He was a platoon sergeant with the New Zealand Army stationed at Honiara, Guada Beach Resort, and Rove Prison on the main island, Guadalcanal, of the riot-stricken country.
Being in charge of between 29 and 32 soldiers while under the guidance of Australian forces assisting the Solomon Islands police was a fantastic learning experience, he said.
Sgt Vaughan (38) had a greater appreciation of the little things in life usually taken for granted after returning to Cromwell on Easter Sunday.
‘‘There's certainly no ice cream and I missed my usual breakfast of honey on toast. With the rainy season, clothes were going mouldy in a matter of days,'' he said.
The Solomon Islands posting was Sgt Vaughan's first visit to the country, which he said was in a stable situation at present after the worst rioting took place in April 2006.
‘‘It took a while for people to get over that [riot] but most of our work was what we would term steady state operations. The locals were happy to have us there and there was no animosity towards us,'' he said.
His welcome to the country, however, came in the form of a football game riot within a week of landing, which proved to be the only violent situation his soldiers faced while on duty.
Despite positive changes in behaviour and the faith local residents had in their government, Sgt Vaughan said the international army presence was still vital for the country's future stability.
‘‘If the army was to pull out of the Solomon Islands in too much of a hurry [the Solomons] would fall apart. It's a shame they have to rely on handouts from overseas nations to keep their heads above water.
‘‘If they could stop the corruption among many industry officials it would be a much wealthier country,'' he said.
Sgt Vaughan had expected his time in the Solomons to be similar to his post in East Timor during 2000 and 2001.
‘‘It was actually a lot easier. There was nothing still burning or anything like that when we were there. It was good just to be maintaining law and order,'' he said.
He was optimistic the Solomon Islands would eventually be independently stable and said for that to happen the public would need to trust their police force again.
Sgt Vaughan had been in a territorial force of the army for almost 20 years after joining on April 13, 1988, while also working as a builder, and planned to start a full-time army position at Cromwell this year.
Otago born and bred, he had lived in Ranfurly before moving to Cromwell with his family five years ago.
His wife Corina said she was apprehensive about him taking posts overseas, but supported the work the army was doing in countries such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
‘‘We didn't want him to go but after seeing a video clip of the work which had already been done and the type of help he would be giving, it seemed selfish to want him to stay. If I could do it I would just for the honour of being able to help someone,'' she said.
Sgt Vaughan said he would definitely consider another overseas deployment, but not for the next two or three years at least.
‘‘It is a career, but more of a lifestyle,'' he said.
