A WELSH Army Reservist from Caerphilly joined teams of military and civilian personnel meeting and greeting leaders from across the globe at the Nato Summit near Newport.

Captain Mike Jones, 53, of 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh, originally from Newbridge, was charged with welcoming the likes of Barrack Obama and David Cameron, Capt Jones, when he was picked to be “front of house” at the Celtic Manor Resort during the summit.

“We were in the foyer in our uniforms greeting all the leaders and then showing them all where to go,” he said.

“I saw Obama a few times and it was very interesting noticing how many people were with him – there was always a seemingly endless stream of people behind him.

“I saw Angela Merkel too, in fact I saw everybody that came really.

“Before the summit I went to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London for briefings, and I know they really wanted the summit to have a Welsh flavour and that is why I was chosen to be front of house.”

Capt Jones, who is based at Maindy Barracks, Cardiff, and has been a member of the Army Reserves since 1981, said that while the summit definitely raised the profile of Wales, he and his colleagues did their own bit to give the leaders a taste of their country:

“It was definitely good for the economy but before it all started we did our bit too by going around issuing all the heads of state with gift baskets full of Welsh bits and pieces,” he added.

During his time in the Army Reserves, the officer has deployed to 18 different countries on operations and exercises across the world including to Cyprus, Germany, Belgium, France, Slovakia, Uzbekistan, Canada, the US, Hong Kong and Albania.

He also served alongside his Regular counterparts from 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Wales as a Regular soldier himself attached to the Regiment when he deployed on operations to Iraq in 2005.

In civilian life he works as a Highways Network Manager for Monmouthshire County Council based in Usk, a job he has done for the last 37 years.

He has also played for the British Army Reserve Rugby Team and the British Regular Army Rugby Team.