From lieutenant to commander
ing officer.
He attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School and said he felt it was exposure to the Defence Force that led to him joining the military when he finished school.
‘‘You might not get [that] in other parts of New Zealand.
‘‘The army and defence are a great place to gain exposure to leadership and to development as an individual and as teams.
‘‘It’s a group of people who are really committed to what we do and a large part of what we do is offshore, and a lot of New Zealanders don’t really understand that.’’
McAslan said over his career, he would have spent more time working in overseas operations than at Linton but it was all part of the job.
Thursday marked 20 years since he had been to Bosnia, which he said was one of the standouts in his career.
‘‘That was certainly [a stand out] because it was our first major deployment post Vietnam.’’
He said the work they had done there was ‘‘really pleasing to see’’, and a great indicator of the work the New Zealand Defence Force could do.
However, McAslan said he didn’t just look at it as a job, but as a lifestyle, and one he was proud to have. ‘‘I’ve always said when I don’t enjoy it I’ll look to do something else, but I still enjoy it.’’ A Palmerston North judge lucky enough to sit on the bench in the same place he practised as a lawyer is set to say goodbye to judicial life.
Lawyers, judges and others connected to courtroom proceedings will pack into the Palmerston North Courthouse’s Courtroom One on Friday afternoon for Judge Les Atkins QC’s final sitting.
He has not been seen behind a Palmerston North District Court bench for some time because of recent health difficulties.
Before becoming a judge, he served as a criminal defence lawyer, kicking off his career in Feilding in 1977. It took him 13 years to go from legal newbie to become the fourth Palmerston North lawyer to become a Queen’s Counsel.
Taking silk, seen as one of the marks of excellency in legal circles, while based in Palmerston North was some achievement as