Jonathan Short, 27, graduated as a flying officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the ceremony at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

He joined 146 other new recruits who were inspected by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh before a flypast by the Red Arrows and the march past.
The new servicemen and women filed into College Hall, marking their official commission as officers, before enjoying lunch with the
Queen and their families.

Fg Off Short, pictured, said: "It is not every day that you get to meet the members of the Royal Family.
"They were asking a lot of questions about what we had been doing and were very friendly. We took them on a tour of the site as well.
"I have had to work hard for the last 30 weeks to become a flying officer and I am really proud to have achieved this. It means a lot."

The ceremony was also a proud moment for his mother, Gillian. She said: "It was absolutely wonderful. Everyone looked marvellous.
"This was Britain at its best. I am very, very proud of my son and his achievements."

A former member of Daventry Air Cadets, Fg Off Short joined the RAF
when he was 20 as an airman and trained as an armourer. His first posting was at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland and he had a second line of duty with the bomb disposal squad.

He has already had a tour of Iraq in 2006 and two tours of the US.
He said: "I was working as a conventional munitions disposal from January to May 2006.
"It was not one of the most dangerous areas, but there were some tricky moments while we were out there."

In 2007 Fg Off Short applied for an engineering management degree and
initial officer training at RAF Cranwell.