IT was a proud moment when an Okehampton man was presented with an MBE by Princess Anne at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace earlier this month.

Warrant Officer class one Rob Ewen (pictured left), 55, who joined the Royal Marines in 1972, was presented with the award in the Queen's New Year's Honours.

It was in recognition of his work as an area recruiting manager for the Naval Careers Service, which is responsible for Royal Navy and Royal Marine recruiting within Devon and Cornwall at its three careers offices, Redruth, Plymouth and Exeter.

A specific area mentioned was conducting personal development events for young adults within the south west to give them an insight into some of the requirements of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

Rob, who was born in Newton Abbot and lived in Widecombe in-the Moor until he was 8 when his parents moved to Okehampton. He grew up in the town, attending the secondary and comprehensive school before joining the Royal Marines in November 1972.

He served 25 years with the marines before transferring to the Naval Careers Service in 1997.

With him at Buckingham Palace was his wife, Mandy, whom he married in 1982, after the Falklands campaign, and their two daughters, Rebecca and Isabelle.

Rob was deployed on a number of operational tours: four to Northern Ireland — in 1983 he was Mentioned in Despatches — Operation Cooperate in the Falklands in 1982 and Operation Haven in Sothern Turkey and Iraq in 1991.

He is a parent governor at Okehampton College, has helped out with Ten Tors training and is an expedition supervisor and assessor with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

A keen rugby player he is on the committee of Okehampton Rugby Club, having been a player for almost 40 years and is chair of the Okehampton Otters Swimming and Lifesaving Club.