London shoot for Salisbury Plain military wives

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is a professional Army Photographer with the Royal Logistic Corps. A trained soldier, Steve has recently returned from a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the three-man Combat Camera Team (comprising a trained journalist, photographer and video cameraman).

The most glamorous spectators

It has been a varied first week back at work in the Army Headquarters. Monday and Tuesday were relatively slow days, doing vital admin, and catching up on 100 or so emails, on my work terminal, that arrived during my time away. Despite having an ‘Out of Office’ reply set, the emails still kept piling up.

As most of you know, I have been doing a lot of work in my leave with the Salisbury Plain Military Wives Choir. Now I was back to work, it was about time they got some official coverage from us at the Army News Team. With their schedule firmly imprinted in my diary, I set about going to London with them as they performed at the House of Commons and Portcullis House.

The choir had been invited by the MP for Devizes, Claire Perry. Claire covers Bulford, Tidworth and Larkhill within her constituency, and wanted to show her appreciation by inviting them to this special event. After a tour of The House of Commons, the choir got to sit in the gallery and watch a debate. Claire told us later on, that Mr Speaker commented on how they were the most glamorous spectators he has ever had in his gallery.

Once the tour was over, and a group shot was taken on the staircase in the Grand Hall, the ladies had some time to change and warm up for their performance.

Salisbury Plain Military Wives Choir inside The Grand Hall

The choir absolutely loved the day, and their performance was absolutely amazing. Despite hearing them sing quite a lot, the songs never bore me. In fact, I hear them get better every time they perform.

With ‘Wherever You Are’ being the most well known wives choir song, two of the ladies sung their hearts out for the crowd on the solo part, with the rest of the choir doing a great job behind them.

Luckily, several of the Armed Forces Ministers were able to attend. Sir Andrew Robotham and Philip Hammond, The Secretary of State for Defence to name but a few. They were all totally in awe of these women, and spent time talking to them, and giving them praise for their hard work. They also commented on the vital support they give their husbands in such a career. I am proud to say that my wife is part of this amazing choir, and is she the most supportive person I know.

With a few speeches done, there were just a few songs left. By this point, the crowd had grown somewhat, as more politicians finished work.

Philip Hammond watches the choir

Performing to the masses

Philip Hammond sings God Save the Queen

Philip Hammond then got invited by Claire Perry to say a few words.

With the performance coming to an end, it just left the National Anthem to sing before heading home. Philip Hammond and Andrew Robotham were then invited to sing with the choir. With Andrew Robotham firmly within the choir ranks, and Philip Hammond stood with Claire Perry, it was quite an impressive rendition. The whole of Portcullis House were on their feet, singing along too. Spectacular.

After that it was time to pack up, interview all the people I needed for my story and catch the coach home. The day had been great. Very hot, but great. We were all sweating lots, but it was worth it.

Outside the House of Commons

It was the next morning I got the story finished and published on the British Army website, along with a picture gallery on the Army Facebook page. Claire Perry has used the story in her constituency leaflet and the Salisbury Journal have published it too. Hopefully more people have used it by now, as it helps raise awareness of the choir and their good work.Then it was all change! I had to quickly get my kit, drive to Longmore and photograph Number 1 Company, Irish Guards conduct riot training. This was in preparation for a future contingency role, in EU-led peacekeeping missions and the Olympic security. Quite a variation for my first week back eh?

Military Wives to Riots! Brilliant!

More from me soon.

Steve (@CombatPhot)

Post-op tour leave (POTL)

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is a professional Army Photographer with the Royal Logistic Corps. A trained soldier, Steve has recently returned from a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the three-man Combat Camera Team (comprising a trained journalist, photographer and video cameraman).

21st Century Conflicts

Sorry I have been so quiet over the last month or so, it’s been manic here! I left Afghan around the 19th of March, did the usual stop off in Cyprus, which was actually quite enjoyable, despite just wanting to get home, then landed around the 21st in the UK.

As most of you would have seen my end-of-tour slideshow by now, all I can say is, what a relief! That was such hard work to get off the ground, I am just glad it all worked out. I checked the other night and have over 8,000 hits on YouTube now, and the feedback I have got from my official Twitter (@CombatPhot) has been amazing!

