A DAD of four and soldier from Chard is keeping the Army’s helicopters repaired and in the fight for a major multinational training exercise.
Around 2,000 troops and up to 1,000 vehicles, and 50 helicopters from the British Army, RAF, Armée de Terre, and US Army are taking part in Exercise Pinion Titan.
The month-long manoeuvres (October 27 to December 3) include helicopters flying simulated missions from Salisbury Plain to the Scottish Highlands and demonstrations of the readiness of the First Aviation Brigade for NATO combat operations.
Corporal Ed John, a former Holyrood Academy pupil, is an aircraft technician with the seven Aviation Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (seven Avn Sp Bn REME).
Currently working out of a temporary supply and maintenance depot set up near Catterick in North Yorkshire, the 28-year-old’s role is to maintain and repair Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters.
Ed John said: "The frontline units do the basic field servicing, and our role is to do the larger and more complex jobs,
"We're doing jobs like engine removal or gearbox changes, and everything we do in the workshop, we need to be able to do out in the field.
"It's that much harder to do our job when we're living in a woodblock and working with the tools and spares that we've brought with us. We're doing complex engineering out in the open and thinking about what we can do to reduce the chances of the enemy finding and targeting us at the same time."
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Ed, who is based at RNAS Yeovilton, has completed an NVQ Level Three in aircraft maintenance and is qualified as a Class One Supervisor, able to inspect others’ work.
The father-of-four said: “After I left school, I did fabrication and welding at an engineering company for four years, but I didn’t see that there was any progression for me. I was looking around and saw that the military could give me a structured career in engineering. I didn’t even know the Army had helicopters, and I kind of fell into aviation engineering.”
Ed, who is married to Rebecca, has been on exercises in Oman and Germany and done mountaineering in the Dolomites in Italy as adventurous training.
“It’s an interesting job with a lot of variety, and I enjoy it,” he said.
“Our work is quite stable and, while I am away a lot, I think I’ve got a good work-life balance. Rebecca is quite independent, and most of the challenges are when I come home and throw the routine out.”
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