NEARLY 600 soldiers and their families have been settling down to a new life in Warminster with a new battalion moving in.

The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Green Jackets has taken over from the Green Howards as the Land Warfare Battle Group based in the garrison town.

The armoured infantry battalion, which had been based in Paderborn, Germany, since January 1997, has recently served in Bosnia (1998), Kosovo (1999/2000), and Bosnia (2001).

For for the next two years it will act as the enemy force for hundreds of Army training exercises run by the Warminster-based Land Warfare Centre on Salisbury Plain.

Commanding officer Lt Col Henry Worsley, who is in charge at the Warminster camp, said: "Every day we have people out supporting training on the plain. It is a very important job and we have got to be good at what we are trying to teach.

"It is the only battle group constantly being used in the army. Elsewhere we would only come together in training."

The Battalion has been joined by 150 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, a 120-strong tank squadron, and a field troop of about 100 engineers for their work.

The Land Warfare Centre offers hundreds of courses from training corporals leading small groups of men to Brigadiers with 6,000 troops under their control.

The 567 soldiers which make up the Battalion have brought with them 230 families, including 15 German wives, and are looking forward to spending time in Wiltshire.

Lt Col Worsley, 41, said: "We have not been in England for nine years.

"Lots of the guys used to drive back from Germany almost every weekend.

"It was a great life out in Germany, a good quality of life, but the single guys with girlfriends in England are certainly looking forward to being here, and being closer to their families."

Some wives have been employed on the camp at a caf and hairdressers, while others have found work nearby, including jobs at shops and schools.

Lt Col Worsley, who is married with two children, a seven-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl said the Battalion was already becoming involved in the community.

He said: "We worked closely with the mayor on Mayor's Day and have a number of other initiatives like the Queen's Jubilee in the summer and that sort of thing.

"We will also be holding a garrison open day. There are going to be a number of areas of interaction."

The Royal Green Jackets was formed as a single large regiment in 1966.

Its creation followed the composition of the Royal Green Jackets Brigade in 1958, which grouped together three single-battalion infantry regiments: The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd), The King's Royal Rifle Corps and The Rifle Brigade.

The battalion's next move will be to Northern Ireland in 2004.