8:10pm Friday 9th January 2009
By Tom Moseley
DODGING rocket attacks and land mines in Afghanistan would not be on most people’s list of things to do in their time off work.
But a council employee who made the switch from town hall to war zone and back said he would not have it any other way.
Tom Calver, who works in Blackburn with Darwen council’s press office, recently returned after two months in the war-torn country.
The 29-year-old RAF reserve officer was accompanying a film crew during who were following life on Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan.
His role involved minding the Channel Five film crew, driving them around and helping them get the access they needed to shoot the series, which began this week.
And while Kandahar is a less dangerous region than the treacherous Helmand Province, Tom, of Duke's Brow, Blackburn, recalls at least 12 Taliban rocket attacks during his stay.
He said: “You get used to the rocket attacks, and you do drills to prepare. You hear a siren seconds before it hits and you have to throw yourself on the floor, get your body armour on and wait for the all-clear. The rockets they launched into the base were not massively accurate, but one landed about 400 yards from me and I could feel the building shake.
“It’s one of the most dangerous places on earth because there are hundreds of thousands of land mines, many of which date back to the war with the Russians. Just walking across a field isn’t an option.”
Reserve officers, who are the RAF's equivalent of the Territorial Army, can be called into action at any time.
As Tom settles back into the day job, where he fields press inquires about adult social care in Blackburn with Darwen, he can reflect on the contrast between his two workplaces - and he admits he was nervous when the call came to tell him he was being deployed.
He added: “It’s bizarre. They are two totally different worlds and going out there is very sobering.
“But it was a incredible experience, because it was the first time I had done anything like that, and I have met some fascinating people.”
The documentary, War Zone, continues on Monday at 9pm.
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