Soldiers from Colchester are being taken off emergency fire cover to concentrate on military training, for possible action in Iraq.

The troops from the Army's Rapid Reaction Force 16 Air Assault Brigade will no longer be called to man the pumps, if another fire strike goes ahead, fuelling speculation that they could be sent to Iraq.

Military Green Goddesses will again be on the streets after the Fire Brigades' Union decided to stage a one-day strike on January 21, and press ahead with planned 48-hour walkouts on January 28 and February 1.

Soldiers from Colchester-based 3 Para are already believed to have had voluntary anthrax injections and have now been officially told they will not be needed in the forthcoming firefighters' strike.

Soldiers from Hyderabad Barracks-based 3 Para provided fire cover in Essex and Hertfordshire and those from 19 Regiment, Royal Artillery were on fire duty in Northamptonshire during the last round of fire strikes in the autumn.

Some troops in Colchester are understood to have already been having briefings about the anthrax inoculation and any risk of anthrax being used in biological warfare. They have also been getting their official documentation up-to-date, in case they are sent to Iraq.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said it was replacing high readiness military units earmarked for fire-fighting duties with those on a lower state of readiness.

The MoD said the change: "Will involve the replacement of soldiers of 16 Air Assault Brigade with other service personnel. The members of 16 Air Assault Brigade are reverting to military training."

Published Monday, January 13, 2003

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