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Military service
James Blunt
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1996–2002
Rank UK Army OF2.png Captain
Unit Life Guards
Battles/wars Kosovo War
Having been sponsored through university on an army bursary, Blunt was committed to serve a minimum of four years in the armed forces. He trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in intake 963,[12][18] and was commissioned into the Life Guards, a reconnaissance regiment. He rose to the rank of captain.[19]

The Life Guards, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment, were primarily based in Combermere Barracks. Blunt was trained in British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his regiment was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.[20]

In 1999, Blunt volunteered to join a Blues and Royals squadron deploying with NATO to Kosovo.[21] Initially assigned to carry out reconnaissance of the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia–Yugoslavia border, Blunt's troop worked ahead of the front lines, locating and targeting Serbian forces for the NATO bombing campaign. On 12 June 1999, the troop led the 30,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force from the Macedonia border towards Priština International Airport. However, a Russian military contingent had moved in and taken control of the airport before his unit's arrival. American NATO commander Wesley Clark ordered that the unit forcibly take the airport from the Russians. General Mike Jackson, the British commander, refused the order, telling Clark that they were "not going to start World War Three for you".[22][23] Blunt has said that he would have refused to obey such an order if General Jackson had not blocked it.[24]

During Blunt's Kosovo assignment he had brought along his guitar, strapped to the outside of his tank, and would sometimes perform for locals and troops. It was while on duty there that he wrote the song "No Bravery".[25]

Blunt extended his military service in November 2000,[26] and was posted to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in London, as a member of the Queen's Guard.[8] During this posting, he was featured on the television programme Girls on Top, a series highlighting unusual career choices.[27] He stood guard at the coffin of the Queen Mother during her lying in state and was part of the funeral procession on 9 April 2002.[28]

A keen skier, Blunt captained the Household Cavalry alpine ski team in Verbier, Switzerland, becoming the Royal Armoured Corps giant slalom champion in 2000.[29] He left the army on 1 October 2002 having served six years.[30]

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Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I like his music. Little known fact.

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[...]

During Blunt's Kosovo assignment he had brought along his guitar, strapped to the outside of his tank, and would sometimes perform for locals and troops. It was while on duty there that he wrote the song "No Bravery".[25]

[...]