

Well, it's that time of the year again. The festive silly season is no doubt in full swing back in the UK, but here in Afghanistan, it's a totally different story.

As the UK prepare to get obscenely drunk and eat masses of food and chocolates, the troops here in Afghanistan prepare for just another day! 

Some will spend the day relaxing and playing games. 

Some will spend the day patrolling through the bazaar. 

Some will have the luxury of a cooked turkey dinner. 

Some will be eating yet another ration pack. 

Some will spend time on Skype to there families. 

Some won't even get the chance to ring home.

Some will go to bed full of Christmas cheer and food.

Some won't sleep because they will be on duty.

Whatever happens here tomorrow, wherever they are, everyone will be thankful of one thing. The fact they are a day closer to getting home to their loved ones.

Whatever you do this Christmas, please, spare a thought for our Troops on Operations who won't get to see there loved ones this Christmas. Be grateful for whatever 'Santa' brings you, but most of all, please be grateful, and raise a glass, to the people sacrificing there lives for your peaceful and terrorist free Christmas. A lot of people won't have the opportunity to see there loved ones ever again, and many more now have to face life changing injuries.

I would like to thank everyone that has supported me and my blog over the past few months, the feedback on my imagery has been amazing. But most of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife Michelle, who has been my absolute rock since I departed the UK in September. Big hugs to my kids too, who I am missing terribly. Also not forgetting my gorgeous spaniels, Willow, Monty and Tia.

I wish my family, and everyone, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

All the best

Steve

Operation Come Dine With Me

Over the past week, the Combat Camera Team have been out on a job with a difference. 

We were recently approached by Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Simon Macey, the Forward Operating Base Catering Warrant Officer (FOBCWO), from the Bastion Kitchen regarding a front line feeding story.

WO2 Macey is responsible for the feeding of all troops in forward locations from Bastion. This comprises of nearly 6,000 troops. It is his job to ensure enough ration packs are sent to even the remotest of locations within Helmand. 

As I am sure you can appreciate, transporting fresh food to these remote Checkpoints (CP's) can be quite tricky, therefore, most of the lads don't receive a vast amount of fresh, but appreciate the little things they do manage to get.

So, with a plan in mind, WO2 Macey and WO2 Medlock proposed a plan, fully endorsed by the Brigade Commander, Brigadier Patrick Sanders, that they would fly to as many CP's as possible within their six month tour to cook fresh food for the blokes, and intend to spend at least 24hrs in each location. 

The main aim for the Operation was to boost moral, but to also provide some hands on training to those in the CP's responsible for cooking. A booklet written by WO2 Macey would also be handed out with basic kitchen hygiene rules in, and some menu options using the 10 man ration pack, just to vary there diets with the food they had. 

WO2 Macey prepares the food

With everything in place, we headed to the kitchen to watch WO2 Macey prepare his food boxes before the off. The preparation that goes into a five day Op, feeding blokes at three different CP's was immense, but needless to say, carried out with true Military precision. WO2 Macey flew about the store with his boxes, filling them to the brim, this was all before any fresh was included.

That night we met at the flight line, with our kit, which weighed a fair bit as it was, only to meet WO2 Macey with his 750kg of freight!! Luckily there were only seven of us on the Merlin flight, but with all this freight it was still packed, and boy did it take some loading! There were about six large boxes, a field cookset and a portable refrigeration unit full of fresh chicken and fillet steaks, then all of our personal kit and cameras.

After an arduous 20 minutes of packing the aircraft, we were off, heading for Patrol Base (PB) 5 in the Nad-e-Ali South region. We were to spend a night there before our road moves to the CP's, where he will be feeding personnel from 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

Final preparations on the cookset

The next morning we had time after breakfast for some final prep, and loading of stores before we headed out to CP Sarhad. The cooker also got tested and run up before that got delivered to CP Seka prior to our arrival the next day.

Lunch is served

On arrival at CP Sarhad, it was time to get straight to work. WO2 Macey quickly blitzed the kitchen area, with our help, before starting lunch. Anyone would have thought all these blokes christmas' had come at once, they were ecstatic. They had been on ration packs for three months, and rarely got any fresh. This was a real treat for them.

In the party mood

Having got all excited over the amount of fresh food they were about to consume, they decided to treat it like christmas day, and get dressed up. God knows where they got some of there outfits from, but this was the most viewer friendly image I have to show you. The rest of the outfits showed quite a bit of flesh, need I say more!!!???

