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Dedicated to the peacekeepers who have fallen during crisis management operations.
ISAF's operation brings together 47 countries and almost 150,000 soldiers. Finland participates with ca. 195 peacekeepers.
Co-operation between Swedish, Germans, Americans and many other nationalities happen daily. Multinationality gives operating its own challenges. Equipment and way of acting may greatly differ.
This documentary series follows Finnish peacekeepers who served in Afghanistan 2010-2011.
Afghanistan: Part6: Camp Mike Spann
Well it's a bit warmer here than in Finland.
We met the first time in Säkylä.
During the specialising period we mostly trained in different groups. He was just a face. My job, the person...
- that is: firefight mentoring.
I was thinking how firefight mentoring will get going here. The very first impression I got was that -
- starting to train and mentor would be a very challenging task.
Starting from that we had a talk when we met and exchanged information.
It was about those times when I started to get to know Jyri better. It was based on a common interest.
Then Jyri came to visit Spann.
-Would we start the search from the firestation? -Yeah.
I'll look up the name of that guy.
Do they have a boss there? Yeah... a guy named...
Jason Parlor.
-What does SP SFC stand for? -Staff Sergeant?
Let's go in.
We had great luck. There happened to be -
- coordinating personnel from the US Army firefighting present.
They are coordinating North-Afghanistan's firefighter training and equipment orders.
They had a program going to uniform that.
This went better than we could have hoped as these guys happened to be here.
Just *** incredible luck!
When you talk to Americans -
- their first guess is that we are German. -Yeah, I wonder why's that.
I think it's because the Germans have most men here. Admittedly also this clothing is...
They don't pay that much attention to the flag.
Then you say: no, we're from Finland -
- and the guy said something like: Oh, Phoenix? Not quite so!
Maybe my rallying-tourist English sounds the same as the Phoenix dialect.
Camp Northern Lights is a joint mainbase of the Finnish and Swedish troops in Mazar-e Sharif. It holds ca. 500 soldiers and there are also Afghans working on regular basis in construct-, maintenance- and other works. Entry is strictly controlled. Peacekeepers are not permitted to move outside the camp in their free-time.
Guarding is organised in a slightly different manner here.
There's one man always at the gate.
Outside the big maingate -
- where they check the incoming vehicles.
The actual inspecting of the vehicles and persons is done by local workers.
And the soldier is in a way supervising, only. Seeing that local workers do their job well.
Very well. You usually don't have to intervene at all.
But then there's these people coming to ask somehting -
- an interpreter applicant bringing a CV etc.
There's always something little going on at the gate.
Then you call an interpreter there -
- clearing this kind of things out.
Who's that woman coming here?
Juhana is there in "OPS", I'll tell him to find out of her.
OPS, Gate 1.
-OPS. -There's some woman coming here at 11.
She's labeled "Searched by ISAF"
So how it is?
Is she local and can I check her out, or do I have to find some woman here?
-Well the guards surely know that, because they do the check.
No, it reads here precisely: "Searched by ISAF". And that's me, right?
There's a comment here: "Afghan woman, business with someone province".
-I see it that the guards call a woman there.
But there's zero women in guards. Wasn't it G office that sends a woman here?
Could you ask G 2 how to handle it?
We have over there the "OPS".
You can see the whole camp from there.
Following the cameras. He can open the gates if needeed and watch over the whole camp in general.
Hey boy, where are the electrical cables to these?
No idea. They are garbage.
Personally, guarding the camp..
- it's boring.
I'm happy there's have been little of that.
Being outside is always much more sensible.
Than watching how locals check the cars.
But of course you have to do some of it, too.
Will I come with my own vest on me? Or do I come without and we'll trade there?
Come without the vest.
Ok.
At 11 o'clock.
Someone could fill this with gunpowder and reuse it.
Is there more? -Yes.
We have here, jumalauta, all stuff of this world; carpets and other trash. And there's one CV IFV case.
You can't take the case out with you, right?
-Do they have some paper? -Yes, from the maintenance supervisor.
-We'll check what man he is and why he has papers for other things.
Right. Can you call the check and tell someone to come here?
-Gate 1?
Yeah.
-The truck will stay there for now and someone will come to check it.
Just when I got to say how boring this is all this happens.
Would be nice if someone could come to help here at gate.
-Yes, I'm coming.
Satan. What items do they have permission for by their papers?
Forklift pallets, wood...
Soft drinks, wood, goods.
There comes the G 2 guy.
We have here the traditional case: as soon we have fired, they come to collect the cases. -I bet you get good money of them.
-Gate 1?
-OK. garbage may leave, cases don't.
Here I've met really great types.
I've made already some good friends. I believe those friends are to stay and we'll keep in touch.
What I'm going to miss? I think just those moments with these great types I've done things with.
We have had fun moments. Random moments. It has been great to be here.
But life goes on.
And I believe I leave with light heart.
This is only one period in life. And the really important things are there, home in Finland.
Of course it feels... it stops you. When you look at that window.
That bulletproof glass with that "flower". How it's bulged.
You realise that -
- it doesn't give you insurance. If the hit comes -
- about the only thing you can do inside is turn up the music. Like, bullets are flying but we are just driving through anyway.
That it's real there's someone, who wants to kill you.
To realize that thing, had it come through, it would have been goodbye.
The prerequisite for coming here is to accept that fact.
You absolutely shouldn't deny it. Because then you have to accept it. Then you have to prepare yourself for it.
Then you probably survive that situation.
But if you take the road of denial. "Not me". "Hey, there've been only a few cases among Finns. It can't happen to me."
If you take that road, then... I don't know.
Not sure then. How can you do those jobs, then?
I think that now, in less than an hour -
- this thing has leaped forward more than in all the previous 5 months. I mean, in a sense that -
- now we've got the kind of folks involved who str actually interested.
It's their job here.
Simply incredible luck we had.
Well, it's always like that. Not so..
- how would I say, -
- pleasant to be the one who has to ask. You feel yourself like a beggar.
We just have to accept we are a small actor in this big soup.
That's true, yes.
It makes this work harder.
Also makes it much more difficult when the equipment isn't the same.
We can't even on our own get equipment that follows the American standards.
-So where are you going to get that, then? -Nowhere.
Some think, or... some do understand... see that -
- our presence here is good for them as well. And they benefit from it.
Actual employment effects, humanitary aid, education etc.
But there's the other group -
- who see us disturbing their hobbies, or businesses.
It's not a pleasant thought. What to comment on that? It's... yet another thing you should accept and realise.
It's a pretty dangerous country, after all.
That's the thing. I guess the Armchair General back in Finland is wondering -
- what in heaven is so difficult in that? Why we can't simply go and pick the bad guys away from willages.
But, the bad guy happens to be that one farmer who, along with his normal work, sometimes acts, when he gets the signal...
He has those bad items hidden somewhere. And then he just gets activated.. something just activates him.
He has his family, farm, simple house and the donkey.
And then some day, when he hears the call, he goes and does some nasty thing.
There you go. Go and pick the right guys... you should pick up the whole village, or many of them.
Well.
...not easy.