Part-time soldiers from our region hopped over The Pond in search of an American adventure. Reporter Tony Tierney, below, went to see how they fared.

DEEP in the thick-knitted woodland a band of camouflage-clad sentinels lurks silently. Weapons raised, they scan the scene, unflinching in the heat and heavy humidity.

Thousands of miles had separated them - but now they are united.

One hundred and forty three part-time soldiers from the British Territorial Army's East and West Riding Regiment - many from York and North and East Yorkshire - have joined their counterparts from the 181st Infantry of the Massachusetts National Guard here at the 22,000-acre Massachusetts Military Reservation, Camp Edwards, on Cape Cod.

Over the ten days of Exercise Prickly Pear the infantry troops got to grips with each other's styles of soldiering and the different cultures of their armies and nations.

Both the National Guard and Territorial Army (TA) - the Terriers - are reserve forces made up of paid volunteer civilians. They can be deployed to any active service situation but they also have a key role to play in defending their homelands and backing up local authorities in emergencies.

With members of the 181st Infantry due to be sent to Bosnia next summer to join Nato's peace-keeping operation, it was a great chance for them to work with another country's military, as they will do out there.

The exchange also saw 143 US National Guardsmen at the British Army's Infantry Training School at Catterick.

A packed US training programme covered many aspects of British and American infantry warfare.

On the ranges of Fort Devens, the troops were put through their paces on US weapons, from the stock-in-trade M16 assault rifle to the frighteningly-effective M249 SAW light machine gun.

But it wasn't just the nuts and bolts of modern warfare where these two armies really differed.

Much like their film incarnations, fat cigars, chewing tobacco, Ray Ban sunglasses, a passion for burgers and the obligatory marching/chanting routine were de rigeur among the Americans, who also sported a seemingly-permanent daubing of camouflage face paint.

And many of our boys and girls might have had an uncanny sense of deja vu having enjoyed a screening of Francis Ford Coppola's definitive Vietnam war tale Apocalypse Now before they flew out of Britain.

Another American idiosyncrasy is the practice of barking a heartfelt "Hua!" at the end of most orders - a display of commitment to the task.

A difference in pace was also noted. And the gun-loving culture of the US was typified by National Guard Captain Ed Larkin. His motto: "You only know you've got enough guns when you have to count them."

But those who judged the Americans purely on the stereotype did so at their peril.

One York solider threw down the drinking gauntlet believing the popular misconception that Americans only drink small glasses of weak, fizzy beer.

He woke the next morning with a hangover like a gunshot wound and the discovery that his hair and eyebrows had been shaved off.

Among those enjoying a taste of US soldiering Stateside was Lance Corporal Paul Watson, 34, from York. Back home he is a bricklayer for Persimmon Homes and has served in the TA for seven years.

He said: "This has been the absolute highlight of my TA career. I have used weapons I never imagined I would and I have learned a lot.

"We have got on with the Americans like a house on fire. They work differently from us but they get the job done."

Fellow Yorkie Private Chris Butterworth, 23, a construction engineer at his father's York-based building business, has already been to Kenya and Cyprus during his six years with the TA.

Chris, a fencing champion who coaches at York's Archbishop Holgate School, said: "Joining the TA is the best decision I have ever made. The camaraderie is great and you get to go on exercises like this. I would recommend it to anyone."

Among the dangers soldiers faced in the heavily-wooded terrain of Camp Edwards was the dreaded deer tick - the potential carrier of dangerously debilitating Lyme disease.

It also gave squaddies the unenviable opportunity to check out their colleagues at close quarters as they stripped for twice-daily tick checks.

Other points of interest included the Meal Ready to Eat (MRE), the ultimate boil-in-the-bag, where soldiers add water and watch in amazement as the resulting witch's cauldron of a chemical reaction heats their food.

Besides a fine array of insects, Camp Edwards also boasts Otis Airfield where a privileged few of the British troops and the Press were treated to an awesome aerial adventure aboard a military Blackhawk helicopter.

The sleek craft swooped through the towering buildings of downtown Boston less than 300ft from the ground - "Outstanding", as the Americans would say.

Other opportunities for aerial adventure included the rappel tower - an abseiling set-up which appeared to be powered purely by the raw testosterone oozing from the chiselled US Rangers running it.

Here Colonel George Kilburn, commanding officer of the East and West Riding Regiment (EWRR), led by example with a coolly-executed descent of the 90ft drop - not bad for a man surviving on roughly one hour's sleep.

And when Brigadier Andrew Martell, the British Military Attach for the US visited the camp for an inspection from his base in Washington DC, he told the EWRR's commanders: "I am really impressed with what I have seen. You have got a lot to be proud of."

An American media visit saw the US military on its toes about how it "kicks ass" in the field but takes care of the environment at the same time.

But that day Yank hacks seemed more obsessed with mentioning the War Of Independence - which apparently we lost - than the welfare of flora and fauna on Camp Edwards.

Back on British soil, the EWRR's Capt Andy Cole reflected: "It has been a very worthwhile experience for the regiment to train and socialise with our closest allies, but it's good to be back home where I don't have to eat burgers morning, noon and night."

To find out more about the adventures on offer in the Territorial Army call Capt Brian Atkinson on 01904 629425.

PICTURE: L/Cpl Paul Watson from York, on patrol with National Guardsman Yves Alexis.