No rest for the wicked

No sooner was lunch over, and the lads got cracking with the pan bashing (Military term for cleaning the pots), WO2 Macey was preparing a chicken curry and fillet steak for the evening meal. The last meal to be cooked at Sarhad would be breakfast. The lads were out of an Op that morning, so breakfast was a very early start prior to them all heading out. I think heading out on an Op after bacon baps, porridge and  danish pastries was a good start to the day for them!

Back on the road

After breakfast, the Mastiff's arrived and we were off again. By this point, we finally had the feeling back in our feet after a freezing night sleeping on the floor in their compound.

Next stop, CP Seka.

WO2 Macey gets to work on the new cookset

The cookset had arrived safely at CP Seka the day before, although everyone was scared to touch it until we arrived incase they broke it, knowing they would get three freshly cooked meals from it!  

About an hour or so before lunch, one of the patrols arrived back at the CP. They had just got in from an Op, one that they had got contacted on, resulting in one of the lads being shot in the leg. Those of you that know what Squaddies are like, will know we have weird senses of humour. Needless to say, once they found out he had only got shot in the leg, the jokes started. Most of them evolving around the fact that he had only been in Afghan for 10 days, and gets to go home already! So, in a weird way, moral was already high, but would get higher when lunch arrived!

Spicy chicken pittas for lunch

Yet again, the blokes were amazed with this experience! The thought of fresh food, cooked by a professional chef was the talk of the CP. Not one bloke went passed the kitchen without making comment about how 'amazing' it was, and how they were 'proper chuffed.' For us, this was a great story to cover, with such a positive reason for doing it. Plus, we knew we'd get fed well for the five days we were out! ha

Flambeed fillet steak for dinner

Again, WO2 Macey set straight to work on the evening meal as soon as lunch was finished. I'll give him credit where credit's due, he worked bloody hard, as do all chef's.

Dinner is served

As with the last CP, Seka had 3 fresh meals cooked for them before we left for CP Chabaak. On arrival at Chabaak, we were pleasantly surprised by its size in comparison to Seka and Sarhad. Chabaak is the only out of the three that has been almost 100% purpose built. The others are old Afghan compounds that are rented by ISAF, and probably older than all the blokes in it put together.

Lunch in CP Chabaak

Chabaak was quite a chilled day for the CCT. We had all the footage we needed in both stills and video from the last two CP's, so we spent most of the day helping in the kitchen. 

More fillet steak

Loads of the blokes had heard about the visit, but didn't quite know what to expect. When they saw they would have fillet steak, spicy savoury rice, spicy potato wedges, carrots, homemade garlic and chilli bread, chocolate cake and homemade raspberry cheesecake for there evening meal, reality soon sunk in. They were ecstatic. It was the talk of the CP for the whole time we were there. They couldn't thank WO2 Macey enough.

Fill your plates lads

Smiles all round

As it was the last CP to be covered, and the Brigade Commander had given the Op such a well known title, we thought it only right to get some scoring done, in true 'Come Dine With Me' fashion. What a laugh. The lads sat and gave a proper critique on camera, obviously lots of humour was involved, but it worked well. It was really good to see them happy, although their moral seemed high anyway, this Op just boosted it off the radar!

Lieutenant Jack Hartley gives top scores

With WO2 Macey's work done, it was back to PB5 for our flight home. The trip had gone extremely well, despite me putting my back out on day one, but things soon changed. CP Sarhad, our first location, came under fire about 10 minutes before our flight was due. The next thing you know, there are two apache attack helicopters orbiting the area, the mortar lines at PB5 and the surrounding PB's were loaded and ready. The whole time this is going on our chinook and merlin that would take us back to Bastion, were sent away, temporarily. There was talk that once the heavy gunfire stopped, and we were able to land the helicopter to collect us, we would move over to the area to give fire support from the air. Quite an exciting thing to photograph, however, due to the delay of the aircraft, it was now dark, so pictures would be practically impossible. Luckily, after 20 minutes, the gunfire stopped, the mortars were disarmed, everyone was safe and we could fly back.

All in all a cracking job. The Chef's here do an amazing job, often for no gratitude at all. To travel down to the remotest CP's in Helmand, and cook three fresh meals is something everyone appreciated during the trip, and that was great to see!

WO2 Macey and WO2 Medlock are currently planning there Christmas dinner delivery Op next, which if it all goes to plan, every soldier within a CP in Helmand will get a freshly cooked christmas dinner, on christmas day. Quite a task, but with helicopters and armoured vehicles in the planning process, they hope to achieve their aim.