During the Royal Irish Regiment's pre-deployment training in Kenya last October, the Cavan man told News Letter reporter David Young that he was apprehensive about the mission ahead in Afghanistan.

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The 29-year-old married man, who lived much of his life in Miami and served in the US Navy before joining the British Army, was on board the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt during the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

"My parents are originally from Ireland and they had moved back there some years ago," he told the News Letter.

"So when I got out of the Navy five years ago I didn't really have any family in the states so I moved back to Co Cavan.

"I lived there since 2003 and kind of missed the military, but at the same time I wanted to stay in Europe. So the Royal Irish seemed the best option to me at the time."

Ranger Cupples had been in the British Army for almost two years.
In his interview last year, he described the British Army as "much more informal" than the American military.

"In the American it's always 'yes sergeant' this or that. It's a lot more relaxed (in the Royal Irish) and I think that leads to a bit more comradeship than it would in US.

"There's also a sort of a different doctrine. As far as I can tell there's more emphasis put on actual tactics and soldiering in the British Army as opposed to the American, which is starting to rely more and more on the information technology side of it as opposed to actual field skills and field craft."

He admitted to feeling apprehensive about what lay ahead but said he was driven on by the sense that he had some unfinished business from his last tour of duty.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive at some level but I'm anxious to go at same time," he had said.

"It was one of the things I regretted after September 11, not being able to go in there and do the job that needed to be done, and obviously still needs doing.

"I was off the coast of Pakistan for Operation Enduring Freedom with the Theodore Roosevelt but I was never in the country, never saw any of the action."

The events of September 11 hit him particularly hard and six years on from that day, as he trained in Kenya, he said that the attack still motivated him.

"9/11, it sort of took me a while to get over it because my ship left nine days after that happened and we sort of didn't get the chance to deal with it," he said.

"We were into a different mode of thinking, we had a job to do at the time. I suppose I am still driven a bit by it.

"It was sort of an unprovoked attack, though people argue otherwise but something on that scale had never been seen before.

"I suppose we're still fighting that fight to an extent. Though I think the fight has actually moved on from that. We are mainly concerned about the Taliban and not so much dissolving Al Qaeda. I think it's now about trying to restore order to Afghanistan and trying to make it into some sort of a country."

In a tribute from Afghanistan, Sergeant Major Frankie O'Connor, said: "From the start I was very impressed with his polite and enthusiastic manner.

"Rgr Cupples was as strong as a horse and never let his comrades down in any situation. I will miss him greatly and I am proud to have been his company sergeant major."

The dead soldier's parents were in New York when he was killed and it is understood that the MoD had difficulty contacting them.

Rgr Cupples' commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Freely, paid tribute to the "bright, intelligent soldier".

He said: "I had last seen him in Sangin several weeks ago, where I recall his professional, relaxed and confident assessment of the situation."

Royal Irish Regimental Secretary Major Colin Gray also paid tribute to Rgr Cupples at Palace Barracks in Holywood, yesterday, praising his commitment to his mission.

Despite the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirming that the dead man was an Irish citizen, there was public silence from the Irish government on the tragedy.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Taoiseach and the Irish President's office all declined to comment when contacted by the News Letter.

A spokesman for president Mary McAleese said that she would write a private letter to Rgr Cupples family.