So what have I been up to? Well… three days after landing back in the UK, I was in London giving a talk at the Imperial War Museum on Photography and 21st Century Conflicts. The talk was very well attended, with an audience of over 50, and went down a storm. Making the most of being in London, Mrs Blake, some friends and I made a weekend of it. We checked into an amazing apartment for the night, visited the Ice Bar and went to see Shrek the musical, which was brilliant!

So this is what i’ve missed out on for six months eh?

Venice

After the initial rush to get ready for London was over, it was back to reality, living at home with my family all over again. Six months is a long time to be separated, and everyone has to get used to being around each other again. Sounds weird I know - they are your loved ones and you have all missed each other dearly - but, in a roundabout way, got used to being apart. Using china plates, metal cutlery and being able to wear clothes other than MTP were novel changes for me!

So after a week or so back at home, readjusting, and doing menial tasks that I haven’t missed, like food shopping, I was off on another adventure. This time I was Italy bound. Taking advantage of the school half term, we took the boys away for a week’s holiday. My lovely wife had booked us an apartment about 40 minutes from Venice, giving us plenty of scope to admire the sites in the location we stayed but also travel into Venice for the day.

A local artist

Venice is very picturesque in my eyes, although many say its old, decaying and smelly. Well, what do you expect from a city built on water, believed to have been discovered back in 421 AD? The place is still brimming with culture, colour, life and soul of a true Italian city. I just loved it, soaking up the atmosphere was great.

Read about Steve’s Italy experience and see his photographs on his own blog page here

Marny Miles with the Gondolier

Marny Miles

My wife had applied to the Marny Miles Facebook page to take him on holiday with us, and we were successful on getting him on the dates of our holiday. Marny Miles is a bear, created by a Military family, who raise money for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA). The idea is to get Marny to travel as much as possible, with as many families as possible, collecting memorabilia on the way. This, along with Marny will eventually be auctioned off for the charity.

My son Joseph, 9, was really excited and took him everywhere with us, and we even persuaded our Gondolier to have his picture taken with him too. The least he could do for emptying my wallet! haha. We hope that Marny is successful in raising as much money for the charity as possible. To read more just search ‘Marny Miles’ on Facebook.

Well, that was Venice over. Time to pack and head home. What a cracking break with the family.

I now have lots more leave to take, and intend to spend most of it relaxing, but also busying myself on occasion with various projects I am doing, which I will share more about in the not so distant future I hope.

Wherever you are – my last Afghan post

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is a professional Army Photographer with the Royal Logistic Corps. A trained soldier, Steve is currently serving a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the three-man Combat Camera Team (comprising a trained journalist, photographer and video cameraman).

Steve, on his third trip to Afghanistan in 18 months, and the team are based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province but will spend most of their time out on the ground, capturing life on the front line.

Op HERRICK 15 – Afghanistan through a lens

Well, with my end of my tour fast approaching I thought I would write one last blog post before I head home.

The last couple of weeks have been busy as usual. We have also had some very tragic events occur recently. I am sure most of you keep up to date with the news and the sad loss of six of our boys. Needless to say, the atmosphere has changed since that day.

The new Combat Camera Team has recently arrived, done their mandatory training package, and are now ready to hit the ground running. Despite this, the jobs have still been flowing fast for both teams, and with the temperatures hitting the 30s now, it’s sweaty business.

I thought in my last post I would try and summarise my six-month tour, talk about highs and lows, and finish off with a look ahead. But clearly this is going to be the short version.

The tour itself has been a good, yet slightly frustrating one. As one photographer said about their time out here “it’s 99% boredom, 1% chaos,” I don’t quite agree with this statement. However, I would agree that we do sometimes get bored here. The workload we have had over the tour has been massive, so the main boredom point is normally waiting around for flights and vehicle convoys.

I think the most frustrating part of the tour was not getting to see all the units in Theatre within the six months here. Having said that, it would have been quite hard due to the numbers in Afghanistan at present and clearly our work dictates our location. Those who we did get to work alongside were complete professionals and an honour to work with. The living conditions and the environment in which they operate may not be the best, but the morale of the guys was always on top form. To be honest, living out of a remote Checkpoint was by far the preferred option for the CCT. However, short periods in each location were all we needed to gather our stories before moving on to the next job.

Those who have been following my blog will have seen a large number of the places we have been to, and the people we have met and worked alongside. We have been fortunate enough to work with the Danish, Estonian, Tongan and Afghan Forces, as well as our own. Each of them operate slightly differently, however, all are working for the same goal, which is good to see.

