WEBVTT

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(lively music)

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- The mares are strong.

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They are head strong.

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And they are honest

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and if you are good to the mules,

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the mules will be good to you.

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(dramatic music)

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(meditative music)

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We are here to carry loads

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from our platoons, sometimes water,

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something to eat,
ammunition, heavy weapons.

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We have six very different mules here.

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Patsy's our white mule.

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He's a cool guy.
(chuckling)

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Daisy's our little diva.

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We have Fritz that gets
really nervous sometimes

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and then you have Yogy,
Yogy's 18 years old.

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He's our grandpa.

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Flicker is also very nice.

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She's like a teddy bear.

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And the last one is Fridah.

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She's the biggest one.

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She weighs 700 kilos

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and she eats also a lot of hay.

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If you have a long
march and it's very high

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and it's hard for me,

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then I talk to her and say okay,

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only a few 100 meters to go, we can do it

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and also if I have some problems,

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I talk also with the mule.
(chuckling)

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(tranquil music)

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- Our task is to supply the troops

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on narrow paths in the mountains

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with many supply goods.

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So, the paths we can walk on,

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if you're a good driver,

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you might drive en route or on motorcycle

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but you won't load 120
kilos on the motorcycle.

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You might say then you use a helicopter

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but we can work when it's bad weather

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and work under all the conditions

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and we are not recognized in the same way

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as helicopter is recognized.

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(wind howling)

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(thunder crashing)

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(meditative music)

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From the mountains that we get

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is the last mountains we should
be getting in the winter.

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We are the ones who are the specialists

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for mountain warfare and
we go different places

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in the world on missions abroad,

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so we were in Kosovo and
afterwards Afghanistan.

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(meditative music)

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- Part from the unit,
we want about 50 euros

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in value emotions.

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We have a special vet for the mules.

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Also, we have now round
about 10 blacksmiths.

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They have a lot to do the blacksmiths

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and it's their special job in our unit.

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(clanging)

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(wind whooshing)

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Our unit is very important for the NATO

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because whenever there is
a mission in the mountains

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it's very important to
have supply to the troops

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and in our special terrain,
we are in the end the best.

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They had load now the water

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and the food into the backpacks,

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then we load the mules.

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Again, we have to go very fast back

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because the other unit
is waiting for the food

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and for the water.

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(speaking in foreign language)

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(melancholic music)

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- [Soldier] You see it when the
mule trusts you and soldier.

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If they don't trust together,

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all mule will stop.

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The bond gets so heavy and close together

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because you're working
each day with the mules,

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the whole day, especially
if you are on march

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on the mountains, five,
six, seven hours a day

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and you're always together with the mule

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and you work really good together.