EXAM DAY FOR AFGHAN BOMB DIFFUSERS WITHOUT VOICEOVER

Independent Films, Documentaries, Politics

It’s exam day at the explosives disposal unit in Camp Shaheen, Mazar-e-Sharif and student Lal Mohammed faces a tough task if he is to qualify. We follow Lal through the task, as he explains what he needs to do to qualify as an explosive ordinance disposer, and what it means to him to work for his country.

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Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

--VOICEOVER—
It’s exam day at the explosives disposal unit in Camp Shaheen, Mazar-e-Sharif…
… and student Lal Mohammed faces a tough task if he is to qualify.

--SOUNDBITE (DARI)--
“The lessons we have learned here have made us skilled. We can now diffuse the explosives made by the insurgents, so that when they put them on the highways, no one will die.”

--VOICEOVER—
Lal has spent several months at the school learning under the guidance of experts such as Chris Snaith, and now his skills are put to the test in conditions that mirror those he’ll find out in the field.

--SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH)—
“His concern now is that this could have some sort of anti handling device in it. Because sometimes the Taliban do put a second firing mechanism in. So, in order to make sure this is safe for him to take apart, what he will do is try and pull this out using the hook and line equipment.”

--UPSHOT—
“Alright Lal, let’s see what you can do here.”

--SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH)—
“That suit will tend to save him if it’s a small explosion or he’s a reasonable distance away from the device when it functions. Its primary purpose is to make sure he is safe on the approach to, and the walk away from, the device. We encourage them to spend as little time close to the device as possible. The reality is, if it’s a large explosion, nothing is going to save their life.”

--SOUNDBITE (DARI)--
“In this exercise, a suicide bomber has put a large quantity of explosives in the back of the car. We have diffused the explosives, and our operation has been successful.”

--UPSHOT (DARI)—
“This wheel will open the boot of the car, and the other one will remove the explosives from the car. You need to get the passengers out of the car, detain them and warn them. Then we can start the operation.”



--UPSHOT (DARI) —
Ready!
Good.

--UPSHOT (DARI)—
Shout ‘pulling, pulliing’, then check the area, and then shout ‘pulling’ again.

--SOUNDBITE (DARI)--
“My desire, for my country and unit, is to protect the people and bring security to the country.”

--UPSHOT—
(DARI)
Pull! Pull!
(ENGLISH)
That’s it. Hey. Well done.

--SOUNDBITE (DARI)--
“This job doesn’t scare me. It is an honour to do this work.”





--VOICEOVER—
Since the school was founded in 2008, over 750 explosive ordinance disposers have graduated the course. If Lal and his classmates successfully complete their exam, they will return to their units and continue to hone their skills under the guidance of coalition forces.
Those that fail must start the three-month course all over again.

--UPSHOT—
(English)
“The task has gone very well, so we want to congratulate you on passing this final task, and congratulations on becoming an EOD warrior. Well done!”
(Dari)
“Thank you. God bless you. I want to thank my colleagues, because everything they taught me, I have understood.”

--SOUNDBITE (DARI)—
“I am very happy. Yes I feel very very happy.”

--VOICEOVER—
While we were filming Lal, a bomb detonated at a wedding hall in the neighbouring Samangan province killing over twenty people. Medical aid was flown out of Camp Shaheen.
It is precisely this kind of tragedy that Lal will hope his newfound skills could help prevent in the future.

This is Jake Tupman reporting from Mazar-e-Sharif for the NATO Channel.

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