Territorial Army soldiers from Keighley are set to begin security and peace-keeping duties in Iraq following intensive training.

Ten members of Keighley's detachment will head out for Iraq at the end of November in a 113-strong company from across Yorkshire and Humberside for Operation Telic 5.

Their duties will largely include escorting convoys and other security work but there is also likely to be some peace-keeping roles.

Having finished training sessions at the Reserve Training and Mobilisation Centre, at Chilwell, near Nottingham, and Stanford Training Area, near Thetford, Norfolk, they will head for Kent for the final phase before they are deployed at Basra, in Southern Iraq.

Lt Simon Newiss, who has been overseeing the training, said: "We are offering force protection. Essentially we will be providing integral security for Basra airport and our own living area and we will be escorting various vehicles around south-eastern Iraq.

"We have been doing several different training during the last month.

"Everything has been a gradual progression culminating in an exercise this morning bringing together what we have been doing."

The company -- to be named Normandy Company -- will work alongside Dutch and Italian soldiers for the multi-national operation.

Among the troops will be brothers Pte Michael Hastings and Lt Cpl Peter Hastings. Their younger brother Matthew returned from a similar operation last year.

Michael, from Ingrow, said: "He has kind of told us what to expect. He has given us some advice on what is out there.

"All the training we are doing is based on what is happening out there. It will be a change from normal working life and will be good to meet some new people."

Father-of-two Cpl James Smirthwaite is a veteran from the 1996 duties in Bosnia.

He said: "I am looking forward to going out. We are trained for this sort of thing so it is good to use our training properly.

"My family have mixed emotions about it. They don't want me to go but accept that this is something I need to do."

Despite Cpl Dave Midgley's 14 years experience in the TA, this is the 34-year-old's first operation. Cpl Midgley, from Denholme, said: "I am a bit apprehensive at the moment about leaving my girlfriend and children behind for eight months, so in some ways it is a bit daunting. But they know why I joined up.

"And the training has been excellent. I haven't done anything like this before. And that's not just the same for me but all the troops.

"This is completely different -- we have gone from fighting in the fields to urban warfare."

Pte John Shardlow, 22, has been in the TA for five years. Although he has taken part in numerous training camps, this is his first full operation.

"I'm quite looking forward to it but I'm apprehensive as I think everybody would be," he said.

"It is a dangerous place so I'm a tiny bit apprehensive. But the training has been really good.

"We had done a huge amount that we have not done before and we still have another two weeks left."

Other than the specialised training, the troops have undergone medical and dental checks, and have brushed up and finely-tuned a host of their military skills -- including weapon handling and first aid.