Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I uru a Gowon ki te Ope Taua o Nigeria i te 1954, a i whakawhiwhia ki a ia hei tuarua tuarua i te 19 o Oketopa 1955, i tona ra whanau 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 waahanga o te United Nations Peacekeeping Force, i te 1960<unk>61 me te 1963. I eke ia ki te rangatira o te ope taua i te tau 1966, i taua wa he koromatua ia.