Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei waahanga - I uru a Gowon ki te Ope Taua o Nigeria i te 1954, ka riro i a ia tana komihana hei tuarua tuarua i te 19 o Oketopa 1955, tana huritau 21st. I whakangungu ia i te Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK (1955<unk>56), Staff College, Camberley, UK (1962) me te Joint Staff College, Latimer, 1965. I kite ia i te mahi i te Congo
hei wāhanga o te United Nations Peacekeeping Force, i te tau 1960-1961 me te tau 1963. I eke ia ki te rangatira o te ope taua i te tau 1966, i taua wa he koromatua ia.