Abandon revolutionary sailor and soldier (6,3)
I believe the answer is:
desert rat
'soldier' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'abandon revolutionary sailor' is the wordplay.
'abandon' becomes 'desert' ('desert' can be a synonym of 'abandon'**).
'revolutionary' says the letters should be written backwards.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (tar is a kind of sailor).
'tar' in reverse letter order is 'rat'.
'desert'+'rat'='DESERT RAT'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for desert rat that I've seen before include "Member of the British 7th Armoured Division in North Africa, 1941-2" , "Fighting man" , "Old soldier" , "One of Rommel's nemesis" , "Jerboa - WW2 British soldier in North Africa" .)