Mark visited troops in Afghanistan last weekend to see for himself the progress that is being made ahead of the proposed withdrawal of British combat Forces by 2015.

The visit to camp Bastion represented a return for the city MP to the place where he served as a soldier on a 3 month tour in 2006,  Mark who still serves in the TA as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Engineers said;

“I was keen to go back and show my support for our troops and to see for myself what progress has been made in the five years since I served in Afghanistan myself.  Our troops are simply magnificent and whilst progress is slow, it was good to see the mentoring of the Afghan National Army going well which hopefully will provide the platform for our combat troops to withdraw by 2015.”

“Milton Keynes has provided soldiers from both our TA centres for operational service in recent years and we should be very proud of them.”