Friend and guide, perhaps, soldiers to end of career (6)

I believe the answer is:

mentor

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'friend and guide' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'soldiers to end of career' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 'men' (I've seen this before).
'end of' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'career' is 'r'.
'men'+'to'+'r'='MENTOR'

'perhaps' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mentor that I've seen before include "One guiding" , "A trusted advisor or teacher" , "Merton (anag.)" , "A wise and experienced teacher" , "Guru" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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