Sauna and alcohol-free beer

There have been instances where units that have hosted us in their location, have been so hospitable it’s unreal. The Danish giving us fresh food for a BBQ and the Estonians inviting us for a sauna to name but a few. Yes, you heard me right, a sauna! When the weather started to get cold, there was nothing better than a nice sauna and an alcohol free beer sat on the decking in their compound. Bliss! The only downside…having to sit naked with the rest of my team, and several Estonian men. Not ideal, but hey ho!

The tour has given each of us our own challenges. For me, it was just getting used to the restrictions of what you can and can’t do with your imagery, which differs from the UK, in order for it to hit the press. Sadly, that is something controlled by London, which frustrated us all no end! I think I am definitely going greyer on top due to that one. Despite all that, the tour has gone very quickly, and we have had some great jobs. I have now officially completed just under a year here in a two-year period! My poor wife sometimes forgets what I look like! Rest is definitely needed right now!

Well, if you have read this far, you are probably wondering where all the pictures are. Sadly, in the post, their are none. Not standalone images anyway. Here is why…

Since Christmas I have been working on a project, that some of my Facebook and Twitter followers may have picked up on, but no details have yet been disclosed………until now.

Being away on tour is an emotional time for everyone. Emotional for the soldiers here, but also the families and loved ones back home. Six months separation is a long time. I have personally found it hard living separate lives for so long. Trying to deal with day-to-day dilemmas at home during a 10-minute phone call, but also staying focused on the job at hand. My poor wife broke her leg quite badly back in November and was confined to her bed for weeks. Getting things done around the house was not easy, nor was getting my stepson out of bed for college, but she worked through it. I have also had to deal with my Nan passing away two months into my tour, which was hard. But sadly life goes on; your work here never stops.

Still no images? No!

Just before Christmas, Gareth Malone aided the setup of a Military Wives Choir at Royal Marine Base (RMB) Chivenor. Using a track composed by Paul Mealor; their mission was to raise money for the Royal British Legion and SSAFA.

With the track being sung by wives of serving soldiers, who were in Afghanistan at the time, it struck me as quite an emotional track. The words were from letters they had written or received, and the video contained lots of pictures of them and their loved ones. As most of you know, they got the Christmas #1 and the support they received was massive. So I set myself the task of getting permission from the music company to use the track for an end of tour picture slideshow. This was no easy task. It took me around three months of emailing various departments within DECCA, the music company, but also MOD main building, where our legal team had to get a contract agreed, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence. It was damned hard work, but I have finally pulled it off!

Why? Well, I wanted to give a flavour of Afghanistan to the people back home. I wanted to show them their loved ones, working, relaxing, patrolling and so on. I wanted to pull on the heartstrings of the wives back home by using this emotional track and images of our lads. I wanted to show the families parts of Afghanistan they would never see, or places their loved ones have been, and describe those places with my imagery. Hopefully some of you will recognise some of the people in my pictures.

As you can imagine, I have taken thousands of pictures in my time here, but I could only use a few, so I wanted to focus on our boys, not the Afghans for this theme.

Realistic insight

Having sent this slideshow to someone back at the Army Headquarters, in order to check the output quality for this post, it made her cry. So I think I have done my job in setting the tone of my piece just how I wanted it. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but at the same time, I didn’t want it to make people laugh (apart from a couple of pictures). Afghanistan isn’t the sort of place that is to be laughed at.

With that in mind, the theme was set to ‘Wherever You Are.’ My take on the Military Wives Choir video, but from a personal perspective, hoping to give people a realistic insight into life in Afghanistan and places where their loved ones could well be working or living.

So with all of that said, I wish all of those on Op Herrick 16 a very safe and productive tour.

My sincere thoughts and condolences are with all of the families that have lost their loved ones during the Afghanistan conflict. I hope that my imagery of the Repatriation Ceremonies, during Herrick 15, have given you some form of closure through these difficult times.

I now look forward to getting back to my family, who I have missed dearly, and jetting off on holiday for a nice family break. My wife deserves it for putting up with me for a start, but also for me being away loads, travelling the world, capturing what the British Army does.

You can also look forward to hearing more about my goings on and reading my blog from a UK angle. I must say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read or comment on my blog, and to all those who actively follow me on twitter (@CombatPhot).

I will leave you now with a quote that has also been stuck in my head for some time and the picture slideshow I promised you about 843 words ago! I think it sums up the majority of people I have met here quite nicely.

