They provide the muscle for many of Britain’s military operations around the world, both at land and sea.
And the brawn of Scotland’s Royal Marines is certainly on show in a calendar to be released by a forces charity.
The marines of Arbroath-based 45 Commando and 43 Commando from Faslane are on the cover of a publication by Go Commando, a partner of the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.
The charity has been working with units and families in England over the last three years but is reaching out to their comrades in Scotland.
Chief executive Debbie Howarth said: “We are a small charity who have worked hard since our inception in 2010 to raise awareness for our cause.”
“It has been our desire to get to a place where we can offer some support to RM families at all units, and especially outside of the South West of England where we are based.
“This is the first time in four years that we’ve been able to go north of the border. This is the first time we have had some involvement from Royal Marines based at 45 Commando in Arbroath and 43 Commando in Faslane and some of the images from both units have been included in this year’s calendar.”
Royal Naval photographer Emily Nolan was delighted to have the opportunity to photograph some of the Navy’s big guns.
Early in the year she was approached by the charity for which the brief was “semi naked, cheeky, buff RMs on location showing Royal at its best.”
She said: “It’s been a great opportunity to work on such a fun and unique campaign and for such a worthwhile cause, Go Commando really do care and have great ambitions for the future.
“Yes, I guess I love my job!”
The marines of RM Condor are shown perched on the base’s sign iconic of military strength, and the marines of Faslane are featured on the front of the calendar, which is available from www.gocommando.org.uk.