Aaron Tait

Aaron Tate grew up with the dream of joining the Navy, like his big brother and his dad, his grandad and his great-grandad all had.

Aaron saw the Navy as an adventure, a way to see the world and a means of making him a man.

Aaron got his dream and then some.

At just 17, he was deployed to the Persian Gulf as a military officer, where he excelled in the highly dangerous work of boarding and stopping illegal Iraqi boats.

But what Aaron learned about himself and the world while at war eventually set him on a very different path.

His memoir is called Far Horizons.

Hi, Aaron.

You spent a lot of your childhood in New Zealand.

How big a part did war and fighting play in your imagination as a kid?

Your dad was a keen hunter.

What did he wear when he went hunting?

So you were 12 when you were first invited along with him on a hunting trip.

How did you feel about the prospect of that?

An AK-47.

He gave you a knife as well.

You came across a herd of feral goats.

What happened when you started shooting?

One goat was still alive at the end.

What did your dad want you to do?

Literally wiped blood across your cheeks.