A TERRITORIAL Army officer from Blackburn is joining the peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Lieutenant Julie Lodge (pictured), 28, will travel to Multi-National Brigade Central in Pristina on February 14.

Julie gave up her job as a recruitment consultant to go to Kosovo, and she will spend the next six months there, working as a watchkeeper.

Around 10 per cent of the forces deployed in Kosovo and Bosnia are TA members and no distinction is made between them and regular soldiers.

Julie is currently on a three-week training course, which includes everything from fieldcraft and weapons training to using interpreters and the particular skills needed in peacekeeping situations.

Julie is a troop commander and recruiting officer for the Blackburn-based 93 Signal Squadron, which is part of the British Army communications network.

She has been a member of the TA for eight years and is thrilled to have the chance to put her training to good use in Kosovo.

She said: "It will be a very good experience for me. I will experience working under pressure in a very difficult environment and we will be working with people from a very different culture.

"We will be roughing it but there are people out there who haven't got anything, absolutely nothing.

"I think the British Army has got a very good rapport with people there because it is helping them."

Julie said she would urge any TA member considering volunteering for an overseas tour of duty to do so.

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