THE youngest of four brothers has followed in his siblings' footsteps by becoming an Army officer.

Oliver Doherty, aged 23, followed his three brothers Justin, 32, Simon, 30, and 25-year-old Dominic, when he passed out of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst yesterday.

All four have now completed the officer-training course and at midnight last night Oliver - who bucked the family trend by joining the Irish Guards infantry regiment, - became Second Lieut Doherty.

"There was no real plan to follow my brothers into the Army, but I was exposed to their lifestyle and saw how much they enjoyed their career so I naturally had an interest," he said.

"No one else I've spoken to can remember four brothers all going through Sandhurst, but there was certainly no pressure to join. My family just wanted to make sure I did so because it was right for me, not because my brothers chose it."

The Sandhurst course lasts a year and puts recruits through the usual Army rigours such as endurance tests and fitness, in addition to command practises and officer training.

"It's been pretty tough physically and everyone here has been living in each others pockets, so it will be good to have a bit of space. But the year has been great," said Oliver, who had an Army scholarship to the King's School, Worcester.

"My brothers went into the 9th/12th Royal Lancers but I wanted to go into an infantry regiment, particularly one as highly respected and well regarded as the Irish Guards."

He will now complete a three-month course in Warminster, before being posted to South Armagh, in Northern Ireland, with the Irish Guards.

His brother Dominic, who is now in Germany, will be posted to Iraq next year, while Simon is currently in Dorset and the eldest of the four, Justin, is involved in psychological investigations in London.

Their parents, who live in Cookhill, near Inkberrow, said they had no idea why their sons had chosen the armed forces.

"I'm a nurse and my husband is a GP so they have come very much from a medical background," said Susan Doherty, who works at the Bull Ring Surgery, in St John's.

"I'm not sure why they have chosen the Army but, of course, we're very proud of them.

"I'm certainly not worried about them being in the Army and I was quite used to it by the time Oliver decided he wanted to go to Sandhurst."

Yesterday morning's "graduation" ceremony, called The Sovereign's Parade, featured 254 cadets - from 18 different countries - with Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Earl Jones acting as reviewing officer.

"It certainly is uncommon for four brothers to go through the academy," said Major Iain Park-Weir, from Sandhurst.

"Though I do remember one case when four generations of one family came here."