Soldiers were caught during a random test

The soldiers, who range in rank from private to corporal, are entitled to appeal the decision to dismiss them but are thought unlikely to succeed.

Just three months ago, 11 Black Watch soldiers were discharged for drug taking and a month earlier eight Royal Scots failed drugs tests.

An Army spokeswoman told BBC Scotland: "I can confirm that 10 soldiers are in the process of probably being discharged from the regiment for misuse of drugs.

"We have a zero policy against drugs misuse in the Army. We just don't tolerate it.

"Unless there are exceptional circumstances, any soldier who is found taking illegal substances will normally be dismissed from the Army."

The spokeswoman said that a rigid testing procedure had been responsible for bringing offenders to light and there was no deep-seated drugs problem.

Foreign postings

She said: "Within the Army, percentages say that drug taking runs at less than 1%, compared with about 5-6% in the population as a whole.

"While we don't want any drugs at all in the Army, I think we are actually better off than the rest of the population and that's obviously the way it should be."

Some military observers believe that boredom on foreign postings could spur soldiers into taking drugs.

Ian Bruce: "The boredom factor comes into play"

Ian Bruce, of The Herald newspaper, said: "If you look at the age groups who join the Army, they're kids and kids in civvy street in that equivalent age group would be taking drugs, going to discos, popping 'Es', whatever.

"Comparatively speaking, it's a lesser problem in the Army. They random test about 80,000 guys a year and the problem is less than 1%.

"It's more a problem of where the garrisons are based. The north German plane is a kind of a soulless place and it's 50 or 60 miles to the nearest town, so the boredom factor comes into play."