It’s often said of our Armed Forces that they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Well, I don’t entirely buy that. Ordinary people don’t run out under withering enemy rocket and heavy machine-gun fire to rescue a wounded comrade. For that matter, ordinary people don’t put their lives on the line for distant folk, such as the Afghans, who need our help and are now turning their country round because of it. No, you may feel ordinary — most extraordinary people I’ve met do. But you’re not. Even if you were once, you aren’t now.’ – HRH Prince Harry at The Sun Military Awards.

So, Wherever you are, please spare a thought for a Sailor, Soldier or Airman, doing his or her bit for Queen and Country, in a hostile environment, thousands of miles away from home

Watch multimedia file: 'Wherever you are' Op HERRICK 15 - Afghanistan through a lens

Watch the video at this link:

Operation ‘Come Dine With Me’

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is a professional Army Photographer with the Royal Logistic Corps. A trained soldier, Steve is currently serving a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the three-man Combat Camera Team (comprising a trained journalist, photographer and video cameraman).

Steve and the team are based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province but will spend most of their time out on the ground, capturing life on the front line.

Boost Morale

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 CPs 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 morale, but to also provide some hands-on training to those in the CPs 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 their 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 CPs 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.

Fresh chicken and fillet steak

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 CPs where he will be feeding personnel from 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

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

Christmas Day

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’ Christmases 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 their 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.

After breakfast, the Mastiffs 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.

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

WO2 Macey gets to work on the new cookset

‘Proper chuffed’

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 revolving around the fact that he had only been in Afghan for 10 days, and gets to go home already! So, in a weird way morale 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 past the kitchen without making a 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

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.

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. 

Smiles all round

Come dine with me

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 their evening meal, reality soon sank 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.

Lieutenant Jack Hartley gives top scores

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 morale seemed high anyway, this Op just boosted it off the radar!

All in all a cracking job. The chefs here do an amazing job, often for no gratitude at all. To travel down to the remotest CPs 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 their 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.

ISAF slaves and naughty locals

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is a professional Army Photographer with the Royal Logistic Corps. A trained soldier, Steve is currently serving a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the three-man Combat Camera Team (comprising a trained journalist, photographer and video cameraman).

Steve and the team are based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province but will spend most of their time out on the ground, capturing life on the front line.

The Ring of Steel

Well, what an awesome week we have had. We have just returned after a five-day trip out to the Danish Area of Operations (AO) in Nad-e-Ali North. Situated on the edge of the vast and well known ‘Green Zone,’ Patrol Base (PB) Clifton was to be our new home. This would be where we capture both the Danish and British Engineers working on Medium Girder Bridges, across a waterway 500m from Clifton.

After a slight flight delay, we set off, in the dark, on the the Royal Air Force’s Merlin Helicopter. I always find flying in the dark slightly weird in helicopters. Their tactical flying always leaves me a touch confused over which way we are heading, and sometime which side of the aircraft is banking over heavily. Nevertheless, helicopters are a brilliant piece of kit, and normally provide an enjoyable, high adrenaline flight.

After a heavy tactical landing in Forward Operating Base (FOB) Price, we were heading for PB Clifton. Within what seemed like two minutes flat, we had arrived, with a big thump, again! Being pitch black, we had no idea what the PB was to be like until sunrise. So after a quick brew and a smoke, we were shown to our luxury accommodation, the newly built Operations Room (Ops Rm). Although it wasn’t quite finished, it had walls and a roof, which was 5* compared to what we were expecting. We soon got settled for the night, as the next day was to be an early start.

Danish Infantry provide top cover

At 0500hrs we were up and trawling through the kitchen area for some rations to eat before heading out. The sun was rising, and the air was full of morning mist. Great picture opportunities to be had here, just before the sun becomes too bright.

We loaded up into the Danish Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC’s) and drove into the nearby PB Bridzar. From there, it was a short walk to the bridge. By this point, our protection, called ‘The Ring of Steel’ was already in place, provided by the Danish Infantry Company from Clifton. This meant we were safe to commence work. We also had several air assets, and snipers watching our position, and beyond, for potential Taliban threats.

Work starts early to avoid the heat

Due to our earlier flight delay, we had missed the British bridge being erected, by 7 and 8 Troop 35 Engineer Regiment, but still had time to capture the Danish one being removed, and the work that these two forces do together.

