In a biting wind on a muddy field, the Paras make ready to serve their country yet again

The paratrooper padre was the one with the fewest qualms about attacking Iraq. "War is evil. But sometimes you have to be evil to do good. Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator and I have no problems with over-throwing him,'' he said.

The robust expression of muscular Christianity from the Rev Cole Maynard came under slate grey skies with a cold wind sweeping through a muddy field in Essex. It was there the soldiers of the 16 Air Assault Brigade had appeared for the media as they made final preparations for a desert campaign.

The scale of the British deployment for what critics say is George Bush's war has surprised many. Members of the brigade see themselves as the cutting edge of the 30,000-strong force, although their comrades in the Royal Marines, also on the way, may disagree. After weeks of sabre-rattling, but little action, Tony Blair's government has mobilised the British task force, and the movement of equipment and men for the endgame began in earnest yesterday.

These are tough soldiers who have served in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, Macedonia and Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and the Falklands, and they have nothing to prove.

The last time I had seen Major Mark Christie, of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, was in a street in Kabul. Yesterday, as he prepared for the next mission, he said: "I can stand the public's concern about this war and the call to see that there is proof that Iraq does indeed have weapons of mass destruction. If this can be settled peacefully, that's great. But we are professional soldiers and at the moment all our efforts must be to prepare for what we may face, and we must be totally focused.''

The army has not been waiting for Downing Street to make up its mind. There have been intense exercises in Wales in the past month, interrupted earlier this week when the paratroops had to provide cover for a firefighters' strike.

Major Neil Sexton, of the Army Air Corps, accepted that the Brecon Beacons and the Green Goddesses were not exactly ideal preparations for Iraq. However, he added: "If there is a war, and it did start after the hot weather had set in, we shall have to rely an awful lot on night-fighting and we have been practising a hell of a lot of that in Wales, including flying.

"We've started shipping out our equipment and we are beginning with the stuff that will take the longest to assemble, like helicopters. We're also getting infrastructure in place so that the men will have the basic facilities. I was in the first Gulf War and I suppose there is a sense of unfinished business. But we were told that there were good military and political reasons why it should be that way.

"Of course we know there is a debate going on about this. Perhaps our mobilisation will actually help prevent a conflict.''

Sergeant Major Chris O'Meara, 39, from Rugby, Warwickshire, fought in the Falklands as a teenager where 3 Para lost 23 of their members. As helicopters flew overhead, and dummy rounds were fired for the benefit of the television cameras, he said: "I don't want it to turn into a war. I wouldn't like to see anyone hurt. I think the reality of war would shock people. I found it shocking in the Falklands – we had 23 killed in the South Atlantic and around 250 in total. You have to face the fact that friends might be killed but if the battalion has to go, then I want to go with them. These are my friends. I was going to leave the army in September but I have extended it.''

In 1914 John Lorimer, a British political officer in Baghdad, was shot dead. His grandson, Lt-Col John Lorimer MBE, the commanding officer of 3 Para, who may be leading forces into Iraq in the event of a war, said: "Morale is very high. We know that we have people and the equipment necessary for whatever we have to do.

"I also know that we will not be deployed to the Gulf until the Government is absolutely confident it is the right thing to do,'' he said. "I know that people have got their own feelings about this war. We live in a democratic country, we rely on the Government to make that call. There is no doubt in my mind that if we are required to go, it will be in a good cause.''