The tight airspace is filled with every kind of civilian and military aircraft imaginable, all trying to move unrestricted, trying to support military operations against Taliban extremists.

During the past two years, Ashtonfield-raised Flight Lieutenant Bradley Evans, currently based at Williamtown 41 Wing unit, has been deployed twice to the city of Kandahar working as part of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Control and Reporting Centre (CRC).

Flight Lt Evans was one of 400 RAAF personnel deployed in staggered batches since August 2007, charged with managing this busy airspace and providing air battle management tasks over Afghanistan in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

RAAF personnel were predominately drawn from 41 Wing and subordinate units, including the Williamtown-based 3 Control and Reporting Unit and Surveillance and Control Training Unit, Darwin-based 114 Mobile and Control Reporting Unit (114MCRU), and Edinburgh-based 1 Radar Surveillance Unit.

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Flight Lt Evans returned from his last deployment in May this year after a four month stint and said the experience has had a phenomenal impact.

“It was very interesting,” he said.

“I was looking forward to going to over there - it’s what I joined to do in the first place.”

“It was a little bit surreal being in a war zone. At least twice a week the base would be attacked by the Taliban with rockets at a distance. Many a night were woken up by rocket alarms going off so we would take cover. It was stressful at times but it soon became a normal part of day to day life. We were very well protected at the base and a lot of effort was put into ensuring our safety.”

“The job side was incredibly rewarding. It was the best part of my career so far. We got to execute the training we had been put through at a much higher level than what we had experienced at home. The level of activity was much more intense for a much longer period of time. It’s a lot of responsibility”