Neville Robert Wiggins was born on 26 November 1949 in Sydney, New South Wales. Following in his brother's footsteps, Neville joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1969.
Neville's first posting was to Laverton, Melbourne. While there, he attended the funerals of returned servicemen, serving in the firing parties as a bearer. That was his first experience of the impacts of war.
In 1970, Neville was posted to South Vietnam as an air force perimeter guard with No. 1 Operational Support Unit.
Within a month, Neville was a helicopter door gunner with No. 9 Squadron, RAAF helping to extract SAS soldiers from the ground when they were under attack. Such operations were known as ‘hot extractions'. He remembered the feeling of standing on the edge of an aircraft with no seatbelt except a monkey strap, while firing a gun; a dangerous and surreal experience.
Like many veterans, Neville's return from Vietnam happened quickly and felt bewildering. One morning he was on patrol, then that same night, he was back home.
After his service in Vietnam, Neville left the RAAF and went to teachers' college. He became a special education teacher and joined the Army Reserve. He served 20 years in the Army Reserve and was promoted to Major before taking a permanent role in Australian Army.
Neville's service in the Vietnam War had a lasting impact. He felt he'd learned the values of tolerance and selflessness, which helped him as an officer in the Army.