IT was a particularly proud father and son moment when a Royal Marines recruit completed one of the toughest commando training tests alongside his dad, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, Lympstone.
When recruit Connor Gilby from Exmouth, the youngest member of 153 recruit troop, came to the end of the gruelling 30-mile speed march he did so beside his senior, Warrant Officer 1 Phil Gilby, 42.
Connor was one of only 13 original recruits out of 60 who started with 153 Troop.
The march is the last of the four Commando tests which Royal Marines have to pass during training and requires recruits to run and march across Dartmoor within eight hours carrying packs weighing 32lbs.
It is one of the hardest physical tests undertaken by any military force in the world.
At the end of the challenge Connor was presented with his Green Beret by his dad in front of the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, General James Amos who was visiting with the Commandant General Royal Marines Major General Davis CBE.
General Amos is one of the highest ranking officers in the US military and is on the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"As a Regimental Sergeant Major he's made me proud, but as a dad he's made me even prouder," said WO1 Gilby.
The three other Commando tests include a nine-mile speed march which must be passed in 90 minutes and the Tarzan Assault Course which involves recruits doing a death slide and swinging through the trees, that must be done in 13 minutes.
The recruits must also pass the notorious Endurance Course which includes a series of tunnels and then a run back to the training centre to complete a shooting test.
It has been a lifelong ambition of Connor's to join the military.
"There has been a bit of banter with the lads in my troop that my dad is the RSM but I've not had any favouritism," he added. "The Commandant Marine Corps said to me passing the 30 miler was an amazing achievement and that I should wear my Green Beret and Commando flashes with pride."