Gary Thompson, 51, and Graham Livingstone, 23, Senior Aircraftmen (SACs) in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment, died in a roadside explosion outside Kandahar Airfield, the main Nato base in southern Afghanistan.
A coroner heard that the patrol had only one Ebex metal detector between six vehicles, meaning a vulnerable river crossing was not exhaustively scanned for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).
SAC Thompson, from Sherwood, Nottingham, became the oldest serviceman to die in the conflict when the device detonated on April 13 last year. SAC Livingstone, from Glasgow, was also killed in the blast, which injured two other men.
The inquest in Trowbridge heard that the explosion occurred as the convoy was crossing back over the shallow river, having regrouped from performing split missions.
The first group over had been able to conduct some checks at the water, but it had not been able to carry out complete “Operation Barma” drills because the only metal detector was with the other team.
Senior Aircraftman Livingstone, nicknamed 'Livi', had served in Iraq, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
An avid Celtic fan, he was an amateur DJ in his spare time. He left behind a young son Kyle.
His mother Rosemary O'Neill, 50, said: "He was a wonderful, wonderful son. He was a wonderful person."
The two men were taking part in a patrol close to Kandahar Airfield as part of 3 Squadron's "Support Weapons Flight" when the Land Rover they were travelling in hit an explosive device.
SAC Thompson left behind a wife Jacqui and five daughters - Laurie, Aimee, Jordan, Jade and Kelly - who he said inspired him to fight the Taliban.
"Gary was more than our hero, he was the rock and foundation of our family," they said today.
"Words cannot express how much he was loved and how proud of him we are.
"Gary, you have had our hearts from the beginning and now they are yours forever."
Having served with the RAF in the 1970s, he went on to become a successful businessman, as managing director of Sherwood Ducting Ltd in Nottingham, which specialises in ventilation materials.
But he re-enlisted as a reservist in 2005, becoming a gunner and later a mortar man in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article