TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has been in Glasgow to mark the launch of this year's Armed Forces Day, which takes place at the end of the month.

She  set off from RAF Leuchars in Fife on Wednesday morning, flying by Royal Navy helicopter to Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow where she was winched from the aircraft.

She met sailors on the flight deck of a Navy Type 45 Destroyer, HMS Diamond, and was then lowered on to a rigid inflatable boat on the River Clyde, docking at Glasgow's Pacific Quay to complete her journey on the top of a Panther armoured vehicle

She was met at Pacific Quay by serving personnel and veterans, including some who recently returned from the front line in Afghanistan.

Senior Aircraftman David Walsh, from 58 Squadron of the First Regiment based in RAF Leuchars, returned from the Kandahar airbase in February. His work involved protecting the airfield, conducting patrols and countering the threat of improvised explosive devices.

He said: "It's very different to waking up back at my mum's house but once you settle into a pattern of life out there, you settle into your routine - you learn what to expect.

"A lot of people don't understand the full extent of what we actually do out there. Most of the publicity is to do with the injuries and the death toll, which just keeps rising, but there are a lot of good things the lads are doing out there at the minute.

"It took a couple of weeks but once you settle in it's pleasing to see that not everyone out there is against you, and people actually do want to work with you to get the country back up to normal."

Lorraine Kelly said: "I was representing the three services by getting here by air in the helicopter, which was amazing, coming down the Clyde in a boat which was extraordinary, then I was in the army vehicle .

"It was just wonderful...Getting winched down was great fun, I wanted to do that again as soon as I had done it."

She added: "Armed Forces Day is great because it is a chance for all of us to say thank you to all of the services, and just say 'we really appreciate all that you do for us' and 'thank you very much.'

"There are going to be loads of events all over Scotland."

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was also at the launch. She said: "It's a really important opportunity to pay tribute to our Armed Forces who have done and continue to do such a fantastic job on our behalf.

"Armed Forces Day is all about saying thank you to those who have served in the past, to those who will serve in the future, but perhaps most particularly to those who are serving right now because those who are on the front line in Afghanistan are very much in our thoughts.
 
"It's a big opportunity for Scotland, which has a very proud tradition of military service, to say thank you for all you do." 

Armed Forces Day takes place on Saturday June 26, and there are events taking place across Scotland including a parade throught the old town in Edinburgh, a parade of service staff, veterans and cadets and a flypast in Aberdeen's Union Street, along with entertainment and military displays in Glasgow's George Square.