These bridges are in no way shape or form easy work. The blokes were working in full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), humping tonnes of metal between them, in what looked like an absolute jigsaw of a bridge. As the temperature raised by mid morning, these blokes were absolutely sweating. Hats off to them all, they work bloody hard!

By about 1000hrs the heat was really kicking in. For some reason, once you leave Bastion, the temp during the day is hotter, but on the flip side, it’s colder at night. Can’t have it all I suppose.

Danish Engineers fitting stakes for the barb wire to connect to

‘ISAF Slaves’

The bridge got dismantled a lot quicker than we had expected. It was almost complete by 1100hrs, with loading it onto the flatbeds as the last job, ready for the Danish to drive it away.

While we were out, the area was very quiet. We did start seeing movement, but these were mostly children. 

We were briefed prior to that day’s Operation, and were told that interpreters from PB Bridzar had intelligence that the Taliban were watching them work the previous day. They called the Engineers the ISAF Slaves, the ones that do all the ground work for the troops. We did find this slightly amusing, so did the Engineers. They also had information on a Taliban Dicker/Scout/Spotter, whatever they are called now, who was nothing more than an 11 year old boy. This boy, was later amongst us while we work, with all his friends, trying to steal our pens from our body armour and ask for sweets. The children below are not him, before anyone asks!

Children playing close by the Engineering works

 So, by lunchtime, the work was done. All that was left was to bring in the ‘Ring of Steel’ that was over the water, and return to Bridzar for a coffee, then head back to Clifton when the vehicles were ready.

The ‘Ring of Steel’ returns across the newly built British bridge

Having never worked alongside the Danish, we weren’t sure how they would take to us, or indeed us to them. What can I say, brilliant blokes, with a massive English vocabulary, and even a good Squaddie sense of humour to go with it. They were an awesome bunch of guys.

Lunchtime morale

‘Naughty locals’

The Ops Room that we were staying in had to have more aggregate put on the roof, then a waterproof cover over that. So that was their next task. By this time, the midday heat was roaring. The lads were going through bottles of water like there was no tomorrow. It was HOT! But more work still needed to be done.

Another section of blokes had already started on the outer walls of Clifton. They had to remove a big chunk of Hesco, and replace it with bigger, newer stuff. This is no quick task, and eventually took them two days to get this done, in between other jobs.

For us, we had the story in the bag that we needed, so what to do now? Well, we started helping the Engineers fit out the Ops Rm with plyboard panels, that would eventually have map boards fitted to them. This took most of the day, but was reasonably enjoyable, despite being a very amateurish chippy! The lads were grateful of the help, and it was something different for us too.

Cans only, no paper/magazines

Our last afternoon in Clifton was pretty chilled, despite half the lads being awake all night listening to firefights at a nearby PB. I donned my 50mm f1.8 lens (camera geeks will understand this) and dotted around camp getting some PB Life imagery. The Danes have a great sense of humour, and like a lot of things that our British Squaddies do too. Such as Nuts/Zoo magazines and silly signs for stuff. Most of these just pass the time of day for the blokes, but provide great pictures for us.

After getting several pictures of what was inside the PB, I threw on my body armour and headed to every Guard Post to get a view of the outside world. The area was quite vast, with the odd splattering of compounds here and there, but generally life in Clifton was quiet. I saw a small boy herding some cows up the hill, a tractor drive by and two women and a small toddler visit the nearby cemetary. That was it! 

So what do the Danish guys on guard duty do to entertain themselves for hours on Stag while the outside is so quiet? They graffiti the Sangar and everything in it! Ha

'Throw this in case of naughty locals'

The guy on the front gate took great pride in showing me his ‘naughty local’ rock. He was even more chuffed to tell me that it should have Version 2 written on it, as Version 1 has already been used! Brilliant!

Well our work here was almost done, just a Merlin flight and a brief stop off to get back to the office, where I spent the next 12 hours glued to my MacBook Pro editing. Loved every minute of it though. The trip was great, but to edit pictures that are great too, is very pleasing!

Up we go!

Until next time.

Thanks for reading

Steve

Shawqat: Life through a lens

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is an Army Photographer with the RLC. He is currently serving a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the Combat Camera Team (a trio of soldiers trained in journalism, photography and videography who capture life on the front-line like no other news team can).

In Steve’s second blog from Helmand province he tells us how the troops honour a fallen comrade and how quickly plans can change, as they go out on a routine patrol to meet and photograph the locals.

 

The last week for the Combat Camera Team has been extremely eventful. 

