SAC Paul Goodfellow
Have you ever received a medal?
I've received a few medals in my time. One for Iraq which is the Op Telic medal for duties out there. I received a medal in Afghanistan for Op Herrick medal for operational duty out there. And also in Afghanistan, I received something called an ISAF medal which was a NATO medal because we were part of the ISAF Mission along side the American troops.
Have you ever been shot or wounded?
I haven't been shot and I haven't been wounded. Touch wood. It might happen in the future, so I don't want to say too much more on that subject.
What was it like to lose a fellow serviceman?
At the time, losing somebody out on an operational tour was devastating. You never, ever think it's going to happen to you as a squadron. You have this almost sense of invincibility about you when you go out there, because we're trained to a very high standard. We like to think we're the best at what we're doing and we'll take on anybody that comes our way. Losing somebody was devastating, but the way we had to play it was we couldn't let our feelings dictate what professional people do in a professional job out in a very dangerous condition. So we had to put our feelings to one side and get on with the job at hand, and ensure that we took rest of the squadron back home and we didn't lose anybody else.
What's the proudest moment of your career so far?
The proudest moment of my career? There's a couple. I think the main one was graduating from my basic gunner course. It's a gruelling and demanding course; you get put through your paces. It's physically and mentally challenging. And standing on that parade square in my blues for the first time, in front of my mom and dad and "The Great Escape" was playing by the RF regimen brass band and that was probably the proudest moment of my career. And also soon after entering Iraq I managed to foil a rocket team from attacking the base by feigning a weapons cache. That was also a pretty proud moment because I was new to the regimen, new to the squadron and to accomplish something on my first operational tour of duty was a great achievement. So that was quite a proud moment as well.
Are many of your friends RAF gunners?
There's quite a few of my friends have become RAF Regiment gunners. Quite a few people have joined the Royal Air Force after listening to what I've had to say about the organization as a whole. So, yes, I've got a lot of friends who have joined as RAF Regiment gunners.
What makes a good RAF Gunner stand out from the crowd?
I think the main thing to make a RAF Gunner stand out in the crowd is not being the gray man. A lot of people give the advice to just go, keep your head down and get on with things. I think as an RAF Regimen Gunner you have to be a little more capable than your counterparts, you have to be able to stand out from the crowd by being somebody who has got the confidence to take a situation with two hands and basically lead a situation. At the end of the day, as a Gunner, your Commander may get wiped out in an attack. You may be the next sooner person in line to take over the position and lead a bunch of men through a hostile area. So you have got to be able to grip a situation, with both hands and say, "I am the man to do the job", you have to be a confident person.
