Afghanistan: James Glancy, Royal Marines - Very few people got to actually understand the Afghan people, the real structure of how the tribes work and who they were.

Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed Forces

James Glancy is “of the 9/11 era. There is a big difference in the experience of Serving in the Royal Marines or the military in the 90s to the post 2001 era…I was in Afghanistan within two months of passing out…I did three Troop Commands on combat operations on the ground. It was an amazing 10 years.”

When he left “I missed the intensity of operations so much, it’s without doubt one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life and I just loved being at war, it sounds a strange thing to say but I loved it. I loved being with the lads, I loved just doing something that I felt at the time was the right thing to do and working with the best possible people.” War is “...way less complex…It’s just the sense of purpose, everything is really black and white…everything’s done for you in the military…”

James eventually found some upsides to Civvy Street “Being independent of a military mindset, thinking for yourself, taking your own opportunities…your own risks…an incredibly important thing in life. I’m out the other side of that transition but there were 3 to 4 years that were…more challenging than you could ever realise, especially after those Afghan years.”

James finally returned as a film-maker feeling there was a story to be told “Very few people got to actually understand the Afghan people, the real structure of how the tribes work and who they were…” He provides insight into Afghanistan witnessed at a very particular moment in history, “Even though the full withdrawal hadn’t been announced…the Doha Agreement by Trump made it very clear…My view was, we don’t have forever to make a film where we can travel freely around the country because I think the Taliban will very quickly start taking over…I obviously didn’t predict how quickly it would fall.”
Watch the trailer of Afganistan on YouTube

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