Hi Phil,
My eldest Son is a Flight Leutenant in the RAF and is on a 5 month tour at the moment, hopefully he will be back end of January.
He emails regularly and we get an occasional phone call. He's based on the US camp Bastion site which is pure luxury in comparison to what our own boys and girls get, but it's completely dry, not even a can of beer even for Christmas, it's just another working day for them.
Previously he did 5 tours of Iraq without much comment, and N.Ireland for 3 years a long time back.

BUT Afghanistan he said is the bowels of the earth, and no normal person would want to go anywhere near the place, if it wasn't for his job demanding he went, he would be back with his Wife to enjoy Christmas.

Hey, and he's on a decent salary normally, plus an extra 800 a month away payments.

You must be mental, and I think a telephone interview should be the biggest warning signal.

Happy Christmas to everyone

Jools