The 28-year-old put his life on the line as a combat engineer and thought his time in the football spotlight would never come.

They will be backed by combat engineer battalions, helicopters with advance surveillance technology, transport aircraft and military police units.

Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion.

Graduating in 1831, 49th in a class of 113, he chose to become a combat engineer.

Each mechanized brigade group contains three infantry battalions, an armoured regiment, an artillery regiment, and a combat engineer regiment.