Reservists help rebuild Iraq

Soldiers say goodbye to families before heading for the Gulf

Welsh volunteer soldiers make up the majority of 172 Territorial Army Royal Engineers who have been mobilised for a six-month tour of duty in Iraq to help rebuild schools, hospitals and roads.

The reservists from the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia), whose headquarters are in Monmouth, also left their south Wales bases in Cwmbran and Swansea and the West Midlands.

They will undergo a month-long period of specialist training before their deployment to the Gulf.

Lieutenant Colonel David Caulfield, who has commanded the regiment for only two months, said: "I believe that this is the largest deployment of soldiers from one Territorial Army unit since the Second World War."

There are 59 soldiers from Cwmbran, 30 from Swansea and 20 from Monmouth deploying to an area of Iraq, south of Basra.

The rest of the troops deployed are based at Warley, West Midlands.

Those being deployed will undertake a period of specialised training before becoming part of the 38 Engineer Regiment, normally based in Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Those who are going to Iraq from Wales come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from tradesmen, to lawyers, students and doctors

Lieutenant Colonel David Caulfield

During their tour, entitled Operation Telic 2, the volunteers will also carry out tasks such as bridge-building, and water and sewerage improvements.

Colonel Caulfield added: "As a regular Army soldier I have been immensely impressed by the fantastic enthusiasm and commitment of the Territorial Army soldiers.

"Those who are going to Iraq from Wales come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from tradesmen, to lawyers, students and doctors.

"They will be in Iraq to help make sure humanitarian aid gets to those Iraqi people who need it by helping to provide the infrastructure and security for UK government and non government organisations to deliver what is needed."

One of the squadron commanders is Major David Washington, 40, a consultant with Renault Financial Services, who lives in Penarth.

He said: "I was very happy to be chosen to go, since at my age I thought I'd lost my chance. There has been a great demand from soldiers in the Regiment to go, and some disappointment from those who could not.

"It will be testing and hard work in the heat, for long hours in a none nine-to-five environment, but that is what we are there for in a post-conflict area."

News of the TA deployment coincides with Cynon Valley MP Ann Clwyd flying out to Iraq as Tony Blair's special envoy on human rights.

Talking about the type of reconstruction work the engineers will be carrying out, Ms Clwyd said: "More progress has got to be made in restoring water, power and the health services."

Repairing roads

The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) is the senior Regiment of Britain's Reserve Army and was first mustered in 1539.

It has a role as a general support Engineer Regiment which keeps open lines of communication by building heavy capacity bridges, repairing roads and other infrastructure.

However, with its vast amount of heavy plant and other resources, such as water purification units, it can turn its hand to a multiplicity of tasks to aid the civil population in war-affected areas such as Iraq.

TA members, who come from all walks of life, train on a part-time basis, normally at the weekends and attend an annual two-week camp.

Their salary depends on rank, with the pay scale beginning at £25 a day for a private soldier and rising to up to £175 a day for a senior officer.

All members of the TA qualify for an annual bounty payment rising to £1,250 after having completed five years service and having completed all the necessary training.

British Army commitments in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq, and the resulting pressure on regular Army manpower, have led to the increasing deployment of TA soldiers, including medical, intelligence, engineer and other specialist troops.