Cotswold soldier's frontline adventure

10:21am Sunday 11th May 2008

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A COTSWOLD soldier serving on the front line in Afghanistan says his high risk job is a dream come true'.

Captain Will Hunt, from Cricklade, marked his 29th birthday last month but while most people would want to celebrate with family and friends, Capt Hunt was leading his men across the vast, inhospitable Red Desert in Kandahar Province.

"I love doing this job. It’s a real privilege to be here commanding Paras."

Capt Will Hunt

The former Rendcomb student leads a number of teams of highly-trained and experienced paratroopers, working in vehicles with a range of heavy weaponry And even though he celebrated his birthday in an unforgiving desert, where temperatures currently reach 39C during the day and plummet at night, he says there is nowhere he would rather be.

"I joined the army to go on operations," he said. "I love doing this job. It's a real privilege to be here commanding Paras.

"Afghanistan has been a seat of terrorism in the past. By being here we are ensuring it doesn't become a base for terrorists again, and we are restoring Afghanistan to the decent, law-abiding majority."

Capt Hunt's unit, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) arrived in the country at the beginning of March, the second time the troops had deployed to Afghanistan.

The first tour, in 2006, saw 3 PARA breaking new ground, as the first British troops to enter Helmand Province.

Senior British commanders described the fighting as the most intense since Korea in the 1950s. This time, their role is to act as a reserve, working across the whole region and going where they are needed.

Capt Hunt was commissioned into The Parachute Regiment from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2002 and his past six years in the army have taken him around Europe and to Iraq, USA, the Falkland Islands and Kenya.

After enduring the scorching temperatures of the Red Desert one of the few things Capt Hunt says he misses about home is the typical English weather.

He says he is looking forward to returning in September to see friends and family - and to fully appreciate the damp and drizzle.

Do you remember Capt Hunt? Leave a message for him below and we'll forward him the link.