At 26 he is Troop Commander of Arno Troop, 10 Field Squadron (Air Support) attached to 28 Engineer Regiment Group, part of the Grenadier Guards Battle Group.

"I oversee all the constructional tasks which my troop are involved in, in addition to planning for future operations and reporting progress back up the chain of command," said Lt Haagensen.

"In Afghanistan, my role involves me being much more 'hands on' than I would be in peace-time, where my job mostly entails sitting behind a desk planning."

Last week he was forced to down tools when the bridge he was building in Nad-e Ali came under enemy fire. The firefight started as the Lieutenant was laying the foundations for a new bridge which would carry military vehicles into the area occupied by insurgents on the other side of the canal.

He said: "My job was to build a bridge which can take the weight of our military vehicles – so anything up to 100 tonnes. My commander was planning an operation into the area occupied by the insurgents on the other side so I needed to make sure that the vehicles could get across safely.

"We were hard at work on the first day shoring up the verges when we suddenly came under small arms and RPG attack. We dived into the very same ditch we had been shoring up.

"My lads were pinned down for an hour in the ditch while the driver of the digger was pinned down in his cab. Thankfully, they are solid machines so he was well protected.

"This really is the front line. I was very relieved that no-one was hurt and the lads were just pleased that they had managed to complete their job.

"We went back to the base and rehearsed our drills for putting in the bridge itself. We have trained hard for this kind of task so we were fully prepared for the instillation.

"The build continued the next day, as did the attacks."The next day in the middle of the night we went in, assembled the bridge and placed it in at first light," said Lt Haagensen.

"Again, as it got light, twe came under small arms fire. The lads got down in the ditch again and we actually used the digger scoop to get them into a safe position. Smoke was called in to provide us with cover. Once the smoke had cleared the build was complete – a gleaming result.

"We had already built in a small bridge across the canal which is strong enough for the locals to drive across on their motorbikes.

"Once we have pushed the insurgents out of the area the local people will be able to move freely about and the vehicle bridge will make their lives a lot easier."

The Newcastle Grammar School educated Officer admits the diversity of the job is the thing he enjoys most about the deployment.

"Every day presents a different challenge," he said.

"One day I might be conducting explosives training, and the next constructing camp protection under fire from the enemy. I go to bed thinking I can't believe it's time to sleep already.

"The scale of the Royal Engineer effort does require me to be on the ball at all times. After coming back from my two weeks off for R&R, I had to play catch up on all the information and updates I had missed – that wasn't the best."

One particularly satisfying experience he has taken from the deployment so far has been the construction of a new elevated observation post which his Troop designed.

"Not only was it constructed by my Troop, but it has been replicated by other Troops throughout Afghanistan," he said.

Being away from home for a six month operational deployment has its ups and downs but the plans for after the deployment in April 2010 are never far from the thoughts of the soldiers serving with Aldershot based 11 Light Brigade.

Lieutenant Haagensen said: "I'm looking forward to sleeping under a duvet and not having to go to bed wearing a hat and gloves. I also have a choice of whether to go on holiday with my girlfriend or carry out a loft conversion."

He is serving with 10 Sqn, 39 Engineer Regiment which form part of the Joint Force Engineer Group, who are responsible for all military construction and bridging tasks in Helmand Province for the next three months.He left Sandhurst in December 2006 and is on his first operational tour. The Squadron is normally based at RAF Leeming.

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