He was commissioned in 1958 into the Durham Light Infantry. He served during the end of the Cyprus Emergency. He was promoted to captain in December 1963. In 1966 he fought in Malaysia in the confrontation with Indonesia. He was the Hong Kong Governor's aide-de-camp from 1964 to 1966, and in March 1968, after two years serving as adjutant to the first battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, retired from the army at the rank of captain.