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Next month (September 2006), recruits from the Territorial Army in Gloucestershire will be off to the Afghan province of Helmand to serve with the armed forces.

Afghanistan is a dangerous place ...

Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand is fast turning out to be one of the country's most dangerous places, with almost daily clashes between militants and foreign and Afghan troops. The Ministry of Defence recently confirmed that a British solider was killed in the province during fighting with the Taleban - a clear example of the extreme dangers troops face there.

More than 3,000 British troops have been deployed there since May 2006, and are tasked with tackling the twin threats of a resurgent Taleban and the country's drug trade.

Dangerous environment

Corporal Mike Holloway is about to head off to Helmand so is he nervous about entering such a dangerous environment? He says:

"I am a little bit, obviously with the death that's just happened. You'd be silly not to be nervous but I've had good training, and I've been previously out there so I know roughly what to anticipate."

... and there's lots of work to do there ...

A common misconception with the TA is that it's a bunch of people who go off for a bit of army practice at the weekend, outside their normal work. It's very far from that as Mike says:

"I think, for myself, that I wanted something to do other than my 9 to 5 at first. As I progressed with the TA, the operational environment started to kick-off with deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I think a lot of guys just want to go and do the real job that they volunteered to do. It's not like Dad's Army at all, it's very professional."

Professional force

Mike's commanding officer Major Colin Gordon is keen to reinforce the fact that the TA is a professional force that plays a key part in army operations overseas. He says:

"The point at which these guys are mobilised and deploy is the point at which we stop differentiating between those who are full-time and those who are part-time.

... including rebuilding the damaged country

"These guys are every bit as professional, they're given a three month build-up programme and then they deploy for six months on the ground.

"They do exactly the same job, they're given exactly the same tasks and have exactly the same expectations placed upon them.

"There is no difference between the territorial army soldier and the regular army soldier when these guys are put into the patrol or the operational situation."

Worry

The final word goes to Mike - what does his family think about his deployment to what is a very dangerous place? He says:

"My Mum is obviously quite worried about it, she was very worried last time [in Iraq]." He reveals. "My girlfriend, she tries to keep her head in the sand - she tries to ignore what's going on. I think that's the best way to deal with it, myself, but my Mum does worry."