A SOLDIER from Colchester helped train Ugandan soldiers in the equatorial heat and humidity of east Africa.

Military policeman, Staff Sergeant Billy Kozar, was part of a 30-strong team led by Reservists of the 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

He spent 11 days in temperatures of up to 32C testing the Ugandan People’s Defence Force before it crosses into Somalia to run peacekeeping operations.

Billy, 37, of the Royal Military provost staff, has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and joined the team to examine the Ugandans’ detainee handling skills.

He said: “I have a lot of operational experience and I thought it could be used as a training tool here, so I volunteered to come along.’’

Based at the defence force’s peace support training school at Singo, in the south of the country, Billywas part of a British Army team which helped school a 1,900-strong battlegroup in counterinsurgency techniques.

The 4 Yorks led team also included fighting soldiers, medics, training officers and support staff, most of whom have civilian jobs but give up their spare time to train and serve as Army soldiers.

Father-of-three Billy, who joined the Army in 1993 and the RMPs in 2004, said: “I love my job.

"I get the chance to interact with all different cap badges across the services and we can make a difference with people’s lives.”

The training team in Uganda is being supported by a handful of regular soldiers – a reversal of recent times when Reservists supplemented regular units.