 | Aussie Army Diggers in Afghanistan - Gunners They are the Australian artillery gunners fighting the Taliban on the front line of the war on terrorism, killing dozens of rebel fighters - but also saving countless coalition troops - during an action-packed five-month tour in Afghanistan's troubled Helmand Province. It is men like the Darwin-based gunners from the 8/12 Field Regiment who are doing the hard yards and taking the fight right to the Taliban. Their 105mm howitzers have a range of 16km and are accurate to within a metre, killing everything within a radius of 350m. special interactive section: Afghanistan - exclusive video, multi-media - see for the first time the brave work our Diggers are doing behind-the-scenes to rebuild Afghanistan and fight the most evil forces in the world Many of the shells land just 2km from the perimeter wire of Armadillo, the Australian section of the British forward operating base, so the men often see the devastating results of their handiwork. The situation on the ground is so confused that our special forces troops are in the frame for killing a district governor during a fire fight with Afghan police. Now they have spoken of their life in the war zone and their strong sense of duty that gets them through when I visited them on the frontline. For 26-year-old Nathan Dunbar from Gatton in Queensland the work is intense and he admits to feeling a little upset when he reflects on the carnage his artillery shells have caused. "I do get a bit sad and upset, but I am an Australian soldier and I just get a grip and get on with the job," Gunner Dunbar said. "We are not just firing rounds for the fun of it. We are not smoking civilians - just the Taliban." Life here is hard. Getting a shower once a week, using a plastic bag for a toilet and sharing a bunk with fist-sized camel spiders, scorpions and even manning the guns naked. The Taliban lair is the fertile "green zone" along the Helmand River a mere 1.5km from the wire at Armadillo. For Gunner Dunbar, whose great grandfather served with the artilleryman in World War 1, that has meant firing up to 120 rounds down range from the battery's three guns during a three-hour period. The men snatch a few minutes sleep in the middle of the day when the temperature hovers about 50C, before returning to their 24-hour-a-day shift, And the worst part of his job? "S....ing in a bag and having to tie the knot," he said. The 16 artillerymen from 101 and 103 Medium Batteries, have fired almost 3000 shells during their five-month attachment to Britain's Royal Horse Artillery. They are part of a 16km chain of British guns trained on Taliban positions. In August a US Army Captain named Dyer was leading a patrol from the 1st Mountain Division just north of Armadillo base camp. The joint US, British and Afghan force was attacked by Taliban fighters armed with an anti-aircraft gun. "Ten shells from your gunners saved our lives," Captain Dyer said. When the fire mission car horn sounds at Armadillo, gun crews have just five seconds to respond and just 90 seconds later the six-man teams can have rounds in the air. Out on the battlefield, where Taliban attacks occur daily, troop safety depends on quick and accurate fire support from the Australians. It was the pin-point accurate artillery fire from the Regiment's 101 and 103 Medium Batteries that saved the day - and 100 Diggers' lives - at Long Tan in Vietnam in 1966. If a fire mission at Armadillo means cutting short their weekly shower - gunners are not called "pongos" for nothing - and manning the gun in the nude to dash to the gun, then so be it. The base is so small that the men are never more than a few metres from their guns and are on call 24-hours-a-day for months on end. Contingent commander Lieutenant Nick Cooper from Cheltenham in Victoria said the toughest parts of the job were the isolation, hard rations and lack of water. Even when the temperature hits 52C, the gunners are restricted to six litres of bottled water a day. "We feel very cut off from the outside world," he said. "Mail and supplies are very slow in coming due to a lack of helicopters and we really look forward to the Danish convoys that come every two weeks or so." For 27-year-old Gunner Nathan Wallace from Dee Why in Sydney the Armadillo deployment has been fantastic. "It has been great to actually do the job we are trained for," he said. "The living is tough and it is a very physical job, but we do it professionally and working with the British (army) has been great." |
