Soldiers tackled two weeks of high ropes and muddy assault courses to be awarded their green berets.

Kingsbury Army Reservists Lieutenant James Coates and Sapper John Howard have officially qualified as commandos, being awarded their green berets following a tough two-week course.

The men, of 131 Independent Commando Squadron in Honeypot Lane, spent the past two weeks taking part in the twice yearly Reserve Forces Commando Course, which puts soldiers through a series of mentally and physically demanding challenges including high ropes courses and assault courses.

The newly qualified commandos were presented with their green berets on Wednesday, May 20, by Lieutenant Colonel Jon Dowd, commanding officer of the Royal Marine Reserve in Merseyside.

Lieutenant Coates, 27, said: “The past two weeks have been really tough and I’ve been pushed to the limit. It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“But whilst extremely physically demanding, where else could we have been picked up by helicopter off Dartmoor, transported to a coastal fort, then under darkness set sail in raiding craft to the base of a sea cliff which we scaled and assaulted the cliff top position using night vision goggles, before abseiling down the cliff into the boats?”

Sapper Howard, 33, added: “I can’t wait to get home to see my little boy Ryan who has just turned two – the hardest part of these two weeks was being away from him.”