Recruits proud to be falling in at TA

As a teenager at school he could well have been destined for a life of stealing cars and getting Asbos – but he decided to join the Territorial Army instead.

James Taylor is among the "weekend warriors" who are part of the Four Mercian HQ Company and who meet at Wolseley House in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton.

"I have been in the TA for three years and it is a great experience," says the 19-year-old private. Being in the TA means I'm not the type that goes out stealing cars and getting ASBOs, like a lot of the people I was at school with. I would have joined the regulars but my mum has osteo-arthritis and I have to be around to look after her.

Last year from April to October James was in Afghanistan.

"You get to see how the Afghan children live and it made me appreciate everything I have over here – such as electricity," he says.

"It is difficult to take things for granted when you have been out there and seen it with your own eyes."

On April 1, the Territorial Army celebrates its 100th anniversary.

By the end of the First World War more than 700 battalions, known then as the Territorial Force, had been raised. These were restructured and reduced in 1920 under the new name of The Territorial Army.

The whole role of the TA is being reviewed by the Government as the centenary approaches. There are currently 42,630 reservists in Britain, around 17,000 of which have been deployed on operations since July 2003.

The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have brought into focus the usefulness of the TA, with some suggesting a smaller more professional reserve force should be created.

Those at Fallings Park this week are proud of their contribution to this country's security.

The Park Lane base has been used since the 1950s and has 64 members who are committed to a weekend a month and who also meet on Tuesday nights. Private Sarah Page, aged 20, from Wombourne joined the TA two years ago.

"At the time I had a full-time job doing admin for various agencies, but the lifestyle of the TA really appealed to me. Being a medic was the route I really wanted to follow and I'm just about to start as a full-time soldier with Two Mercian based in Belfast.

"I'm going over to Belfast in a couple of weeks to do training as a combat medic technician. Then in April I will be going to Afghanistan, which I'm really excited about because I will be working on the front line, in the middle of the action."

Territorials have served alongside the regular forces in almost every post-1945 conflict in which Britain has been involved.

Private Martin Healey, 20, from Bilston says he enjoyed his first time away from home. "When I was 16 I wanted to go into the regulars but I thought joining the TA would give me a good introduction to life in the army," he says.

"Being in the TA has made me a lot fitter and I get more respect off people. I went to Antigua in July, which was my first time on an aeroplane. It was good adventure training as we did activities such as rock climbing and snorkelling."

He added: "Through the TA I have gained a lot more confidence than I would have with just a normal job."

More than 15,000 Territorials have served on current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, tragically with some losing their lives and others returning wounded.

But Captain Mark Butler says he has people queueing up to join the TA.

"I think people see what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and it is like it has flicked a switch in their brain, they want to be involved," says the permanent staff administration officer who is based at Four Mercian HQ Company in Fallings Park.

"It is not unusual for seven people to come knocking on the door saying they want to join the TA. Some of them will realise that it is not for them, and that is ok because there is no pressure to stay.

"Joining the TA is also a good stepping stone to joining the regular army because they know what it is like. They will see if they will miss their family and friends, know how to use a gun, feel what it is like to wear the uniform and to have the discipline of being a soldier."