Duty called in Rhodesia, and Anthony opted to join up with the elite Rhodesian Light Infantry as part of his national service in 1976. While finishing his tour of duty during the height of the Rhodesian Bush War, he was accepted to the University of Natal to study electronics. The relative peace of academia, and South Africa in the 1970s would have been a far cry from the horrors of the vicious counter insurgency war. Things looked up, as he was even granted a large scholarship to attend, on account of his previous academic successes.

Millar never made it to South Africa. On 26 November 1978, he was called out to one final Fireforce mission in the small rural town of Karoi. He was killed in an enemy contact that day, exactly 3 days before his final bush trip was to end. He was 20 years old