 Friend won a prize for Artillery whilst at Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1874 as a Temporary Lieutenant.His commission was made permanent in 1876 and he spent the stationed in Ireland and Hong Kong before being appointed as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1883 and promoted to Captain in 1885.In 1885 he was made Secretary of the Royal Engineers Experimental Committee and seen time serving in the British West Indies training the West Indies Fortress Company before being promoted to Major in 1893.