Education and Military Career
Nailatikau's career spanned 20 years in the military and 17 years in the diplomatic service. Following his education at Bau District School, Draiba Fijian School, Levuka Public School and Queen Victoria School, Nailatikau trained as a soldier in New Zealand. In 1966, he served on secondment in the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and was posted to Sarawak, Malaysia, during Indonesia's "Konfrontasi" against Malaysia. He proved to be a popular and highly respected officer. When he returned to the Fiji Infantry Regiment, he rose steadily through the ranks. By 1987, he held the rank of Brigadier-General, and was the Commander of the Royal Fiji Military Forces. While visiting Australia, he was deposed from this position, however, when the third-ranked officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka staged the first of two coups and seized power.
Read more about this topic: Epeli Nailatikau
Famous quotes containing the words education, military and/or career:
“As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through exams, so long must we take this examination system seriously. If another ladder to employment was contrived, much so-called education would disappear, and no one would be a penny the stupider.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“[I]t is a civil Cowardice to be backward in asserting what you ought to expect, as it is a military Fear to be slow in attacking when it is your Duty.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)