AFTER eight months of gruelling training a 20-year-old from Atherton has earned his coveted Green Beret.

Ex Hesketh Fletcher High pupil Martin Downham, has successfully completed what is globally acknowledged as the hardest initial troops training course and passed out as a Commando.

Martin successfully passed out at the Royal Marines training centre in Devon with 874 Troop.

The Green Beret has been the distinctive hallmark of Commando troops since the second world war.

Martin said: "Commando training is well known for its intensity, but everything we do is progressive and enables people with all standards of fitness to achieve the final goal.

"It's been a fantastic experience and I've made some lifelong friends. The sense of achievement felt by all of us is immense but I know many more challenges are to come, challenges which we are all well equipped to meet."

Endurance tests are conducted with each trainee carrying full fighting equipment weighing 21lbs plus an 11 lbs rifle.

The Royal Marines provide ready, capable, deployable and sustainable forces for operation worldwide. 3 Commando Brigade is a core component of Britain's Joint Rapid Reaction Force and together with the Royal Navy's amphibious ships presents a highly mobile, versatile organisation. It was used with incredible effect and success last year in Iraq.