ONLY a week after completing his basic military training, 20-year-old marine Tom Jordan, of Great Somerford, was posted to Afghanistan as part of the platoon targeting al-Quaida fighters.

Mr Jordan, 20, a former Malmesbury School pupil, sailed from Portsmouth to the Middle East on HMS Ocean in mid-April.

His elite 45 Commando section is based at Bhagram Airport, with a mission to flush out al-Quaida cave networks in Shah-I-Kot.

Mr Jordan's father Alan, who served at RAF Brampton, in Huntingdon, before he retired from the RAF in 1986, and his mother, Pauline, a supply teacher at Chippenham Ivy Lane Primary and Hullavington Primary, last spoke to their son while he was on the ship.

Mr Jordan has been unable to speak to his parents since his arrival in Afghanistan, but they have heard his voice through an Army radio interview. In it, he said: "I'd like my family to know I'm alright and I'll be coming home safe."

Mr Jordan's father said: "What he is doing is a dangerous undertaking but we feel it is a job that needs to be done and we are very proud that he is there to do it."