Prince Harry is retiring from the Armed Forces after a ten-year, full-time military career, the Guardian reports. “The army keep giving me great jobs, and I can never thank them enough for that,” Harry said, presumably with a straight face. “I’ve had an epic 10 years, I’ve had great fun.”

Speaking in New Zealand, Harry encouraged his nephew George and his niece Charlotte to join the military themselves one day. “I would definitely encourage George, and Charlotte if she wants to as well, to have some sort of involvement in the armed forces,” he said. George and Charlotte are babies.

The prince went on to extol the virtues of the military as a redemptive and character-building institution:

“But I put my hand up, as I said to the kids today, you can make bad choices, some severe, some not so severe.

“You can make bad choices in life, but it’s how you recover from those and which path you end up taking.

“And the army has done amazing things for me. And more importantly to me[is] what I’ve seen the army do to other young guys.

Oh, haha, also: “I dread to think where I’d be without the army. Bring back national service.”

Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.