Dubbed "Exercise Boss Lift", the exercise saw Jamie Hughes, of Copa and Toast bars, travel to the Solomons with nine other employers to find out how their employees ate, slept, trained and worked on operation.
New Zealand Defence Force Reserves Director-general Brigadier Tim Brewer said it was a huge commitment for employers to release valued staff for training and operational deployment.
The exercise was intended to help develop an understanding and appreciation of the work of reserve force soldiers on overseas operations, he said.
"Hopefully, the bosses will see the leadership, confidence, teamwork and communication skills their employees developed in the Solomon Islands and the benefit that this will bring their organisations."
Lance-corporal Andrew Moar, who works as a doorman for Mr Hughes, was on a four-month deployment with 42 other soldiers when his boss came out to join them for the last six days of their tour.
During the experience, the employers tried on riot gear and went through crowd-control drills, saw their part-time soldiers on patrol, visited local villages, interacted with local communities and explored the Honiara area of operations.
Mr Hughes, who arrived back in Dunedin yesterday, said it was an eye-opener seeing military life up close, as well as seeing the work done in the Solomon Islands.
The Kiwi patrol helped build a well, were involved in setting up a medical clinic and gave educational packs as gifts to the local children during the exercise.
Mr Hughes had always been sceptical about government spending on overseas aid but after seeing first hand what life was like for villagers in the Solomons, he had become convinced it was a good thing, Mr Hughes said.
The Territorial Force soldiers came from a wide range of professions, including painting, bar-tending, law and viticulture. The Territorial Force, or army reserve, is involved in deployments around the world, including 30 soldiers in Timor-Leste, five in Sinai, three in Korea and personnel have also served in Afghanistan.
