Retired Captain Isikeli Mulase says he does not regret spending 41 years in the armed forces as serving in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces was a legacy set by the men in his family.

“All my big brothers and uncles joined the army before and went to the Solomons and the Malaya Campaign in the 1950s, then we continued to Lebanon and my son is now in the British army so the legacy is there in our family,” he said.

“All our kids, especially my boys are in England, my grandsons and namesake are all there now because serving in the defence force has always been our blood.”

Mr Mulase said throughout his years of service, he has travelled extensively to Lebanon, Sinai, Iran, East Timor, Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and Australia to name a few.

“I joined the military in 1971 and by 1975 I was sent to New Zealand and I was there one year and returned in 1976 then I spent six months there and I was travelling back and forth until before I was then deployed to Lebanon in 1978 for nine months,” he said.

“I must say, I don’t regret joining the army, I loved every minute of it like the training and it is the greatest learning ground because you learn to work on time, whether you are in the village or city, you always work with time because it’s ingrained in you,” he said.

He said most retired servicemen started in Lebanon with some serving for the Fiji Observer Group for Africa (FOGA) to Zimbabwe in 1980.