Aircraftman Carl Muers: 'You have to keep yourself alert'

Speaking as he opened a parcel from home containing Nottingham Forest's new home strip, Senior

Aircraftman Carl Muers joked: "This is my first tour. It's a bit different to life at home."

Home for SAC Muers (26) is Newton, near Wisbech, where he worked at Chartwell House School, a residential school for children with emotional and behavioural problems, prior to joining the RAF.

He said: "I worked as a residential social worker, but wanted to do something a bit more exciting before I got too old.

"The difference is that I'm now away from home, and six-and-a-half months is a long time.

"You have to keep switched on because it's easy to lose concentration. Towards the end of the tour, you start to think more about the people at home.

"My girlfriend Robyn Misson wasn't finding me being away too bad at first. Then she heard the news that five British troops had died in a week and she found it hard. It is easy for the people at home to panic, but I am trained to react depending on the situation.

"The excitement that I have for coming home is something that a civvy couldn't understand.

"At the moment it feels a long time away, like it won't happen, but I'm looking forward to being with the people I love."

Read more of Jonny's reports from Kandahar:
Our Man in Afghanistan - peterboroughtoday.co.uk/kandahar
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Corporal Sean Langston-Jones: 'Bombs are a constant threat'

FORMER Leighton Primary and Orton Longueville School pupil Corporal Sean Langston-Jones proudly says he is driven by the purpose of serving Queen and country.

By doing so, Corporal Langston-Jones (26), who lives with his mother Susan in Weatherthorn, Orton Malborne, Peterborough, follows in the footsteps of his father and grand-father who also served with the RAF.

He said: "I think I'm quite old-fashioned in that I believe I'm serving for Queen and country, like my father and grandfather.

"It's a good life. While six months away from home may be a long time, it's still a good life."

By the time Cpl Langston-Jones returns to the UK, it is likely he will be an uncle, with his sister Emma Wilson-Jones, a nurse at Peterborough District Hospital, due to give birth on September 1.

Explaining the dangers that the men face in Kandahar province, Cpl Langston-Jones said: "It isn't so much the danger of being fired on, it is the constant thought of improvised explosive devices and judging whether a track is safe ground.

"It's a risk we all take because sometimes it's difficult to identify if there is something there or not."


Aircraft Engineering Technician Paul Delvard: 'It's tough being apart from family members'

Born in Bolton, Aircraft Engineering Technician Paul Delvard has made Farcet, near Peterborough, his home, where he lives with girlfriend Jade Sadler and two-year-old son Jacob.

Deployed to Kandahar Airfield for four months, AET Delvard (21) is one of a team of engineers who maintain Harrier jets.

Kandahar is used as a staging post for Harrier missions across southern Afghanistan, notably in Helmand province.

AET Delvard said: "It's pretty bad being away from home because Jacob is still only young, and I miss my family and friends.

"I speak to my girlfriend on the phone, but there's not much I can say. We work for 12 hours a day.

"We wake up, come to work and then there is very little time to do much else. It will feel amazing to get home and just to be able to sit on my settee or sleep in a double bed."


Senior Aircraftman Karl Jones: 'Deaths made us closer'

Senior Aircraftman Karl Jones will wave goodbye to his comrades two weeks prior to the end of 3 Squadron RAF

Regiment's deployment because his fiance is due to give birth in early September.

SAC Jones (23) will fly home next month so he can be at Natalieann Fitchett's side.

And after two previous tours – to Qatar in 2003 and Iraq in 2007 – the vehicle mechanic will bow out of the RAF on his return.

He said: "We found out about the baby just before I came out.

"It's a shame I couldn't be with her during the pregnancy, but at least I will be there at the birth.

"I decided to move on because I didn't want to start a family and then have to go away again.

"I'll miss the lads and the banter, while the facilities are pretty good here.

"The low point was obviously losing the two lads.

"That was hard for everyone, but we pulled closer together."


Flight Lieutenant Andy Ham: 'The enemy has no rules'

From fires and road accidents to rocket attacks, Flight Lieutenant Andy Ham is a watchkeeper of what goes on inside the wire at Kandahar Airfield.

And managing a team of seven nationalities, including Bulgarians, Danes and Dutch troops, the language barrier is one problem that he has had to overcome.

Reflecting on his five months in Kandahar, Flt Lt Ham (47), who lives in Stamford, said: "Any tour is a long time out of your life, but it's always a challenge.

"My wife Jo is in the military and has been deployed abroad, so we both know how each other feels."

A reservist with RAF Cottesmore-based 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment, which was deployed with 3 Squadron RAF Regiment in February, he works as a maritime security inspector for the Ministry of Defence in his civilian life.

Flt Lt Ham spent 12 years as a vehicle mechanic in the RAF, before joining 504 Squadron in 1998 following a break from the Armed Services.

Paying tribute to the work of 3 Squadron, he said: "There is a threat every time they step outside the wire and they are up against an enemy that is very dedicated and has no rules."


Senior Aircraftman Jim Brannigan: 'Intelligence is vital to keep our troops safe'

When he is not serving with the RAF, Senior Aircraftman Jim Brannigan lives with his wife Lisa and children in East Delph, Whittlesey.

As an intelligence collator, SAC Brannigan's job is to gather information from a variety of sources that can be used "to help the lads on the ground".

"We have to sort the good information from the bad, but the intelligence we receive is vital," he said.

"We had received information about possible suicide bombers and the lads had been warned about the threat. Then there was a suicide bomber, so it shows the intelligence is working."

SAC Brannigan (37), who has three children, Daisy (11), Reilly (9) and Ashton (2), said: "It is hard being away from my wife and children, but that is what I have go to do.

"It comes with the job, and if people don't want to do it, they shouldn't join the forces."

However, SAC Brannigan said Afghanistan would be his last tour and he was planning to embark on a career as a gas engineer.

He said: "In eight months time, I'll be a civvy. I had to decide whether or not I was willing to spend large chunks of time away from my family."

SAC Brannigan's decision will bring the curtain down on an Army and RAF career that has taken him to Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Read more of Jonny's reports from Kandahar:
Our Man in Afghanistan - peterboroughtoday.co.uk/kandahar