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UK'S TERRITORIAL ARMY PARAS MOBILISED FOR IRAQ

By Penny Veale, 15 (NE) Bde

4 ParaA company from the UK's only Territorial Army Parachute Regiment has been mobilised for operations in Iraq. The 76 paratroopers from Glasgow, Pudsey and London will be augmented by 50 officers and soldiers from infantry, signals, transport and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer units from Yorkshire and the North East. They have received their call-out letters and will begin training for Operation TELIC 7, the peace support operation in the Gulf.

4 Para training drop A total of 149 soldiers have previously been mobilised as individuals or small groups to work alongside the regular Army on military operations in Iraq. However, this is the first time that a complete company from the 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (4 PARA) has been mobilised.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment to play a significant role in this peace support operation," said Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baldwin, the Battalion's Commanding Officer. "I am delighted that my soldiers will deploy as a complete company under our own territorial commanders.This is in line with the strong ethos of the TA which is 'Join together, train together, serve together."

CASSINO Company 4 PARA will leave for the Reserve Training and Mobilisation Centre in Chilwell, near Nottingham later this month. There the soldiers will undergo documentation, medical and dental checks and be issued with clothing and equipment. The second phase of the mobilisation will revise their military skills, including weapon handling and first aid, before they deploy to Kent and Kirkcudbright for further infantry training. They are expected to deploy to the Gulf in October to undertake security and escort duties in Southern Iraq. Based in Thornbury Barracks, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, 4 PARA also has companies in White City, London and Houldsworth Street, Glasgow as well as detachments in Edinburgh, Hebburn in Tyne and Wear and Croydon.

4 PARA is the only TA Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. It supports and assists the regular battalions in their operational and peacetime roles by providing both fully formed company groups and individual soldiers. Volunteers from the Battalion are currently serving in a variety of operational theatres, primarily the Balkans, on six month tours.