Engineers appear from every corner of the workplace in various states of dress, sorting themselves out on the run. Grabbing headsets and ear defenders, they sprint in the direction of the nominated aircraft. In the distance, sirens pierce the quiet and the roar of Landrover tyres on the sand come ever closer, our first indication that there is a bigger plan than just the airhorn in operation.


Elsewhere, radios have crackled into life, phones have rung and the right people have made the right decisions and the call has been made to launch the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT).


As we pound across the pan towards the MERT chopper, we are evaluating all the time. Do we have all the trades here? Do we have a spare aircraft, just in case? When we can answer those questions we react accordingly. The right engineers in the right


numbers will head straight to the aircraft to launch, others


will hold back at the hangar doors ready to assist – it’s just as bad to have too many hands than it is to not have enough sometimes. But everyone still focuses on getting it airborne as quickly and safely as we can.


By now the aircrew have had the call and are tearing across the pan towards their aircraft. They rip into their pre-flight drills with quite a staggering amount of speed and efficiency that obviously comes with all their training. The sirens are here. The medical team have arrived and race on the back of the helicopter, with the Force Protection element, made up of RAF Regiment gunners racing on to complete the crew.


At this point, the engineers have prepared the cab for flight and now await the crew’s direction. At this point, we engineers can take a breath. The rear of a Chinook is now a very crammed and busy place. Helmets and body armour are being donned, crew and medics shout instructions and advice to each other, straps and equipment are fixed, checked and checked again.


The sight of the male and female medics frantically preparing for take off, slams home what we’re actually doing here. Someone out there desperately needs their help. Someone is in a bad way and their very


survival could


hinge on this aircraft getting there in one piece and as quickly as possible. From an engineers point of view that’s a sobering thought, but there is no greater sense of


The whole process is over in less than ten minutes. All we, who are left behind, can do is wait. We go back to what we were doing and wait for its return. We know it can be back in ten minutes, need maintenance and need to lift again immediately. So we must always be ready…


achievement or professional pride to know that you are directly making a difference to someone’s life.


As the massive blades spin up over our heads and the crew signal the aircraft is ready, any information we have received while the crew were busy has been passed to them. By now they know where they’re going, usually how many casualties and what nationality, sex and age. This could be an Afghan National, a Taliban Fighter, an American soldier, a Danish soldier, one of our own or a child. It matters not. They will go into all sorts of dangers to get them out, and get them out fast.


As the dust rises, thumbs up are given and received, the aircraft pitches forward and when its only a few feet out of its parking slot, the rear rises and the whole massive asset lifts and, pointing its nose menacingly at the ground, lurches into flight. It stays only feet from the ground as it gathers momentum and very soon is racing towards its target area and its casualty(ies). Overhead, Apache gunships race to assist and provide air support.


Then quiet.


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