[1] He served as a lance corporal from 2001 until 2009, except for a three-month period in 2006 when he was demoted to fusilier, after inappropriate behaviour during the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations while deployed on active duty with the battalion on Cyprus.

[8] Following complaints about goats wandering into people's gardens, the council rejected proposals for a cull, deciding to use a combination of rehoming and birth control.

[9] RSPCA marksmen tranquillised nannies and inserted contraceptive progesterone implants to control the numbers of the genetically unique breed.

[8][9] By 2007, 85 goats had been relocated to areas including Kent, Yorkshire, the Brecon Beacons, and Somerset,[9] but further efforts were interrupted by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

[9] Billy, a Kashmir goat,[10] is descended from the same royal bloodline as the original herd,[11] but was not selected from the wild population; he was born in Whipsnade Zoo.

[1][14] On 16 June 2006,[13] a parade was held to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday, at the Episkopi base near Limassol, Cyprus on the Mediterranean island's south coast.

[10] Invited dignitaries included the ambassadors of Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden and the Argentine commander of United Nations' forces on Cyprus.

[16] Billy was charged with "unacceptable behaviour",[10] "lack of decorum" and "disobeying a direct order",[16] and had to appear before his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Huw James.

[10] Captain Simon Clarke said, "Billy performed exceptionally well, he has had all summer to reflect on his behaviour at the Queen's birthday and clearly earned the rank he deserves".

[21] In order to replace Billy, thirty members of 1st Battalion set off to Great Orme in Llandudno on 15 June 2009 at 03:00, hoping to catch the feral goats in a docile state.