Mr Arnould has been vice-president of Wollongong and South Coast Legacy for the past two years, and his stint as president will run for two years. The group includes Wollongong, Nowra, Milton-Ulladulla, Batemans Bay, Narooma and Bega branches.

He is taking over at a time of big change for Legacy in Australia.

“In the last few years, there has been a big push from the Army for Legacy to help families of all those who have died when being a part of the Australian armed forces, whether they were on active duty or not,” Mr Arnould said.

Previously, it had to be widows and families of those who had died of the causes of war. 

“That changed in October last year,” Mr Arnould said.

“Now widows and families of all serving members of the military are eligible for help from Legacy.”

Legacy gives financial and moral help to widows and helps the children up to the age of 25.

“We help them get through school by giving them money for fees, and if they want to go to university then we help them as well,” Mr Arnould said.  

“We help the families of those in the reserve forces if something happens to them on duty, but if something happens while they are not on duty we are not obligated.”

Mr Arnould said he was looking forward to the challenges of the presidency.

“We need more Legacy volunteers,” he said.

“In this group we have five Legatees that are under the age of 50, and the bulk of them are in the 65 to 84 years age group. A few are older than that.”

Legacy receives no direct government support and is funded by corporate support, bequests and money raised by Badge Week.

Mr Arnould served as Batemans Bay RSL Sub-Branch secretary for 10 years, standing down in March. 

“I needed a break,” he said with a smile.

He served in the Vietnam War with the Fifth Infantry Battalion in 1966 and 1967, and was part of the recovery team which went in after the Battle of Long Tan in 1966.

Mr Arnould will officially take the reins at a change-over dinner at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club on August 9.