We paid our final respects to Rifleman Vijay Rai of 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles 2(RGR), who made his final journey home last Thursday morning.  The whole of Camp Bastion came to a standstill as the bugler played the Last Post and the artillery gun fired, signifying the start of the minute’s silence. The padre, and members of 2RGR, then read eulogies prior to the sun setting. After this sombre occasion, it was down to the Gurkhas to give him their own private send-off, as they carried his union flag-draped coffin on to a C-17 during the early hours, where he would be flown back to the UK to be reunited with his family at the Repatriation Ceremony in Brize Norton.

On a lighter note, our photojournalist embed Martin Middlebrook arrived from Kabul, full of beans and ready to get working. At this point, several jobs were looming in the diary, but in Afghanistan, things can change very quickly, as they soon did. We got Martin settled before taking him on a days mandatory training. This is where he gets taught the basics of first aid, the application of morphine, and general DOs and DON’Ts on patrolling etc. This training ended by going into the Mastiff simulator, which turns you upside down, and you have to escape, in the dark. Funny to watch I can tell you!

Change of plan

We were then all set for a trip out with the Estonian Army in a Patrol Base close to Bastion. Flights were booked and things were going to plan for us to leave that night, but then the phone rang. All change! We were given 10 minutes’ notice to check in at the Helicopter Landing Site (HLS), where we would be travelling by Chinook to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shawqat. From there we were to take a road move to Patrol Base (PB) Kalang in the Nad-e-Ali South district.

As we leave the aircraft, others are ready to board

PANIC! Weapons out of the armoury, collect technical kit out of office, grab our bags…
Helmets - check
Weapons – check
Ear Defence – check
Ballistic Glasses – check
Ballistic Pants on – check
Knee Pads – check
Gloves – check
Burgen – check
Washkit – check
Cameras – check

Finally made it to the HLS 20 minutes before our flight, not bad going if I do say myself! Then we were loaded and off.  The ride out was awesome! FOB Shawqat is not far from Bastion, and we flew nice and low, but very fast the whole way, weaving in and out of contours in the ground for the duration. Buzzing! We arrived in Shawqat, and with a few hours to spare, so it was picture time. As we only had a short while in Shawqat, I quickly ran around camp just shooting a bit of FOB life while I could. 

The local barber shop

As the sun set and we were awaiting transport to Kalang, things changed again. The transport could only take two of us, so Martin and I had a night in Shawqat, not knowing at this point if we would ever get to Kalang. Luckily the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) for the Blackwatch took pity on us and rallied the Ridgebacks for us first thing the next day, making sure we got to our patrol on time.

On arriving at Kalang, we met with Mark and the OC, who had a bit of a saga with a bat in his tent the night before! He was a little miffed at getting bitten by the bat too. Not a good start to his day. Within minutes of arriving we were ready, weapons loaded, and out of the front gate we went. The patrol was heading for the bazaar, which was only 100 metres from the gate to Kalang. The area was quiet, but soon got busier when we arrived. Everyone wanted to say hello to us, give us the thumbs up, or in the case of the kids, they just wanted sweets and chocolate!

A local shopkeeper talks to the patrol

After talking to all the shopkeepers and locals at the bazaar, the patrol was ready to move on. The route back was like a maze. We went through several residential areas (compounds), across fields, jumped over ditches, waved to the farmers and shook hands with everyone we came across. It seemed slightly surreal that in Afghan normality does occur.

After we got back from the patrol it was brunch time! What a nice treat that was. So after some serious re-hydration we got some well deserved scoff (food). The temperature was hot that day, and we had been out on the ground for nearly three hours. We were sweaty to say the least. But the food made us soon forget about our sore shoulders and aching feet.

A little girl laughs at us as we approach the well

As we were only on a flying visit, we had one more thing to attend before our road move-out and subsequent flight back to Bastion. The Officer Commanding (OC) A Company, 3 Scots, was attending a briefing with an Afghan National Army (ANA) Commander, discussing their next joint patrol. So off we went, into the ANA compound. The compound was basic, but the men were happy. They had Chai (tea) and fresh naan bread on the stove, and soon took us into the brief. 

The room was very dark, and was in actual fact, the commander’s accommodation. It was hard work, but some nice images were had, using the one small light fixed to the roof. It must have only had a 10 watt bulb in it, which pushed my camera’s limits a bit. So, briefing done, it was time for the off. Mastiffs loaded and onboard we went. After a short trip we were back at Shawqat awaiting our flight back to Bastion. 

