I limit exercises, as these are part-time soldiers (8)

I believe the answer is:

militias

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'soldiers' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Civilian soldiers ' mean 'militias' so perhaps 'soldiers' could also mean 'militias')

'i limit exercises as' is the wordplay.
'exercises' indicates anagramming the letters (letters exercise or move around).
'i'+'limit'='ilimit'
'ilimit' with letters rearranged gives 'militi'.
'militi'+'as'='MILITIAS'

'these are part-time' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for militias that I've seen is " Civilian soldiers".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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