YOU can certainly bank on Flight Sergeant Daz Ealey.

The Witney RAF serviceman has served in a range of places around the world, but his latest job is not your everyday military post.

Flt Sgt Ealey has been given one of the biggest responsibilities in the UK’s Afghanistan war effort.

He may not lead patrols, track insurgents or plan operations, but instead runs the bank for the allied base in Camp Bastion, in Helmand Province.

The base is home to 30,000 people and has its own airport, fire station and police force.

Flt Sgt Ealey, a former Wood Green School pupil, looks after the only safe on the base and deals with significant amounts of cash every day, along with paying bills, cashes cheques and converting money.

He also has to make sure that there is sufficient money available to pay the cash salaries of hundreds of Afghan civilians employed by the military.

But Flt Sgt Ealey tries not to think about the responsibility, instead preferring to think of the cash as Monopoly money.

The 43-year-old said: “My position holds a tremendous amount of trust and responsibility as I control the total cash flow, in and out, for the whole of Camp Bastion and the surrounding areas.

“I have received many comments from customers asking how I sleep at night but, while I had a fuller head of hair when I arrived, I try to view the cash like Monopoly money – dollars makes this easier – and not think about its true value.”

He added: “The days seem to fly by due to the intensity of work – which is a real bonus as I miss my family back home.”

As Camp Bastion has international importance, Flt Sgt Ealey’s safe contains currencies from all over the world, including dollars, euros, sterling and afghani notes.

But he refused to say exactly how much money is in the safe, only conceding that it is a “substantial” amount.

Flt Sgt Ealey added: “I thoroughly enjoy the job I am doing and, while the responsible is huge, it also gives me a great sense of satisfaction and worth that I am playing my part in the stabilisation effort.”

And he said he had made many friends while doing the job. He said: “I have built a great working relationship with a lot of locally-employed Afghanis, who exchange money with me and pay various bills.

“The politeness and respect they show is of the highest order and they feel like real friends.”

Flt Sgt Ealey has spent 24 years in the RAF and has served in Qatar, Cyprus, Germany, and the Falkland Islands.