ALMOST 80 volunteer soldiers from across the South West gathered at Okehampton Army Camp last Thursday for final preparations before a six-month peace-keeping deployment in Iraq.

The Territorial Army infantrymen of the Rifle Volunteers will head out to Basra in Southern Iraq in mid-April to help increase stability in the strife-torn country.

Known as Salamanca Company, the 78 soldiers in total will be attached to a battle group of 1st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment. The deployment is part of a rolling reinforcement by TA soldiers to Operation Telic in Iraq.

The soldiers have been based at Okehampton for the last three weeks or so, going through their final training and will now get well-deserved leave before flying out to Iraq in a fortnight?s time.

The soldiers took part in a mass casualty scenario on Dartmoor, which was the culmination of all the work army medics had done over a number of weeks. The exercise involved rescuing and treating colleagues in the field, then using a helicopter to take casualties to safety.

Being volunteers, many of the soldiers also have full-time jobs and a number of their employers were invited to the camp last Thursday to watch as they prepare for the six-month deployment.

Lt Col Ian Blewett, commanding officer of the Rifle Volunteers, said the soldiers were well prepared for the potential dangers of a peace-keeping operation in Basra. ?Iraq means a peace support operation, and our soldiers are under no illusion that a wide variety of threats face them.

?Clearly, the operation has its dangers but our men are properly trained to deal with them. I know they will rise to the challenge,? said Lt Col Blewett.

Corporal Mike Visick from Looe said although he had been involved with the TA for a number of years, this would be his first six-month deployment abroad.

Cpl Visick said he was apprehensive about leaving his wife and children behind. but was also looking forward to the challenge.

?I think it is harder for my wife and the kids than for me. I am going to be over there with my mates and she will be at home worrying when she sees it on television or in the papers,? he said.

Cpl Visick, whose civilian job is working in a bank, added: ?I think it is going to be a life-changing situation. We are going to a part of the world we would not normally get to see and trying to make a difference. We are there to help the people build up their country again.?

The troop?s training since being called up at the beginning of February has been extremely intensive, often 15 hours a day, seven days a week, although it has not been possible to prepare for absolutely everything!

?It has been freezing out there on Dartmoor, it?s going to be very hard adapting to the heat and conditions in Iraq,? said Cpl Visick.

He added that the soldiers had bonded well and there was a good mix of youth and experience among those heading to Basra.

One of the younger soldiers who will be part of the deployment is 21-year-old Chris Reid from Plymouth.

Chris said Okehampton Camp had offered a number of different training activities to help the volunteers prepare.

?We have done contact drills in case of an ambush, search drills, and quite a lot of rifle work at Willsworthy firing range. It is very important to get to grips with the equipment you will be using over there,? he said.

He said the British forces also had a role ?winning hearts and minds? in Iraq as they helped to oversee the transition to democracy in the country.