MORE than 20 years serving in the Black Watch and a decade working as a civilian contractor in war torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan have given Benarty man Pat McLinden a real taste of life in the front line.

And Cowdenbeath Rotary Club was given an insight into Pat's three plus decades facing flash-point situations on Thursday.

He talked about how he left Ballingry Junior High School to join the Black Watch as a teenager and it was where he met up with club member John Gilfillan who spent many years in the Black Watch.

Said Pat: "I had an enjoyable time in the Army and it did not take them long to find out I had been a drummer at school and I became a drum major in Germany while based there.

"I had several tours of duty in Northern Ireland and found it a place where the Black Watch were well respected and made a lot of friends over there although there was one tour where we were based outside of Belfast where it was not so friendly and that was quite an eye opener."

Pat played in the regimental pipe band and took part in several Edinburgh Tattoos.

He spent time in Hong Kong and one moment from his time there that he will always remember was being involved in leading the mass pipe bands which played when the colony was handed over to China in 1997.

He said: "That was a remarkable experience being part of such an historic event."

On returning home he spent the last four years of his service on the recruitment side of things based in Perth, which he really enjoy, especially being able to visit schools and talk to youngsters about the rewards of serving in the Army.

On leaving the Black Watch in 2002 he became a Home School Link Officer with Lochgelly High School but he was persuaded to join the reserves with the Royal Engineers and a year later he was asked to go to Iraq as war broke out with Saddam Hussain.

He added: "The rights and wrongs of the war in Iraq are well documented but while it did not last long there were a lot of casualties on both sides and I lost a good friend out there.

"It really showed how quickly both sides can suffer heavy losses and was quite an experience."

When he came home from Iraq he thought that he would go back to his job at Lochgelly High but was given the opportunity to go to Iraq as a Civilian Contractor, basically providing advice on protection and going on convoys where vital equipment was being transported to carry out vital projects, such as building hospitals, clinics and roads.

He said: "I felt I was there to help but make no mistake there were a lot of dangers and I saw convoys have vehicles blown up by roadside bombs so the problems were very real.

"But I made a lot of friends in Afghanistan especially and it is a country which sufferers from a lot of poverty but the people are very positive."

Pat says that the Army has been something which helped him deal with difficult situations and he would always recommend the armed forces to a young person.