Welcome to Pakistan
AIR FORCE goes behind the snowy scenes at Camp Bradman, Dhanni.
Story and photos by FLTLT Trevor Grant

A small girl gets a few toys to replace what she lost in the recent earthquakes in Pakistan (the toys were donated by various humanitarian agencies).

Washing day at Camp Bradman.

FLTLT Audrey Tan attends to one of the locals.

Hard work as snow sets in around the camp.

WGCDR Karen Leshinskas talks about the Eid festival with local interpretzzers Ghozala (left) and Sabah (right) at Camp Bradman.

A young boy waits in the cold for the school tents to be erected.

It’s more than 2000 metres up; it’s cold and it will soon be covered in snow. Welcome to Qaziabad in the mountains of northern Pakistan.

It’s here that the first medical team from Operation Longreach is working to provide vital medical aid. The villagers welcome the visitors with beaming smiles and many handshakes, their spirits high despite the recent devastation.

Earthquakes hit the remote area of the mountains hard, houses destroyed and lives shattered, the nearest drinkable water a small spring more than two hours walk away. They live in tents or homemade shelters of canvas and corrugated iron along ridgelines and on the side of the mountain.

But life in this little village goes on. The local children attend the village school (albeit with no roof) while some study at the remains of the local mosque. Local shops are trading with anybody who needs their wares and public transport can now get through.

The one thing that they don’t have is medical aid. The nearest facility is the Australian medical facility at Camp Bradman in Dhanni, two and a half hours walk down the mountain.

And that’s why Operation Longreach is so important: it brings medical attention to the remote villages.

On the first Longreach trip to Qaziabad, the four medical personnel treated 42 patients (in four hours) with issues ranging from simple inoculations to pneumonia and infectious skin diseases.

These medical people are providing a much-needed service to remote areas often in conditions that, by our standards, are primitive. They do the job because they care.

And behind the scenes, where does the medical team get their supplies? Who keeps the area climate controlled and illuminated for them? Who keeps them in contact with everybody back home?

These are just some of the responsibilities of the men and women of the support element.

At Camp Bradman there are some 30 support staff providing a range of support functions.

They include electricians, cooks, logisticians, communicators, military police and administrators. All do vital work in sustaining the operation.

In Qasim Aviation Base, Pakistan, there are another 20 support staff working in support of the operation while assisting Task Force Eagle and the contingent deployed from Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment.

They are dedicated and efficient at what they do. They all work extremely hard, at all hours of the day and night, maintaining equipment, organising re-supply, ensuring security and making sure that everything runs smoothly.
These are difficult tasks at the best of times.

Like the medical people, they all take it in their stride and do the best job they can because they have pride in the knowledge that they are helping to make this operation a success.

So when reading about Operation Pakistan Assist or seeing an item on TV, think about the whole team doing the job. Without the skills and hard work of support personnel, missions such as Operation Pakistan Assist could not exist.

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