Family in arms!

Sergeant-major John Lewis from Rogiet and his two boys Robert, 21, and Karl, 18, both sappers, kissed their family goodbye before leaving Regimental HQ at Monmouth Castle with Territorial Army colleagues from the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers.

Their first stop will be the army's mobilisation centre in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, before an intense five-week training camp elsewhere in the UK.

If picked for deployment they will then serve a six-month tour of duty in Iraq, likely to involve bridge-building, road maintenance and the rebuilding of schools and hospitals following phases of looting since the war ended.

Sergeant-major Lewis, 44, and a storeman at the castle by trade, has served in the Territorial Army for 19 years. He said: "My time in the TA has given me self-confidence, kept me fit, taught me leadership skills and allowed me to travel all over the world."

One of Sergeant-major Lewis' jobs will be to deal with any problems his squadron may have, whether they be to do with morale, discipline or just a soldier not receiving mail. "Robert and Karl are both young and I think they'll benefit in the same ways I have. "I'm very lucky to have had the pair of them in my squadron, they do as I say whether they're in uniform or not."

Robert, a driver for a removals firm in Chepstow, who is serving his fifth year in the TA, said: "It becomes quite easy to switch off the father-son relationship until the job is done." Robert and Karl have both just returned from training exercises in Canada but this is their first mobilisation.

Karl said: "The build-up is quite tense, I'd rather just get out there." The Lewis boys were waved off by their mother Tina and two sisters Kelly and Kirstie who has a one-year-old child, Keryn. Tina said: "I'll be in constant contact with them, I don't know how it will affect me until they're there."

PICTURED: Sergeant-major John Lewis kisses wife Tina goodbye watched by sons Karl (left) and Robert.