'Mentally, emotionally, physically challenging'
Updated on 02 November 2009
Did Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid - a British army bomb disposal expert killed in Afghanistan at the weekend, who spoke earlier this year of the intensity of his work - die just to keep a corrupt president in power? Jonathan Rugman reports.
Killed trying to uphold an election that has just ended in farce, the latest British casualty of the war in Afghanistan was described today as a "once in a generation phenomenon" who had defused more than 60 roadside bombs, saving countless lives.
Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, from the Royal Logistics Corps, died on Saturday, days before he was due to fly back to the UK, as he tried to make safe a device near Sangin, in Helmand province.
In an interview earlier this year, Staff Sergeant Schmid said his work was "extremely intense – that's the nature of the job".
He continued: "For me, 10 years it's taken me throughout my ammunition expertise to get to this level."
"And yes, it is vital and it is mentally and emotionally challenging. Physically as well, in terms of the kit we use."
Discussing the prospect of working in Afghanistan, he said: "Obviously it's a dangerous job. However, the culmination of all the training that we have, certainly as a team, has prepared myself for this deployment in absolutely the best possible way.
"I feel absolutely confident about the job and about the task that I'm expected to do, and that of my team members as well."
