All female team keep it flying on Ops

09 August 2010
AN all-women Tri-Service team of engineers is braving the heat and dust at
Camp Bastion to keep UK Forces helicopters in the air as Merlin, Chinook
and Apache crews support the latest ground offensive against insurgents in
a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan.
ISAF Forces involved in Operation Tor Shezada have faced fierce fighting
during the biggest offensive of the summer, to oust Taliban fighters from the
remote region of Helmand.
Keeping the UK’s air assets operational and carrying out vital medical evacuation,
insertion and extraction and resupply roles has been a challenge for the five
female engineers currently stationed at Camp Bastion as part of the Joint
Helicopter Force.
Junior Engineers Flt Lt Laura Morfee and Flt Lt Katie Muldoon are part of the five-strong team currently working around the clock with flight crews from RAF Odiham and RAF Benson and the Army Air Corps to provide vital reconnaissance, medical evacuation and air support to ground forces.
Flt Lt Morfee said: “We are moving heaven and earth to maintain the serviceability of helicopters but we all know that what we do is directly supporting troops on the ground.”
Medical Emergency Response carried out by RAF Merlins and Chinooks is a key function of the JHF, as crews fly into the combat zone, often under heavy direct fire, to extract coalition casualties.
Flt Lt Muldoon said: “Despite the conditions team spirit and morale is high throughout the JHF detachment – we know that these missions are saving the lives of British and Coalition troops.”
Working alongside Army colleagues Capt Kate Redfern from 9 Regt Army Air Corps, Capt Charlotte Joyce, with 4 Regt Army Air Corps and Lieutenant Nicki Wallace from the Royal Navy, the two RAF engineers are working primarily on Merlin and Chinook in the sweltering heat and dust of Afghanistan – one of the most hostile theatres of war there is.
The extreme climate and landscape are among the biggest threats to aircraft operating in Afghanistan and the hot and high conditions take their toll of the machinery, Royal Air Force chiefs said.
Flt Lt Muldoon said: “The Merlin is a twenty-first century aircraft that is coping well with the rigorous demands of operational flying in Afghanistan”.
She added: “The hard work of the dedicated technicians should not be underestimated, they achieve remarkable serviceability in very difficult climatic conditions.”
Colleague Laura Morfee, now on her second tour of Afghanistan, said: “I love the Chinook, it is a great aircraft and I’m lucky to have a fantastic team of technicians.
“They make my job as a flight commander easy, leaving us all to concentrate on generating the best serviceability to support the campaign.
“I particularly enjoy the amount of responsibility delegated to me here whilst on operations when compared to other JEngOs. I have got a tremendous amount out of this detachment.”