 | Aussie Army Diggers in Afghanistan with NVG Aussie Diggers in Afghanistan playing in the dark with night vision goggles. They are the Australian artillery gunners fighting the Taliban on the front line of the war on terrorism, killing dozens of rebel fighters - but also saving countless coalition troops - during an action-packed five-month tour in Afghanistan's troubled Helmand Province. It is men like the Darwin-based gunners from the 8/12 Field Regiment who are doing the hard yards and taking the fight right to the Taliban. Their 105mm howitzers have a range of 16km and are accurate to within a metre, killing everything within a radius of 350m. special interactive section: Afghanistan - exclusive video, multi-media - see for the first time the brave work our Diggers are doing behind-the-scenes to rebuild Afghanistan and fight the most evil forces in the world Many of the shells land just 2km from the perimeter wire of Armadillo, the Australian section of the British forward operating base, so the men often see the devastating results of their handiwork. The situation on the ground is so confused that our special forces troops are in the frame for killing a district governor during a fire fight with Afghan police. Now they have spoken of their life in the war zone and their strong sense of duty that gets them through when I visited them on the frontline. For 26-year-old Nathan Dunbar from Gatton in Queensland the work is intense and he admits to feeling a little upset when he reflects on the carnage his artillery shells have caused. "I do get a bit sad and upset, but I am an Australian soldier and I just get a grip and get on with the job," Gunner Dunbar said. "We are not just firing rounds for the fun of it. We are not smoking civilians - just the Taliban." Life here is hard. Getting a shower once a week, using a plastic bag for a toilet and sharing a bunk with fist-sized camel spiders, scorpions and even manning the guns naked. The Taliban lair is the fertile "green zone" along the Helmand River a mere 1.5km from the wire at Armadillo. For Gunner Dunbar, whose great grandfather served with the artilleryman in World War 1, that has meant firing up to 120 rounds down range from the battery's three guns during a three-hour period. The men snatch a few minutes sleep in the middle of the day when the temperature hovers about 50C, before returning to their 24-hour-a-day shift, And the worst part of his job? "S....ing in a bag and having to tie the knot," he said. The 16 artillerymen from 101 and 103 Medium Batteries, have fired almost 3000 shells during their five-month attachment to Britain's Royal Horse Artillery. They are part of a 16km chain of British guns trained on Taliban positions. In August a US Army Captain named Dyer was leading a patrol from the 1st Mountain Division just north of Armadillo base camp. The joint US, British and Afghan force was attacked by Taliban fighters armed with an anti-aircraft gun. "Ten shells from your gunners saved our lives," Captain Dyer said. When the fire mission car horn sounds at Armadillo, gun crews have just five seconds to respond and just 90 seconds later the six-man teams can have rounds in the air. Out on the battlefield, where Taliban attacks occur daily, troop safety depends on quick and accurate fire support from the Australians. It was the pin-point accurate artillery fire from the Regiment's 101 and 103 Medium Batteries that saved the day - and 100 Diggers' lives - at Long Tan in Vietnam in 1966. If a fire mission at Armadillo means cutting short their weekly shower - gunners are not called "pongos" for nothing - and manning the gun in the nude to dash to the gun, then so be it. The base is so small that the men are never more than a few metres from their guns and are on call 24-hours-a-day for months on end. Contingent commander Lieutenant Nick Cooper from Cheltenham in Victoria said the toughest parts of the job were the isolation, hard rations and lack of water. Even when the temperature hits 52C, the gunners are restricted to six litres of bottled water a day. "We feel very cut off from the outside world," he said. "Mail and supplies are very slow in coming due to a lack of helicopters and we really look forward to the Danish convoys that come every two weeks or so." For 27-year-old Gunner Nathan Wallace from Dee Why in Sydney the Armadillo deployment has been fantastic. "It has been great to actually do the job we are trained for," he said. "The living is tough and it is a very physical job, but we do it professionally and working with the British (army) has been great." |
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