The Merlins arrived in the pitch black, with flares going up to mark the HLS. After a quick rush, we loaded-up, the lights went off and we were away. We had a nice ride back, despite the pilot’s nose dive as we approached Bastion. I am sure there is a smoother way to reduce your altitude.

So back in camp now, but not for long. We have had a frantic day editing and sending our material out, before packing for our next job.

Never a dull moment here in Media Operations!

Helmand: Life through a lens

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC

Sergeant Steve Blake is an Army Photographer with the RLC. He is currently serving a six-month tour of Afghanistan as part of the Combat Camera Team (a trio of soldiers trained in journalism, photography and videography who capture life on the front-line like no other news team can).

Arrival

I am the photographer in the current Combat Camera Team deployed to Afghanistan. I’m working alongside Mark Nesbit, who is the video cameraman, and Mark Scadden, who is our team leader.

Both Mark N and I are professional Army Photographers who, through the powers of deduction, were chosen for Op Herrick 15. After several weeks of training and lots of new kit being issued, we were ready for the off. The journey here was an epic one, which had us delayed at almost every point of the journey.

Having already been to Afghan three times in the last 18 months, I thought I would be sorted. I knew the layout of camp so I could show the others, who have not been here before, where everything is. How wrong was I? This place has changed massively since my last trip. By this place I mean Camp Bastion. Everything has extended, offices moved and even new roads created. This was apparent even in the dark, from the bus window, as we made our journey from aircraft to terminal.

We are based out of Camp Bastion for the entire six months. However, we won’t be seeing much of it. We just live and work here when not out on the ground.

Combat Camera Team (CCT) members Mark Scadden and Mark Nesbit, as photographed by Steve Blake.

Giant playground

Within our first few days, we had been given a handover from the previous team, before embarking on our mandatory ‘arrival’ training package, which spans a five-day period.

The Media Operations Centre that we work from is somewhat of a Travelodge. We have journalists passing through constantly all year round, as well as the odd celebrity. Just after we arrived, Ross Kemp came out to do some filming for a new documentary on the frontline of Afghanistan. Not a bad bloke, and he has done some pretty amazing stuff out here.

Afghan, for a photographer, is like a giant playground. Obviously there are some pretty scary places out here, and not everyone you meet is a genuinely nice person, but the imagery you can get here, you can’t get anywhere else in the world.

Throughout our first six weeks here, we have covered a wide variety of stories. We have had some good jobs, some bad. We have had the odd row, and even an occasional tantrum! But that’s what we do. I honestly think I have one of the best jobs in the Army. I can generate my own work and even take loads of portraits in my own time, something I like doing. This also helps to keep the ‘groundhog day’ effect at bay. This place can get boring sometimes. I only have to walk five metres from my bunk, to my desk, and sometimes, despite living in such a large camp, you just feel the need to escape.

Shawqat

Shawqat the resident rat-catcher

I carry my camera almost everywhere and wait for something to happen in front of me, hoping to get a great shot. Others happen on my doorstep; as in the case of the office’s inherited ginger Afghan cat. Luckily for us the team who originally adopted this stray had it fully vaccinated, so Shawqat is now a member of the team. She is great for catching rats, and this morning even brought us a half-eaten bird. A bit like my cats at home!

As I said, we are a team of three. We have all come from various backgrounds, but work out here for the same goal. While Mark N and I are gathering material, our team leader Mark is beavering away booking our next flights, organising our next jobs and also providing us with protection when we are tunnelled into the viewfinder. Basically, Mark gets run ragged doing all our admin while we are editing and doing other tasks.

Recording the progression in Afghanistan

Both Mark N and I trained for eight months at the Defence School of Photography to become professional photographers. Between us, we have seen and done some pretty amazing stuff. We have worked with Royalty and celebrities alike. We are here to not only record the progression in Afghanistan, but to also get still and moving images that, due to security and safety reasons, cannot be gained by civilian journalists themselves. We are getting very busy indeed. We have more work requests than we have time in which to do them. 

I am excited about a little upcoming project. Photojournalist Martin Middlebrook, who wrote an article about me last year for a national photographic magazine, is coming to work with us for a while. We have lots planned, which will be good for him to experience prior to writing his article. The piece will be about us as a team - what we do, how we do it etc. You get the idea! It should be a great few weeks ahead.