LOCAL MP graduates from Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

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“Important to learn more, first-hand, about the day-to- day lives of our military personnel”:
afps BOH 1Argyll & Bute MP Brendan O’Hara was among just a handful of MPs who graduated from the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme in 2016.

At the formal graduation ceremony on board the Type-45 destroyer HMS Duncan, Brendan was presented with a framed certificate marking the completion of his first year as a volunteer in the Royal Navy, by Rear Admiral Tim Fraser CB RN, Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff.
Designed to give parliamentarians hands-on experience of life in the services, the AFPS calls for MPs to devote at least 15 days to their chosen service. In the previous 12 months, the SNP’s Defence Spokesperson had visited the Defence Academy at Shrivenham, been to the Falkland Islands, had a tour of the new Queen
Elizabeth-Class carriers, sailed on HMS Mounmouth and visited HMNB Clyde.
Speaking of his year in the Royal Navy, Brendan said; "My involvement in the AFPS has been among the highlights of my first year as an MP. As the SNP Defence Spokesperson and MP for Faslane and Coulport, I felt it was important that I learned first-hand, more about the day to day lives of our military personnel.
Over the past year, as well as meeting Admirals and Generals, I have also worked in the galley of HMS Monmouth, I have cleaned and helped repair the war memorials on the Falkland Islands and Single-
handedly brought a Type-23 frigate through the Rhu Narrows in a raging storm…albeit in a simulator!
Brendan concluded; I have had such a great first year that I have applied for and been accepted to do my
second year volunteering with the army.afps BOH 2Rear Admiral Tim Fraser, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff; Brendan O’Hara MP; James Gray MP, Chairman of Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.