[1] Lott served with the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea in 1978.
[2] In the 1990s, he served with the New Zealand Supply Contingent Somalia, recounting in a later interview the harrowing experience of travelling by road from UNOSOM headquarters in the university compound to the airport:[3] Speed was the main weapon against Somalis who were often under the influence of the hallucinatory herbal drug known as khat and were taking pot shots.
Weapon discipline was very important as was a constant wariness of burning tyres, a Somali signal that there is "bad stuff" about to go down, come and join the fun.
[3]He also recalled the long hours worked on the Somalia mission, and the large volume of rations distributed, including live goats.
[5] Lott oversaw the inquiry into Lieutenant Colonel Karl Cummins, commander of the New Zealand Special Air Service, after it was discovered that Cummins had backdated a search and seizure order after drugs and weapons were found at the New Zealand Special Air Service's Papakura Military Camp.