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Everyone seems to have an online blog these days but would you ever have expected to see the daily diary of a junior RAF airman on active service being put online, with the blessing of the airforce?

Senior Aircraftman Paul Goodfellow from Gateshead is serving in Afghanistan with the RAF Regiment, guarding military bases and aircraft in the desert. You can follow his progress on the internet where his daily diary appears on YouTube.

He has no previous experience as a cameraman but the RAF has given him a handheld video and a small 'lipstick' camera to create his films.听

Paul's girlfriend, Kelly

His videos are checked in Kandahar to ensure they don't include any sensitive data, then sent to London and posted online.

The reports include footage of the servicemen's everyday lives as well as his diaries. They're posted on YouTube where his family and friends, as well as the rest of the world, can follow how he's doing.

"It's a little frightening sometimes," says Kelly Ewart, Paul's girlfriend, "but it is a lot easier being able to go on every day and see something from him...at least I know he's OK."

Group Captain Russ La Forte says allowing Paul's diaries onto the net with what's described as "the minimum amount of editing" is intended to get the message across from the front line, "warts and all" from a junior airman doing a professional job out on the ground.

In December, after six months in Afghanistan, Paul was back in the North East tackling a new duty.

He is now visiting schools to talk about his experiences.