A CLEVEDON soldier has passed out alongside Prince William to become an army officer. Former Clevedon Community School student Second Lieutenant Stuart Thomas

A CLEVEDON soldier has passed out alongside Prince William to become an army officer.Former Clevedon Community School student Second Lieutenant Stuart Thomas, aged 26, passed out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst with the prince who had also completed the gruelling 44-week course.Taking the salute at the Sovereign's parade was Her Majesty the Queen accompanied by other members of the Royal Family.Stuart is the first in his family to become an officer in the army although his grandfather Norman served during World War II.Stuart, whose parents Paul and Sue live in Clevedon, said: "The hardest challenge was either the marathon chase which was a nuclear, biological and chemical exercise in Otterburn in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees which included an infamous death march or sleep deprivation exercise in Thetford where we dug trenches for five days without sleep."The commissioning course is a year long and consists of an arduous physical and academic programme, designed to develop cadets into effective army officers so they can lead British soldiers.Stuart has now commissioned into the Royal Corps of signal based in Blandford, Dorset.He said: "I joined the army to travel and go on operations."The Royal Signals go everywhere that the army goes and as combat service support are essential in any battlefield, it is a very worthwhile cause.