Enlisting in the New Zealand Army in January 1962, he attended the Officer Cadet School at Portsea in 1963, graduating as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals. He commanded 4 Troop NZSAS in Vietnam from 12 December 1968 to 12 December 1969 and completed staff appointments at Army General Staff and HQ 1 Task Force Papakura. He resigned from the Army in October 1979 with the rank of Major. After leaving the military, he lived in Australia from 1979 to 1995, before returning to New Zealand, where he has since worked in the Education and Training/Industry Training sector. He served as the Past President of the Ex-Vietnam Services Association and is married to Ellen, the widow of Sgt Graham Campbell, who was killed in action in Vietnam. AWMM