Paratrooper Jaco van Gass and his buddies were nearing the end of their second tour of duty in Afghanistan and spirits were high.
The superfit bunch were exercising hard and Jaco ran circuits of their mountain camp with his pistol strapped over his kit “in case anything happened”.
It was the eve of his 23rd birthday and he recalls: “Coming to the end of the tour, we started to think about looking good for going home.