Making their mark in war
A bike shop manager and a firefighter from the Black Country are making their mark in Afghanistan after swapping their day jobs to join the war effort.
A bike shop manager and a firefighter from the Black Country are making their mark in Afghanistan after swapping their day jobs to join the war effort.
Cradley Heath cycle shop manager Jonathan Howes has switched office attire for desert combats and left behind his day job to help prepare soldiers for battle.
Stuart Hill, of Quarry Bank, Dudley, is a firefighter based at one of the busiest British air bases in the world, Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
Senior Aircraftsman (SAC) Howes, aged 32, is a volunteer airman with the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
Based at Kandahar Airfield, southern Afghanistan, SAC Howes and colleagues in the RAF's Joint Movements Unit help ensure the RAF's giant Hercules and C17 aircraft keep personnel equipped, fed and watered properly, as they battle Taliban fighters and come under constant threat of rocket and mortar attacks.
Ex-Grange School pupil SAC Howes joined the RAF four-and-a-half years ago and has already been deployed to the USA, Canada, Norway but his current visit to Afghanistan is his first operational tour.
Back home, SAC Howes works for Hawk Factory Cycle Stores as a relief manager.
He said: "We are some of the busiest personnel in Afghanistan, and we're dedicated to ensuring that the troops on the ground get the vital equipment and supplies they need as fast as possible." For SAC Hill, the tour of duty in Afghanistan is a dream come true.
Now 29, SAC Hill joined the RAF in 1999 having wanted to be a firefighter all his life. He has already served twice in Basra, Iraq, and is currently on duty at Camp Bastion, the largest British base to have been built since the Second World War, and one of the busiest airfields in the world. He said: "I always wanted to be firefighter.
"Although I wanted to join the civilian fire service, an RAF firefighter told me I should think about military firefighting. I have absolutely no regrets about deciding to join the Air Force. It's the best job in the world."
When he is not serving abroad, SAC Hill is based at RAF Honington in Suffolk.
