TROOPS from York’s 2 Signals Regiment are on their way to Afghanistan this week.

The 300 soldiers from Imphal Barracks, Fulford, are heading to Camp Bastion, Kandahar and Kabul, where they will be in charge of all of NATO’s communications systems.

The soldiers, who vary in age from 19 to 48, were bravely facing their five-and-a-half-month deployment, Commanding Officer (CO) Lt Col Andrew Knott said, despite recent losses of soldiers from York, who were killed in Helmand Province.

Lt Col Knott said there was competition among the troops to get to go out to Afghanistan.

He said: “We’re excited. That’s our job in the Royal Signals.

“It’s what we’ve been training to do and the quicker they go, the quicker they will be home.

“Every single one of them has volunteered and there are still soldiers left in camp who were very keen to go but we had no vacancies.”

He said the troops face the issue of death head on. “They have already thought about what they would do if it was one of their number and have been trained in ways to mitigate circumstances. We have really put an emphasis on safety training,” he said.

The Signals will be required to go on patrol, and have been trained in live firing and first aid, as well as attending more than 100 courses on the specialist skills required to operate, repair and engineer communications equipment from mobile phones to satellites used by the British Army.

“All my soldiers are brave and courageous people,” he said.

“If they’re on patrol they’ll be nervous before they go.

“But we train them to get rid of the nerves and to overcome fears through extreme sports and adventure training.”

In Camp Bastion, the troops will work long hours in scorching heat and dust, he said.

“We are arriving at the very hottest part of the year when the temperature will be in the high 40s. A lot of the guys will miss their families but they’re deployed with their friends who are the family of the regiment.”

He said the support of families has been vital to troops, many of which will communicate with them from Afghanistan through free video conferencing tool Skype.

“For us, success is that all our communications work, they’re in the right place at the right time and allow commanders to command and soldiers to communicate to allow the UK to achieve its aims in Afghanistan,” he said.

The troops expect to return to York in January, where they hope to have a homecoming parade.

“York’s been brilliant to us,” Lt Col Knott said. “It’s a superb city to serve in and is the most popular posting in the Royal Signals because it is such a wonderful place to live.”

• The Press is sending reporter Julie Hayes to visit York’s troops in Camp Bastion at the end of August.