AN army fighting battalion formed last year without a base has been booted out of its temporary home and relocated to a warehouse.

Soldiers from the Second Infantry Battalion were sent packing from their base at Camp Mausica so that civilians participating in a Ministry of National Security sponsored programme similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) could be housed.

They were relocated from the camp at the end of May and sent to the warehouse at the Chaguaramas heliport.

In fact during their stay at Mausica soldiers had to share limited facilities with participants from CCC.

Commanding Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment Col Edmund Dillon last week confirmed that when the Second Battalion was formed in March last year, the army had not as yet identified a base camp for the operations of the infantry unit.

As such, the battalion continues to operate without a permanent home.

Dillon also confirmed that 14 months on, the Regiment still has not as yet located a suitable permanent base for the battalion and added that he "preferred not to give" a time limit on finding a base camp.

The morale of the more than 200 soldiers attached to the battalion, according to an officer of the attached unit, is low and the "fact we don't have a home has affected our efficiency".

But according to Dillon there is "nothing that says you have to locate a site first", adding that a headquarters for the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment (TTR) was located after its formation in 1962.

When the TTR was first formed Teteron barracks was still occupied by the Americans.

The fighting battalion has been relocated to the dilapidated warehouse facility where the Miss Universe Pageant was held six years ago in 1999.

Over 200 soldiers are now forced to share three toilets and a single shower located in the yard.

Dillon said he was not aware of this and was not in a position to confirm it.

The second battalion was set up in March last year and its base was at the old teacher training facility in Mausica.

The camp was specifically set up so that the army could have a military presence in South and Central Trinidad and soldiers attached to the battalion were assigned to anti-crime patrols in those areas.

Dillon said the formation of the battalion was part of the Regiment's "on-going strategic planning".

Since the camp's relocation on May 30, patrols in South and