Major Stuart Irvine

Infantrymen from the British Army are part of an international team helping to improve the military capability of an African country rebuilding after civil war.

Major Stuart Irvine, 34, of The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, is Officer Commanding of a small team of eight British Army soldiers guiding the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) on the teaching of infantry skills.

Sierra Leone emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002, after 17,000 United Nations troops were sent in to disarm rebels and militia fighters, and maintain the peace. This UN peace-keeping operation in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) will withdraw fully from the West African country during December 2005, and RSLAF will take over many of its tasks. Formed in 2000 with the introduction of a programme to reconcile the former national Army with ex-combatants, RSLAF is being advised and assisted during its development by IMATT (International Military Advisory and Training Team), a British-led military organisation comprising more than 100 soldiers from many countries, including Britain, Canada, USA, Senegal, Jamaica and Nigeria.

One element of IMATT is its small team of British infantrymen, commanded by Maj Irvine, who are based in RSLAF barracks at Benguema, about 45 minutes drive from Sierra Leone’s capital city Freetown. The team shares their expertise and techniques on a range of courses, from selecting new recruits to jungle warfare training.

Although only 150 places were available for this year’s RSLAF intake, more than 800 hopefuls travelled from all over Sierra Leone to be considered, such is the attraction of a career in the armed forces and the opportunity to provide for their families.

Maj Irvine, whose wife, Katy Caie, is an officer in the Royal Signals, said: “This job, as OC of the Infantry Training and Advisory Team, has offered its own unique challenges. The RSLAF soldiers are of fair quality, but they are severely hampered by logistics. They come here very keen to do well, most of them joining the Army as a means towards standing on their two feet, coming from difficult backgrounds.

“The young recruits coming out of training are of a much higher standard than those who completed training before we arrived here. The instructors work hard, with a little prompting from ourselves.”

Colour Sergeant Gary McKay, 40, a father-of-two from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, who has served 22 years in the British Army, with The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, said: ““I am senior jungle warfare instructor here, teaching skills like use of weapons, attack drills and ambushes in jungle situations. We are making progress and improving facilities for training, but there is a long way to go.”

Colour Sergeant Damian Close, 35, from Burnley, Lancashire, of The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, says RSLAF is making progress. He said: “When I first came here, we were running a lot of the courses ourselves. Now we are taking a back step, advising and assisting the RSLAF’s own instructors to teach their own recruits, which is a sign of the progress we are making. We are just trying to get them to look at new ways of doing things. They are getting better, but it is taking time.”

 IMATT is scheduled to remain in Sierra Leone until 2010. Colonel Steve Telfer, Deputy Commander of IMATT, said: “To underestimate the scale of the task here is to make a mistake. It is an enormous task but significant progress has been made and will be made over the next four to five years. We are trying to give the people of Sierra Leone the chance to stand on their own two feet, supported by the international community.”