Matthew Reardon wins coveted green beret
AFTER months of gruelling training, former Park College student Matthew Reardon celebrated passing his Royal Marines Commando exams.
The 20-year-old from Athelstan Close in Kingsmere was presented with his coveted green beret in a passing out ceremony after successfully completing an eight-month training course at the Marines Commando training centre in Lympstone, Devon.
Matthew's endurance and survival skills were put to the test during a series of Commando trials which included a 30-mile run across Dartmoor in eight hours with a day sack, a two-mile run through flooded tunnels and a four-mile run back with 21 pounds of kit and a rifle weighing ten pounds.
The newly-qualified Commando is set to join the armoured support unit in Afghanistan in April.
"After four tests you get a green beret which is sacred to us," he said.
"That is what we have been working a year and a half towards.
"I wanted to make a career in the military and make a difference.
"It's very hard, it has taken me a year-and-a-half and I've been through injury after injury.
"I feel like a massive weight has been taken off my shoulders but it is just the beginning of my career."
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Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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