West Midlands troops return home after preparing African soldiers for dangerous assignment

Sergeant Alex Perryman, a member of the 25-strong team from the 4th Battalion the Mercian Regiment(4Mercian) - an Army Reserve unit with an HQ at Fallings Park, Wolverhampton - who helped train 1000 members of the Ugandan People Defence Force said: "It was fascinating to see another nation's army at work. We think we can live in harsh conditions but they have it even tougher when they deploy. They were extremely appreciative of everything we did for them. It was very different and almost a humbling experience."

Sgt Perryman, aged 29 who joined the Army Reserve - formerly the Territorial Army - in 2002 and has since been on three tours of duty in Afghanistan, explained: "They were very willing and eager to learn. Their kit is nowhere near what we have, but they were no rookies. They were battled hardened having spent recently completed a two year long African Nations deployment to South Sudan and the Central African Republic. They were learning slightly different techniques because the demands of Somalia will not be the same as they have just experienced."

The 4Mercian team - all officers or NCOs - spent three weeks drilling the Ugandan troops at a base one and a half hours drive from Kampala. They were involved in the final stages of a ten week-long training programme for the troops that has also involved soldiers from other nations.

Lance Corporal Paul Dorrell from Solihull recalled: "Seeing the guard shout 'stop' to a cow coming into the main gate and my friend getting blessed by a missionary priest on the flight out to Uganda were moments you could never forget."

Corporal Ben Hill from Kidderminster explained: "It was an experience of a life time watching 750 Askari warriors singing victory songs around the camp fire. That has got to be something you will only get the opportunity to see once."

The African officers were drilled in military planning while two infantry battalions were tested on their response to everything from a shopping centre suicide blast to crowd demonstrations.

Lt Col Chris Carter, Commanding Officer of 4Mercian, who also went to Uganda, said: "We were testing their ability to provide a proportionate response to a wide range of different threats. These troops were not untrained conscripts. They were operationally experienced soldiers."

It is the fifth time in three years that 4Mercian soldiers have gone to Uganda to train troops for UN peacekeeping duties in Africa and reflects the wider use of the Army Reserve in the new look British Army.

Lt Col Carter added: "The more often we do it, the better we get. We were lucky to be given the task in the first place and the British High Commission has been happy for us to continue to provide the training rather than spreading it around to other army units. That is a feather in our cap."